Dvar Torah for Rebbe Nachman's Yortzeit

Rebbe Nachman's yortzeit (anniversary of passing) is 18 Tishrei, which this year is Thursday night and Friday.

One of the people who sent in a kvittel asked for a prayer "for those trees which remain." Trees appear often in Rebbe Nachman's works. For example, in the Rebbe's stories characters are carrying them, climbing them, watering them, looking for them or getting lost among them. The festival of Sukkot always brings trees to mind. The roof of the sukah is made of branches and cane; the mitzvah of waving the Four Species is fulfilled with four species of tree: lulav (palm), etrog (citron), hadas (myrtle) and aravah (willow).

The Midrash teaches that the Jewish people can be grouped into four. Those who have little or no Torah knowledge or mitzvah observance"they are like the aravah which has neither fruit nor pleasant scent. Those who have mitzvah observance, but lack Torah knowledge are like the hadas"fragrant, but fruitless. Those who do have Torah knowledge, but are lacking in their mitzvah observance are compared to the lulav"they may bear fruit, but they lack aroma. The etrog, both fruitful and fragrant, represents the tzaddikim who have both Torah knowledge and observance. Yet the four species must be bound together"they need one another (Vayikra Rabbah 30). (See also Deuteronomy 20:19 and Psalms 92:13.)

We're different"very different"from one another. As much as contemporary Jewish fashions differ from one another, the furniture of our minds differs all the more. Yet as trees we have one thing very much in common. In order to grow we need to be watered. The "water" that we can always count on, says Rebbe Nachman, is that of challenge. The Rebbe calls these challenges "strife" (see Sanhedrin 7a).

We tend to look at strife and opposition to our will as something negative. We want to live our life and do our mitzvot on Easy Street. Rebbe Nachman taught that challenge makes us search and grow. Being humbled"cast into the ground as a seed"forces us to unlock potential we may not have known we had.

Strife comes from outward opposition; questions and difficulties"including physical attack"that others pose. Strife also comes from within, the conflict between one's positive and negative aspirations, the belief that comes from success and disbelief that stems from failure. Rebbe Nachman dealt with both sorts of strife and challenge in his life. The Rebbe's personal struggles and his teachings offer us the inspiration and the advice we need to maintain the struggle for as long as necessary. Sometimes, the Rebbe says, the struggle may be measured in years (Likutey Moharan II, Lesson #48).

May Rebbe Nachman's merit protect us and all Israel. Amen.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!