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Excerpts from Breslov Research Institute Publications

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From: Where Earth and Heaven Kiss
A Guide to Rebbe Nachman’s Path of Meditation
By Ozer Bergman

About the Title

The title, Where Earth and Heaven Kiss, is based on Rebbe Nachman’s teaching of the following Talmudic story (Bava Batra 74a): Rabbah bar bar Chanah recounted: The Arab merchant said to me, “Come, I will show you where Earth and Heaven kiss.” I went and saw that windows had been made. I . took my basket and placed it in Heaven’s window. I said my prayer, but afterwards did not find it. “Are there thieves here?” I asked. He replied, “The Wheel of Heaven has turned. Wait till this time tomorrow; you will find it.”

Rebbe Nachman says that this teaching refers to the power of prayer. Earth and Heaven are the body and the soul, respectively. Where—and when—they kiss is the inner peace, harmony and tranquility that each of us seeks. Maharsha comments that it is indeed possible to change the world for the better through prayer and good deeds. Good deeds and kindness are born through honest self-judgment and sincere prayers that one will act benevolently. The setting for this self-judgment and prayer is hitbodedut.

Looking at this story through a Kabbalistic lens, the Ben Yehoyada reminds us that prayer and mitzvot raise the fallen sparks. Each of us needs to elevate certain sparks. Each day one has new sparks to raise, the work of today’s prayer completed by tomorrow’s.

The peace you make between body and soul, writes Reb Noson, can extend more and more, till it envelops the entire world. Amen.

Copyright © 2006 Breslov Research Institute

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From Where Earth and Heaven Kiss

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