Tag Archives: Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom

Conceited Fool

 

You should have read this first. If you haven’t, please do. It will give (personal) context to what follows.

 

An irreligious man came to Rebbe Nachman and boasted that he was an expert in foreign (non-Jewish) languages. He had recently been in a government office and was able to interpret a word that even their professional interpreters did not know. He was very conceited because of this knowledge.

When the man left, the Rebbe ridiculed him for being conceited about such nonsense. One of the Rebbe’s disciples, an extraordinary God-fearing scholar, was there. He asked, “Maybe it is better to be conceited because of something foolish than to be conceited, God forbid, because of one’s Torah knowledge?”

The Rebbe was silent for a minute and then answered, “No. The opposite is true. Our Sages tell us that when Rebbe Akiva was in prison, Papus said to him, ‘Fortunate are you Rebbe Akiva, for you were imprisoned for the sake of the Torah. But woe unto Papus who was imprisoned for trivialities’” (Berakhot 61b).

It is brought in Likutey Moharan I, Lesson #22 that the punishment for conceit is imprisonment. See Likutey Moharan II, Lesson #63 which discusses the imprisonment of Rebbe Akiva. It is established that it is better to be conceited on account of Torah, than on account of trivialities.

Talents, skills, knowledge—they’re all fine and dandy. But ultimately they’re trivial. They have no meaning unless they are harnessed to that which is everlasting. And that’s why we are gifted with them. Capisce paisan?

© Copyright 2014 148west.com/O. Bergman

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Anchors Aweigh! Away? A Way?

While I was working on a project last night, I came across this short piece from Sichot HaRan (Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom) #121. I’ve taught it dozens of times and seen it even more than that, but it hit me with a new force. I literally felt as if the Rebbe zl  slapped me in the face. Here is the piece:

The Rebbe once lectured us to pray with concentration and energy. He emphasized that a person must exert himself to pray with all his strength. He said, “You put as much energy into your prayers as I did into pulling up the anchor.”

The Rebbe was once travelling by ship when an emergency arose. Everybody on board—crew and passengers—was pressed into service and forced to pull the rope with all his might to weigh anchor. “I went through the motions of pulling with all my strength, but really I wasn’t using any energy at all. I was actually pretending. I was being coerced, so I acted as if I was pulling with all my might. The is what your prayer ‘with energy and concentration’ is like.”

I had always taken away the obvious message: you’re not really putting in genuine effort; and obvious message #2: c’mon—you call that trying? But last night it hit me hard when I realized that the Rebbe zl was telling me why I wasn’t putting honest effort into my davening. I feel like I’m being coerced. On a subtle level, part of why I am in shul three times a day is that I have to be there.

Definitely some part of me wants to daven or I wouldn’t do it all. But since not all of my self is invested in davening, I don’t invest all of my energy into davening. I’m pretending to pull the rope to weigh anchor. I’m making all the appropriate gestures and noises that come along with it, but really I’m putting on a show. Sometimes it’s such a good show I fool even myself.

But as with anything in life that a person feels called to do, he’ll give it everything he’s got. Hearty davening!

© Copyright 2014 148west.com/O. Bergman

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Saving Money

Q. I wanted to know what the frum [i.e., ultra-Orthodox] world and the Breslov world thinks about putting away money in savings/401K plans.

I remember reading in Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom (aka Sichot HaRan) #247, that the more money one has, the further his wealth is from him, with money in the bank being among the furthest away.  I thought, money in an “untouchable” bank would be considered even more removed.  What do followers of Rebbe Nachman take as an approach to long-term savings and the like?

A.

Good question.

Rabbi  Nachman’s Wisdom #247  is part of Rabbeinu zal’s overall message to diminish one’s money-lust. That is, somewhere along the line, most folk start to develop an idea like, “The more money I have, the stronger/worthier/real I am. Therefore, the pursuit of wealth is a worthwhile endeavor and goal.” That’s a big mistake and a waste of life. (Rebbe Nachman does say a person should work for his livelihood, but in service of God [e.g., to give charity], not in service of self or other people.)

If you look at the entire passage there, you’ll see that Rebbe Nachman is contrasting acquiring wealth with acquiring Torah. The more material wealth one has, the less direct his connection with it. On the contrary, the more Torah wisdom (not mere knowledge) one acquires, the more it is an actual part of him.

401Ks etc. are a [a] a matter of trust (how much a person trusts in God) and [b] how does the world work in our day and age. For most of us, our level of trust is such that we work for a living. A retirement fund is, to a degree, “working for your old age,” a future paycheck. Since this is a normal way of doing things for people with a normal degree of trust, it’s alright. It’s also smart.

By the way: Trust in God includes, “God gave me seikhel (intelligence). That means He wants me to use it. Having money for my old age, when I can no longer work, seems to be a good idea.”

Hoped this helped.

© Copyright 2013 O. Bergman

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