The Fakes pretend and take credit fooling even themselves

HH

The Life of Our Leader Rabbi Nachman 

#455

Regarding the matter of the false famous people who exist now, to whom it sometimes seems that they are effecting something. For example, when people come to them for children and the like, and afterwards that person is blessed with children and their wish is fulfilled, they then attribute it to themselves that they caused it.

He gave a parable:

It is like a person who is walking on the road and encounters a wolf, and he was afraid of it. He extended his stick and made a motion with his stick as one does with a firearm, which they call a biks (rifle), as if he wants to shoot the wolf with his stick so that the wolf will be afraid of him.

In the meantime, someone else was actually shooting with a real firearm and killed the wolf. And it seemed to the one who extended his stick that he was the one who killed it. He does not know that the wolf was killed by the one who actually extended the firearm, for certainly they cannot kill the wolf with a stick.

The aforementioned matter is exactly like this. For there are true Tzaddikim (righteous people) in the world in every generation, who effect everything through their prayers. All blessings for the good, and all matters in the world are all through them.

And these false famous people imagine that they caused it, and it is exactly like the one who says that he killed the wolf with his stick, as mentioned above. For in truth, everything is only through the true Tzaddikim, because they effect everything, etc.

Great blessings of Na Nach Nachmu Nachman Meuman!

        

Realize you are the center of the universe

### Summary of Likutei Moharan Lesson 24

Likutei Moharan Lesson 24, taught by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, is a profound Kabbalistic exploration of how a person can spiritually become the "center of the universe" by pursuing the infinite Divine Light (the Ein Sof, associated with Havayah or YHVH) through the intellect (mentalities: Chokhmah/wisdom, Binah/understanding, Daat/knowledge). This pursuit is "chased" by the mind but restrained and controlled by Keter (the Crown), the highest sefirah that acts as a partition or regulator. The process creates "nine chambers" – spiritual vessels for glimpsing the Infinite in a mode of "reaching and not reaching" (partial attainment without full comprehension). The core idea is that humanity, through joyful mitzvot (commandments) and elevation of holiness, draws down blessings, arouses all worlds to Divine service, and aligns with the Infinite as the true center of existence. This culminates in realizing the limits of knowledge, where true wisdom is knowing one knows nothing.

The teaching draws on Talmudic anecdotes (like pointing to oneself as the world's center) and sefirotic dynamics: Malkhut (kingdom) rises from evil forces via joy; Netzach, Hod, Yesod (endurance, splendor, foundation) enable movement and arousal; Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet (kindness, strength, beauty) channel blessings; and higher levels integrate faith to bless Keter. Evil forces (associated with sorrow) are subdued, leading to ultimate redemption.

### Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving This State

Based on the teaching, achieving this – becoming the spiritual center where your mind pursues the Infinite under Keter's control, creating chambers for Divine Light – involves a progressive spiritual practice rooted in joy, mitzvot, and meditative awareness. It's not a linear formula but a holistic ascent through the worlds (Action, Formation, etc.). Practice consistently, ideally with guidance from a Breslov teacher.

1. **Cultivate Constant Joy as the Foundation**:  

   Begin by making joy your primary spiritual tool. Recognize that sorrow stems from evil forces (excess and harsh judgments), while joy perfects holiness and elevates the Divine Presence (Shechinah) from exile. Actively combat depression through simple practices like singing, dancing, or gratitude. As Rabbi Nachman emphasizes, "It is a great mitzvah to always be happy." Start each day with affirmations of joy, drawing from verses like Psalms 4:8 ("You have put joy in my heart").

2. **Perform Mitzvot with Joyful Intention**:  

   Engage in commandments (e.g., prayer, charity, Torah study) infused with genuine simcha (joy). This joy extracts vitality from evil forces, akin to the Temple incense's 11 spices subduing negativity. Visualize your mitzvah arousing all worlds to God's service, as in Exodus 10:9 ("With our children and elders we will go"). Focus on Malkhut ascending: see your action as the "heart" of Israel rising from sorrow to joy, preparing the ground for higher ascents.

3. **Arouse Movement and Blessing Through Action**:  

   Use the energy of your joyful mitzvah to "go and arouse" – mentally envision your steps (Netzach, Hod, Yesod, the "ambulatory organs") carrying the mitzvah's power to bless all realms. Direct your will toward drawing down blessings, especially intellect (sekhel). Meditate on verses like Psalms 37:31 ("The Torah of his God is in his heart; his steps will not falter"). This transforms "feet" into "hands" of blessing, as in Genesis 30:30, concretizing Divine flow according to your intent.

4. **Integrate Faith into Intellectual Pursuit**:  

   As blessings flow (via Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, the "hands"), channel them into intellect (Chokhmah, Binah, Daat). But avoid relying solely on intellect – infuse it with emunah (faith), the "man of faith" who receives abundant blessings (Proverbs 28:20). Practice by affirming faith during study or prayer: "I trust in the Infinite beyond my grasp." This draws Malkhut of higher worlds into your intellect, building resilience against doubt.

5. **Bless and Activate Keter (the Crown/Controls)**:  

   Refine blessings to their "innerness" to empower Keter, the regulator that waits and composes the mind (as in Job 36:2, "Wait for me"). Meditate on faith here too ("a wondrous tradesman"). Visualize Keter as a curtain between your intellect and the Infinite, restraining overreach while allowing pursuit. Use verses like Ezekiel 3:12 ("Blessed is the glory of God from His place") to invoke this: glory = faith, place = Keter.

6. **Engage in Mental Racing and Restraint**:  

   In meditation or hitbodedut (personal prayer, a Breslov practice), let your mentalities (the three aspects of intellect) "race" toward the Light of the Infinite (Havayah/YHVH), pursuing unity with the Divine center. But invoke Keter's control to restrain them, preventing nullification or overload. This collision creates the "nine chambers" (3 mentalities x 3 enclosures = 9 spiritual vessels). Focus on "reaching and not reaching": strive deeply but accept incomprehension. Repeat: "Here is the center" (pointing inwardly, as in the Talmudic story).

7. **Ascend Through Worlds and Realize Non-Knowing**:  

   Continue the process to elevate worlds progressively (Action to Nearness). Direct will to spiritual blessings over material ones (Psalms 145:16). The peak is realizing the "culmination of knowledge" – that true attainment is knowing you cannot fully know (Isaiah 58:11, "splendors" beyond sefirot). In exile's end, joy destroys evil forces completely; practice envisioning redemption as your personal center aligns with the universe's.

Through persistent practice, you embody the center: your mind chases the Infinite under Keter's crown, chambers form for Divine Light, and all worlds arouse to service. This leads to personal and cosmic harmony, subduing sorrow for eternal joy.

Great blessings of Na Nach Nachmu Nachman Meuman!

The New way of Rabbi Nachman from time immemorial

HH

Rabbi Nachman said his way is a new way which is really the very old way.

Rabbi Nachman strongly insisted a person must believe in themself.

The mishna in Avos - Ethics of Our Fathers - says do not believe in yourself. Thing is, in the olden days people believed in themselves, so the mishna warned them to keep themselves in check. In our days that belief was lost, so Rabbainu had to show the way.

Same thing with joy. Rabbainu said time and time again that the main thing is to be happy and joyful. In the Talmud there are many warnings about such an attitude. Thing is, back then people had an innate intrinsic joy and value of life, they weren't committing suicide in hundreds of thousands like today, they had tremendous appreciation for life. So the Talmud had to warn to keep it in check. When humanity fell to what it looks like today, Rabbainu had to step in and bring us back to the new way of truly cherishing and enjoying life.

Na NaCh NaChMa NaChMaN MAyUMaN 

Great blessings of Na Nach Nachmu Nachman Meuman!

Yishmael vs Esau

 HH

People point out that as bad as the germans were, they don't compare to the musl.. The germans at least tried to hide what they did, not like the musls. who recorded their barbaric atrocities and broadcasted them to the world bragging about them, and the germans had a few that refused to join, and there were even a few heros who saved Jews at great personal risk. 

The reason i think is found in this week's parsha Va'yaitzay. Esau, who was already an established murderer, idolator, adulterer, and thief, would not kill Yaakov as long as Yitzchok is alive. He did however send Elifaz to kill him. Elifaz, someone who slept with his father's wife, and other peoples' wives as well, and married his daughter from one of these affairs. Elifaz is the father of Amalaik the arch evil of the world and history, but even still he could not bring himself to kill Yaakov, Rashi says, because he was brought up in the bosom of Yitzchok.

This is the power of Yitzchok. Awesome.

There are 207 letters in the holy Pettek, with the inclusive 208 = Yitzchok

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman

100 years for each of the Names of 72

HH the 57th Divine Name of the 72 is נממ.

If you assign 100 years to each Name, the 57th Name cover the year התרפ"ב the year Rabbainu revealed his name to be נ"מ - נחמן מאומן.

Now you can study the 58th Name (58 = נח) of our era - יי"ל!

Na NaCh NaChMa NaChMaN MAyUMaN 

Where is HY - pointing to the ceiling Vs to Heaven

HH

Asked ai to explain:

The Talmudic story

Brachos, top of 48a.

📖 The Story

The Talmud relates that when they were young children, Abbaye and Rava were sitting before their teacher, Rabbah.

Rabbah asked them: "To whom do we recite blessings?" The children answered: "To the Merciful One (Rachamana)."

Rabbah then asked, "And this 'Merciful One,' where does He dwell?"

Rava pointed up to the ceiling of the study house (Beit Midrash).

Abbaye ran outside and pointed to the sky.

Rabbah was pleased and said that their answers showed they would both grow up to be great Sages.

Take 1:

Arizal's Explanation: The Arizal's teaching (part of Lurianic Kabbalah) implies that a person moves the upper worlds and encounters the Divine as an external reality. The two children were pointing to a transcendent, external Divinity, one within a contained holy space (the study hall) and the other in the expansive heavens, both outside the self.

Baal Shem Tov's Explanation: The Baal Shem Tov taught that this encounter happens within the person themselves. The "upper worlds" and the "Divine" are accessed through an internal, inner spiritual world and self-nullification before God. The two children were pointing to a reality that needs to be realized internally, not just externally. 

Take 2

This query refers to a story or discussion in the Talmud, often associated with the phrase "The world is filled with Him" (or a similar sentiment regarding God's omnipresence), which is famously interpreted by both the Bal Shem Tov and the Arizal.

The exact Talmudic source and its precise wording are subject to different traditions, but the story's common mystical interpretation relates to two different perceptions of the Divine presence:

📖 The Talmudic Scenario

The scenario you describe is often related to a discussion concerning the verse:

> "The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3)

> 

The two actions—pointing to the ceiling and pointing to the sky—represent two distinct ways of perceiving God's presence, as taught by mystical masters.

 * The one pointing to the ceiling suggests that God is found within the boundaries and structures of our immediate, physical world.

 * The one pointing to the sky suggests that God is found beyond the material world, in the infinite and transcendent spiritual realm.

🌌 The Arizal's Explanation (Lurianic Kabbalah)

The Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria) views the two directions as representing the two primary aspects of the Divine presence created during the process of creation, known as Tzimtzum (Contraction) and Kav (Ray of Light) in Lurianic Kabbalah.

1. Pointing to the Sky (The Transcendent)

 * This represents God as He is prior to the Tzimtzum (Divine Contraction), or the level of Ohr Ein Sof (the Infinite Light).

 * It signifies the Transcendent God (Sovev Kol Almin)—the light that surrounds and is beyond all worlds, which is limitless and infinite, pointing to the grand, external expanse of the heavens.

2. Pointing to the Ceiling (The Immanent)

 * This represents God's light as it was measured and inserted after the Tzimtzum through the Kav (Ray of Light).

 * It signifies the Immanent God (Memale Kol Almin)—the light that fills and is within all worlds, confined and structured within the vessels of creation, pointing to the boundaries of the room (the created world).

For the Arizal, the ultimate truth encompasses both views, as God is both infinitely transcendent and intimately immanent.

✨ The Bal Shem Tov's Explanation (Hasidism)

The Bal Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the founder of Hasidism) took the Arizal's esoteric concepts and applied them to the immediate, everyday religious experience of the individual.

He saw the two directions as two equally valid ways of serving God, each reflecting a different aspect of devotion, and both being correct in their own way.

1. Pointing to the Sky (The Mystic/Scholar)

 * This represents the service of God through ascension—trying to elevate oneself above the material world through deep contemplation, intense prayer, or rigorous scholarly study.

 * This is the path of the Tzaddik (righteous person) or the Talmid Chacham (Torah scholar), who seeks to grasp the transcendent, Sovev Kol Almin aspect of God.

2. Pointing to the Ceiling (The Simple Jew/Engagement)

 * This represents the service of God through immanence—finding God within the ordinary, mundane details of the physical world.

 * This is the path of the simple, sincere Jew who serves God with joy in their daily life, work, and even physical acts like eating or sleeping, revealing the immanent, Memale Kol Almin aspect of God inside the established limits (the ceiling).

For the Bal Shem Tov, the main teaching is that one doesn't need to be a great scholar to find God; God is present in every activity, and the simple person's sincere devotion is as valuable as the mystic's loftiest contemplation. Both have correctly identified a crucial aspect of the Divine.

Would you like to explore another parable or teaching from the Bal Shem Tov or the Arizal?

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the great-grandson of the Bal Shem Tov, explains the two directions—pointing to the ceiling and pointing to the sky—by focusing on the concept of the Tzaddik Emes (the True Righteous One) and the relationship between spiritual ascent and descent.

⛰️ The Explanation of Rabbi Nachman (Breslov Hasidism)

Rabbi Nachman interprets the actions as representing two paths of spiritual work, but with a unique emphasis on the ultimate goal:

1. Pointing to the Sky (The Ascent: Aliyah)

 * This represents the path of spiritual ascent (going up) and achieving lofty closeness to God by transcending the physical world.

 * It signifies the ability to rise up through the different spiritual realms (Olamot)—the heavens of Asiyah, Yetzirah, Beriyah, and finally the highest world of Atzilut—to be near the Infinite Light (Or\ Ein\ Sof).

 * In one teaching, Rabbi Nachman notes that this ascent is the power of the Tzaddik Emes (True Righteous One) who can go above all the created heavens.

2. Pointing to the Ceiling (The Descent: Yeridah)

 * This represents the greater and more difficult spiritual work: the descent (going down) back into the lowest places of the physical world (Olam Ha'Asiyah) to rescue and elevate fallen souls.

 * The ceiling represents the boundaries and limits of this physical world, and the Tzaddik's work is to enter the very lowest, most restrictive spiritual circumstances.

 * Rabbi Nachman teaches that the power of the Tzaddik Emes to go down to the place where a wicked person has descended, and to bring that person back, is actually the greatest act possible—even greater than the ascent.

The Core Teaching: Yeridah Tachlit Aliyah

While the Arizal and the Bal Shem Tov saw the two directions as dual aspects of God's presence (Memale and Sovev), Rabbi Nachman sees the descent as the purpose and ultimate refinement of the ascent.

The key idea is his concept of Yeridah Tachlit Aliyah—"The descent is for the purpose of an ascent."

 * First, the Tzaddik must ascend (point to the sky) to connect with the source of Divine power.

 * Then, the Tzaddik must descend (point to the ceiling/ground) to apply that power, uplift the fallen sparks of holiness, and redeem those who are lost in the material world.

Therefore, pointing to the sky connects one to the infinite source, but pointing to the ceiling emphasizes the crucial and greater work of redemption within the finite creation.

Great blessings of Na Nach Nachmu Nachman Meuman!

                   
                                
                            

Technology, science, physics - it's all philosophy

HH

Rabbi Nachman considered even accomplished physicists and engineers to be philosophers (Sichos - Words of Rabbi Nachman 5), may HY save us from such humiliation. He wasn't impressed by the science they figured out and their inventions. He said that every new idea has a time for its revelation, and when that time comes it alights and dons in someone's mind, and this is by impure ways (ibid).

Rabbainu revealed that in messianic times people will be flying around on their own personal flying machines. We have yet to achieve that, but it upcoming.

Na NaCh NaChMa NaChMaN MAyUMaN 

Great blessings of Na Nach Nachmu Nachman Meuman!