HH
Anyone looking at history, tracing the path of true faith and devotion of the One Merciful G-d, from our Forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to Moses and David, to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, to the Arizal, to the Baal Shem Tov, to Rabbainu Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman and his main disciple R' Nuttun, to R' Moshe Breslevor, to R' Yisroel Karduner, to Saba Yisroel, will seemingly chance upon a period of almost 30 years where R' Shlomo Carlbach pops up and steals the show. Although R' Shlomo attributed his career to Rabbainu and taught and spread many of the ideas of Rabbi Nuttun, he did not fully abnegate himself to Breslov, so it is strange to see him dominate the role of forging a model for true devotion. What I think was going on was what R' Shlomo said of that period, especially of the hippies, it was alot of light without vessels. Where was all this light coming from? People are quick to attribute it to the 6 million and the Jewish settlement of the Holy Land, but that isn't a sufficient source, because HY runs the world with people -- tzaddikim, not just auras and spirits.
If you take a look at what was going on in Breslov in these years you will find the source of this great light. For example reading the diary -- autobiography of R' Shmuel Horowitz - Yimay Shmuel, one sees how much passion and yearning he had for G-d, sometimes lying awake the entire night not able to sleep, just completely burning with yearning for holiness. There were only a few Breslovers around, and they were very limited, but their devotions were super exemplary, they had friendship and love between them almost unparalleled in history. They served G-d from dire poverty and persecution and contempt of the communities they lived in. All this is just a taste of what it was, and so it should be obvious now that here we have a source of huge holiness and light being brought down into the world. The light wasn't being so much building in their native surroundings, where G-d chose to have them remain in constricting circumstances, so all over the world huge spiritual awakening and revolutions were shining into the populace.
In these years our super tzadik, Saba Yisroel Dov Odesser kept himself very hidden, and there is no doubt that his devotions were flooding the world encouraging spiritual revival.
Those that were completely faithful to Rabbainu guarded themselves from deviating even an iota from the teachings and methodology of Breslov. The tradition had to be 100% pure.
It was in this arena R' Shlomo found himself, and tried to bridge the gap. Although he acknowledged Rabbainu's place at the forefront of all spiritual direction, he did not know how to go all the way with Rabbainu, so he found place for presenting many different rabbis. In the Stories of Ancient Times which Rabbainu revealed, he revealed a concept of temporary leaders who accepted their terms of leadership to be void upon the appearance of someone more suitable. This is what R' Shlomo said of himself. However, later in Breslov circles, rabbis would spring up announcing themselves as spiritual guides who weren't very interested at all in giving up their little power-centers.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!
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