The Telltale Chandelier
1.
A tale. A man left his
father and was in other countries for many years by other people. In time, he
came to his father and boasted that he had learned there a great craft: how to
make a chandelier (which is called a hang leichter/hanging light). He
told his father to assemble all the masters of this craft, and he would show
them his wisdom in this craft. And so his father did. He gathered all the masters
of this craft to see his son's greatness; what he had accomplished all this time
that he was in the hand of others.
And the
son took out one chandelier that he had made, and it was very ugly in all their
eyes. And his father went to them and asked them to disclose the truth to him,
so they were forced to inform him the truth, that it was very ugly. And the son
boasted, "Surely you have seen the skill of my artisanship?" And his
father informed him that it did not appear beautiful in all their eyes. The son
replied, "On the contrary! With this I have shown my greatness, for I have
shown to all of them their deficiencies, for in this chandelier are found the
lackings of each one of the artisans found here. Behold you will see, that by this
person, this part is ugly, but a different part is very beautiful to him; and
by another (person) it is the opposite — on the contrary, that piece that is
ugly for his colleague, is beautiful and wonderful in his eyes, but only this
piece is ugly; and likewise with all of them: whatever is bad in this one's
eyes, is beautiful in the eyes of his colleague, and vice-versa. And I have
made this chandelier solely from deficiencies, to show (to) all of them that
they do not have completeness, and each one has a lacking, for what is
beautiful in his eyes, is a lacking in the eyes of his colleague. But in truth
I can make it as it should be."
If [people] would
know all the lackings and insufficiencies of a thing, they would know the
essence of the thing, even if they had never seen it.
2.
“Great are the works of
Hashem” [Ps. 111:2]. No man is
identical to his fellow. And all the forms
were in Adam HuRishon (the first). That is, in the word "ADaM"
(man) alone, all these forms were included. And so with other things. All the
luminaries were included in the solitary word "OhR" (light), and
so (with) all of them, that is, all the works of creation. And even two leaves
of a tree – not one is identical to its fellow, and so forth. And he (Na Nach
Nachma Nachman MeUman) spoke at very great length about this, and he stated at
that time, that there are wisdoms in this world through which a person could live
on these wisdoms alone, without any eating or drinking. And he spoke at length
in a wondrous and awesome talk (see the second introduction to Sefer Hamidos,
regarding da'as).
3. The Pump
Regarding
what they [some of Rebbe Nachman’s chassidim]
were telling over about someone who was then in one of the large
non-Jewish cities and tarried there a long time because each time he imagined
that now he would succeed, and so it was each time, until he was delayed there
a long time. And he [Na Nach Nachma
Nachman MeUman] said, that is the way
it goes when one comes to such places, that each time it seems to him,
"Now I will accomplish, now I will accomplish," etc., etc. And he
told this story:
There
was one man who did not believe what the world says, that there are leitzim (demons who make devilry and
scoff) from the Other Side (realm of
evil) that come sometimes and mislead people, as has happened several times; he
did not believe this. One night, a leitz
came to him and called him to go outside. He went out, and the leitz showed him that he had a
beautiful horse to sell. He looked, and behold it is a very beautiful horse, so
he asked him, "How much do you want?" The leitz answered, "Four adumim
(rubles)." He saw that it was easily worth eight rubles, for it was a
choice, fine horse. So he bought the horse from him for four rubles and he
considered it a great find. The next day, he took the horse out to sell, and
people stepped up to purchase, and they wanted to give him some amount. He
said, "Probably, if they are willing to give me so much, it must be worth
double!" So he was not satisfied, and he took the horse onward, and they
wanted to give him also double, as he desired. He said, "It is probably
worth more than double this amount." So he brought the horse onward, until
the price of the horse reached into the thousands. But he was not satisfied
with any of them to sell it, for whatever they wanted to give him, he said,
"It is probably worth twice as much." Eventually, there was no one
who could buy it except the king.
So he
brought it to the king, and the king wanted to give him an astounding amount,
for the horse was exceedingly pleasing to everyone. However, he was not willing
with the king either, for he said, "It is probably worth more." As a
result even the king did not buy the horse. So he went from the king, with the
horse to give it to drink. There was a pump
(plumpf) there from which people take water. The horse jumped into the
pump, disappeared, and was no more (That is, it appeared to him as such, for
the entire incident of the horse was an act of leitzim). He yelled
vehemently over this, and people gathered around him to the call of his
screaming, and asked him, "What are you screaming?" He replied that
his horse had jumped into the pump. And they hit him, till he was beaten and
bruised, for he appeared insane, since the opening of the pump is very narrow,
and how can a horse jump into it? He saw that they were beating him and that he
appeared insane, and he wanted to go from there. As he wanted to leave, the
horse began to stick its head out of the pump. So he began to scream again,
"Aha, aha!" since it appeared to him that his horse was there.
The people gathered around and beat him again, since he was insane, as
mentioned. Again he decided to leave; and as soon as he wanted to go, the horse
again stuck its head out of the pump. He began again to shout more as before,
and the people gathered upon him again and beat him as before.
Thus,
the Other Side (realm of evil) deceives
a man each time with nothingness; with complete falsehood that has no
substance. And he is enticed after it, pursues it, and each time it appears to
him that he will profit more and will fill his desires more. So he runs after
it many times, and suddenly all his desires disappear, escaping and vanishing
from him — as this happens sometimes, that the cravings go away a little, and
when the man wants to detach from them, then they return and stick out their
heads and he returns and chases after them. And so it carries on further, that
as soon as they stick out their heads, he returns to chase after them. (And he did not explain the matter further.
And understand this well.)
4. Heated Flesh and
Bones
A story about one tzadik, who was a very great tzaddik, who had
completely and entirely departed from that known desire, properly with
perfection. And he ascended to the upper worlds, and he saw pieces of flesh and
bones sitting in a pot. He asked, "What is this?" They answered him
that this was a very, very beautiful woman, and therefore due to the fact that
she used to heat up her body for sin, therefore she is being heated up here.
And he wanted to see her. And they gave him (Divine) Names, that she should be
returned and assembled as before, and he saw that she was a very extremely
beautiful woman. And from this it is proper to see the condemnation of this
desire. If they cut her into pieces pieces, would this desire still be relevant
etc.?!
5.
The Tzaddik who fell into sadness
It is known that sadness is a very despicable
trait, and one needs to keep very far away from it. And it is proper to enliven
and raise oneself, for one should know that every single movement and
dislodgement that one moves and dislodges himself upon entering the service of
Hashem, is very precious in Hashem's eyes, even if he moves himself only a
hairsbreadth, because since a person exists in a body in the physical ('assiya')
world, any movement or dislodgement is very hard for him; therefore it is very
precious in Hashem's eyes.
There is a story that happened with a Tzadik that great heaviness and sadness fell upon him (and sadness and
heaviness, when they beset a Tzadik it is very hard for him, for upon him it
strengthens itself more and more). So much sadness and heaviness fell on him
that he was mamash (actually) completely unable to move from his place
due to the great heaviness and sadness that had intensified over him. And he
wanted to make himself happy and lift himself, but he was unable to cheer himself
up and lift himself with anything, for with whatever thing he wanted to cheer
himself, the Accuser found sadness in it for him, until he was unable to make
himself happy with anything, because in any joy that he wanted to cheer and
raise himself with, he found sadness in it. And he began to cheer himself with
the joy of "that He did not make me a heathen." And this is certainly
a very great joy that has no bound, for one cannot estimate the difference and separation,
the thousands of thousand of thousands of separations that are between the
holiness of the lowest of lowest of Israel, and the filth of the impurity of
the idolaters. And when a person remembers well the kindness Hashem had upon
him in not making him a heathen, it is certainly proper for his joy to grow
very great, and it is a joy that has no sadness upon it. For when a person
makes himself happy with a thing that he himself did, in this it is possible to
find sadness in any joy, for he will find deficiencies in everything, so as not
to let him raise and cheer himself. But in this, "that He has not made me
a heathen," which is only from Hashem Yisburach, that Hashem Yisburach did
so and had mercy on him, and did not make him a heathen, how is it possible to
find a lacking in this joy, which is the sole work of Hashem Yisburach? For,
certainly, however it may be, in any case it is a huge difference between him
and the idolaters which has no bound or limit.
And the Tzadik mentioned above began to cheer himself with this,
and began to rejoice and raise himself little by little. And each time, he
raised and cheered himself exceedingly, until he came to such a great joy that
he reached the joy that Moshe Rabbainu (Moses), of blessed memory, had when he
went up to receive the Tablets. And while he was raising and cheering himself,
he flew up in the worlds many, many thousands of miles (parsahs), and
during this he took a look at himself and behold, he was very far from the
place where he was at first. And he was very afflicted, for he thought he would
fall down to some other place, and there would be great bewilderment over him
that he had disappeared suddenly, and the Tzadik always desires to go about
discreetly ('hatznaya leches' – Micah 6:8). And the joy began to end,
for joy has a limit, that it begins itself and ends itself. And when the joy began
to end, it ceased bit by bit, and it lowered bit by bit. And when he returned,
and he descended, and was lowered from the place where he flew up to during the
joy, he did not first return to the first place where he flew up from, in the
same manner that he flew up, but rather he went down immediately down in that
place where he flew up to (-explanation: originally he had done two things, one, he
elevated higher and higher, two, he flew to distant worlds. When he came down
from the elevation, he did so in that distant place, and even still when he
came down, he found himself back in his original place). And therefore it was a great wonder that he
found himself after he came down, in his original place. (Understand this well). Eventually he returned
to the place where he was at first, and he took a look at himself and saw that
he was mamash (actually) where he was at first, and did not dislodge
from his place at all, except for possibly a hairbreadth which was impossible
for a man to measure, only Hashem Yisburach. And it was very baffling in the
eyes of the Tzadik, that he had flown up so much in the worlds, while here
below he did not move at all. And they showed him that it is so precious in the
eyes of Hashem Yisburach a small motion and dislodgement that a man dislodges
himself in this world, even less than a hairsbreadth — to the extent that many,
many thousands of worlds and parsahs (miles) are incomparable to it.
And to understand this, it is known that this material world is
only the central point inside the [heavenly] spheres, as is understood by the astronomers; and all
the more so, against the higher worlds the entire Earth is not considered more
than a point. And it is known that all the lines which you draw from a central
point, behold they are close to each other by the point – all the lines. And
the farther they get from the point, the farther they become from each other.
And so when the lines extend exceedingly far from the point, the lines also
become extremely far from each other, even though down below by the point they
are adjacent, like this:
Hence if a person projects in his mind, lines drawn from the Earth
which is at the bottom, even only out to the planetary orbits, he will find
that even if he moves only a hairsbreadth, nevertheless in the place of the
planets, there will be a vast distance from where they were originally opposite
his head; now it will be far away many, many thousands of miles (parsahs),
according to the sheer magnitude of the upper trajectory compared to the lower
Earth, as is known, for innumerable stars are fixed there, and each star is as
huge as this world and larger. And all the more so, and all the more so, when
he projects in his mind the lines extending out to the upper worlds, which in
comparison to them, all the planets are totally insignificant. Hence there is
no measure to the distance he spans there in the upper worlds through the
slightest change of location, even less than a hairsbreadth, that he distances
himself and goes from the place he was at initially — even though here on the
lower Earth he did not go far, and went just less than a hairbreadth, visibly
not moving at all — for this is impossible to measure except by Hashem
Yisburach. Even still, there, in the upper worlds, he spans many, many
thousands of worlds and miles — and all the more so, all the more so, when
someone goes a mile or many miles in service of Hashem; "Eye has not
seen... (Isaiah 64:3)."
6.
The Two Palaces
Know
that there are two kinds of palaces, and the two palaces are identical. In one
lives a king, and in the second lives a slave. And certainly in truth there is
a vast difference between the palace of a king and the palace of a slave, but
nevertheless it is possible to mistake one for the other, for there is a
connection, that many souls connect to the extent that from them is made a
house and palace. For one binds to another, and one to another, until there is
made from them a foundation, and then a tent, until there is built from them a
house and an abode. And this abode is an abode for truth. And when there is a need
to request truth, it is found there in that abode, that is, amidst the
connection of the souls previously mentioned which from them is made an abode
for the truth, as mentioned. And therefore the Torah commanded, "Turn the [judgment] to follow the majority [opinion] [Ex. 23:2]," for since many
have bound together as one, certainly the truth is there, as mentioned.
And
this is the aspect of, “All the soul of the [lit: to the] House of Jacob [Gen. 46:26,27 and Rashi there explains
that it says 'soul' singular, because they were united in serving One G-d]."
That is, from the souls are made the “House of Jacob,” that is, an abode for
truth, which is the aspect of Jacob, as is written, “Grant truth to Jacob [Mic.
7:20]."
However,
be aware that diametrically opposed to this, there is the bond of the wicked,
that many souls of the wicked bind together, and from them is made a house and
abode for falsehood. And regarding this the prophet warned (Isa. 8:12), “Do not
say (-recognize as) a band, to whatever this people say (with the force of) a
band [Isa. 8:12]," for the banding of the wicked is not counted, and regarding
this it is written, “Do not follow a multitude to do evil [Ex. 23:2]."
But
behold, between these two houses it is possible to make a mistake, that is,
between the truth and the falsehood. For falsehood simulates itself to the truth,
for there too there is the connection from many souls, and it possible for a
man to be mistaken, and not know where the truth is, and to where he should
draw himself.
And
know, that by means of the mitzvah of redeeming captives, one merits to
understand (-differentiate) between the two houses mentioned, between truth and
falsehood, between a king and a slave, for falsehood is the aspect of a slave, an
aspect of 'cursed,' an aspect of, "cursed is Canaan — a slave of slaves
etc. [Gen. 9:25]."
The Two Intellects
And know that there are two types of
intellects, and they are the aspect of, "behind" and "before."
That is, there is an intellect that comes to a man with time, and the older and
more advanced in years he gets, the more he knows, an aspect of, “Days will
speak” [Job 32:7]. This type of intellect
is in the category of “behind,” since it comes with the delayment ('behind') of
time, for this intellect needs time. But there is an intellect that comes to a
man in great abundance, very swiftly, in less than an instant, for it is above
time; and no time at all is needed for this intellect, and this intellect is
the category of “face," which is the aspect of Jacob, the aspect of truth,
in the aspect of, “those that seek Your face, Jacob. Selah [Ps. 24:6]."
(see Likutay Moharan, Torah 21).
7.
A Remedy For Pox
After Shabbat,
Torah Portion of Vay'chi, he said, “At this Shalosh
Se`udos (third meal) I became
aware of a segulah (a rite or charm) for pox. Take chalk
(-soft white limestone – calcium carbonate. Heb: sodium) and take soap [boarees] three times the weight of the chalk, and
from the two make a bath to bathe the baby. And it is necessary to do this as
soon as the baby starts to have fever and burn up from this, and it will be
effective with the help of Hashem, if the decree is not severe, but if the
decree is severe Heaven forbid, it will not help.”
And he
said, “The disease of pox resulted from the Sin of the Calf. So, in this regard
there is a difficulty: Isn't this disease also found by the nations of the
world? But it is brought in the Midrash that the nations of the world ought not
have any diseases (since their portion
is this world), but only in order that they not oppress and provoke Israel, all
the illnesses that Israel have, were given to them, as Rashi has explained on
the verse, `Do not put me to be the disgrace of the scoundrel' [Psalms 39:9]:
Bring plagues and pains upon him as well so that he will not be able to say to
me, 'You are stricken but we are not stricken;’ and this prayer caused
afflictions of sicknesses to be brought upon the nations. And there is another
seeming problem: Surely this illness certainly existed before the Sin of the
Calf. However, beforehand, the illness was not severe, and the pox was only a
result of blood that the baby had drawn in its mother's womb, as is known to
the erudite doctors, but it was not a grave illness with mortal danger Heaven
forbid, as it is now; and this was induced by the aforementioned sin.
[The
remedy] is also slightly alluded to in
Jeremiah, where everything is mentioned in one verse: "Even if you wash
yourself with chalk and increase greatly for yourself soap, the stain of your sin is before Me” [Jer. 2:22]. Rashi explains that this
refers to the Sin of the Calf. [Nesser
– means Kraid in Yiddish; Boarees – Zayif]. (Thus,
the secret of the segulah for this illness caused by the Sin of the Calf
is alluded to here, that is, to wash with nesser, which is chalk, and to
use much boarees, which is soap.) And understand
wonders.
8.
Sarah Esther
[A story] from the days of his youth. One time people
came to him with a pidyon (-redemption),
to pray for a girl, Sarah
Esther bas (daughter of) Yehudith. And he said that she would die,
and so it was. And he said that he knew this from the holy Torah, since he saw
then the verse, “Vehadagah asher ba'yeor maissah va'yeev'ash/And the
fish which were in the river died and stank” [Ex. 7:21]. And in the words, "maissah va'yeev'ash" this was
revealed to him — "MaiSsaH Va'YeeV'ASh" is an acronym of "Sarah [A]esther [V]bas Yehudith Vai MaiSsaH [Woe! Sarah Esther daughter of Yehudith died]!" May Hashem keep us.
9.
The Ten Psalms
– Tikun Haklalli
[The
Rebbe] cautioned his men, when an impure accident happens to them (i.e. nocturnal emission) Heaven forbid, that they should go
immediately to a mikvah [ritual
bath] to immerse, because through a
nocturnal emission Heaven forbid, there is done what it is done. Therefore it
is very good that before some [bad] thing starts to be done as a result of
this, Heaven forbid, the man should preempt, and immerse and purify himself.
And he
cautioned us very much that a man should not fear this at all, for fear, worry,
and melancholy in this matter are very, very harmful, especially after he
revealed these ten chapters of Psalms which
have the segulah to rectify this offense, namely: 16, 32, 41, 42, 59,
77, 90, 105, 137, 150, as explained in the books which have been already printed.
At that time he said, “Whoever merits to fulfill this, to say these (the) ten
chapters of Psalms mentioned above, on the same day he has a nocturnal emission
Heaven forbid, will certainly have his sin rectified, and should no longer
worry at all.” He also scoffed of those chassidim and [Heaven] fearing people
whom, whenever some thought occurs to them, they fear lest they come to a nocturnal
emission, and due to this they are accustomed to do frequently what is
permitted, for fear that they shouldn't come to a nocturnal emission. And he,
of blessed memory, would make scoff of this. And his main intention was: that a
man needs to not be scared or fear such things at all, and not to think any
thoughts at all regarding this, but only be like a valiant soldier standing
against his craving, and detach his mind from this completely and not be scared
at all, and Hashem, what is good in His eyes will do with him, what He, Blessed
He, desires.
And he
hinted with his words that this is the aspect of the infraction of King David ob"m,
with Bathsheba etc., but he did not explain the matter well (See Tractate Sucah
52b). And a person very, very much needs to strengthen himself in joy
continuously, and not fall in his mind at all from anything in the world, no
matter what happens to him. And if he will be strong in his mind, and not get
frightened at all, and not devise thoughts at all (which are called iber trachten/over-thinking), and
will go unfeigned in joy, he will merit to ultimately pass everything in peace.
And things like these, are impossible to explain in writing, but a clever
person will understand in stride (Proverbs 14:15).
10.
A King's Hand
In
addition, what he told over on Shabbat Chanukah but it was forgotten, of a
king's son who was distanced from his father etc., and he yearned very, very
much, etc. etc.. And a letter from his father arrived to him, and he delighted in
it very, very much, but still he yearned very much, and he yearned that anyhow he
would extend his hand to him, and if he would extend his hand to him, he would
hug it and kiss it. And afterwards he settled himself, "Behold this letter
is the handwriting of the king himself, and therefore it is the king's hand, etc. etc. (All this was
not written properly, for it has been forgotten, since it was not written down
at the time. Many see this story as referring to the holy Petek that Saba
Yisroel received from Rabbi Nachman):
Completed and consummated, praise to G-d, Creator of the World!
Blessed is He Who gives strength to the weary, and to those without power He increases might.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!
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Thank G-d for Na Nach!!!