Herbert Zbigniew - famous Polish Poet screams out from his poetry for Rabbi Nachman!

HH

WIKI:

Zbigniew Herbert was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. A member of the Polish resistance movement, Home Army, during World War II, he is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. Wikipedia

Born: October 29, 1924, Lviv, Ukraine

Died: July 28, 1998, Warsaw, Poland

Spouse: Katarzyna Dzieduszycka (m. 1968–1998)

Awards: Kościelski Award, Herder Prize, MORE

Nominations: Neustadt International Prize for Literature

PRESSREADER:
Born in 1924 in Lwow, Poland, he described his religion as "Orthodox from my grandmother, Catholic by my father, and all around, evidences of Hasidic culture."

Certainly he had read the tales of the Hasidic master, Rabbi Nachman of Braclaw. To evoke the moral universe of parable, Herbert created his double, Mr. Cogito (Mr. I Think), the fictional protagonist in several of his poems. In Mr. Cogito Seeks Advice, he writes:

"So many books dictionaries bloated encyclopedias but no no one to give advice ... so I wander at night on our father's roads ... I"m looking for you Rebbe .... My heart aches .... Ihave troubles Rabbi Nachman Might give me advice But how do I find him Among so many ashes

(From the LA Times I think):

The climactic final poems in “Mr. Cogito” swell in scale without ever relinquishing their individuality. They are huge and modest. In “Mr. Cogito Seeks Advice,” he puts aside learning to seek the great Hasidic Rabbi Nachman. He goes to the village of Braclaw and calls out for him as though he were still alive. There is no answer; the sunflowers in the fields around the village are black. It is not only Rabbi Nachman who has died--history, the arsonist, has incinerated itself:

*

perhaps rabbi Nachman

could give me advice

but how can I find him

among so many ashes

*

---

longer excerpt different translation:

- I am looking for you rabbi

behind which block of heaven

have you concealed your wise ear

- my heart hurts me rabbi

- I have troubles

he would be able to counsel me

Rabbi Nachman

but how can I find him

among so many ashes

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman

Yaakov Weinrot's Breslov dance parting from this world

HH

Yaakov Weinrot was the attorney of Bibi Netanyahu, he passed away last week. Before he passed away he gave a public address in which he discussed the meaning of life, he sited profusely from all types of philosophers, until he got to tachlis (-end purpose), and discussed some of the foundations of Rabbainu as they are presented in Likutay Moharan (he called the teaching “Torah 64” – the way Breslovers refer to the teachings, as opposed to the unfamiliar who would refer to it as “siman” or the likes. Obviously he was very invested in the study of this holy book). This lecture can be found on the Youtube, from what I understand – by just typing in his first name יעקב, Youtube will already suggest this video, because B”H it went kind of viral, and it has been shared and liked thousands of times on Facebook. Here is a person who merited right before he passed away to greatly sanctify the name of Hashem by revealing Rabbainu to the masses.

Before he launched into the teachings of Rabbainu he made a disclaimer that maybe only 50-60 people really understand Rabbainu and that Breslov is not about dancing in the streets and giving out books. However, from the little synopsis of his lecture which I read, it appears that his conclusion from what he learned from Rabbainu, is that there are no real facts which force and hold a person to any intellectual truth, just, every truth has a melody and poetry which every person sings in their own way, and the main thing is the joy of the melody. [Forgive me if I didn’t capture his point completely, but I’m doing the best I can on the little I have to go on….]. Based on those conclusions, the dancing in the street and distribution of the holy books is the paragon of living the poetic joy of the Torah, and I think it is fair to assert that his opening remarks dissing the commoners of Breslov was just to make the listener feel special that they would be privy to something elite, and also that they shouldn’t feel threatened that they were being lured into something they might look down upon, or maybe they even hold themselves superior to such practices. Ultimately, his speech which he delivered shortly before his passing, when he was already extremely terminally ill, weak and trembling, was his own little dance for Rabbainu. May he merit to sing and dance Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman in heaven with the rest of the righteous.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman!