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THE ALEPH-BET BOOK
Rabbi Nachman's Aphorisms on Jewish Living

SAMEKH

THE OMER COUNTING
MYSTERIES
HOLY BOOKS
DIVINE REMEDY

SEFIRAT HA'OMER
THE OMER COUNTING

B

1)
Counting the Omer saves one from being banished [from his homeland].

2)
It is all the more important to immerse [in a mikveh] after an emission during the weeks of the Omer counting.

3)
The period of the Omer counting is a propitious time for defeating an informer. This is alluded to by the word L'OMER, which forms an acronym for "Me'igra Rama L'bira O'mikta - from a high place down to a deep pit."

SOD
MYSTERIES

B

1)
By deeply studying the Torah's mysteries, you can bring barren women to bear children and heal serious diseases.

SEFER
HOLY BOOKS

B

1)
When a person refrains from authoring some holy work which he is capable of producing, it is as if he remains childless.

2)
Those who author holy works should carefully weigh the contents of their work to see if there is sufficient material for a book. For the value of any book comes only from those parts which were written with a "binding of souls," as in, "Herein is recorded the history of mankind' (Genesis 5:1). If but a minimum of the book was written in this way, it is not worthy of publication.

3)
Those with insight are ab - le to determine by looking into a holy book if its original teachings belonged entirely to the author or if they already existed but were never recorded because in and of themselves they were insufficient for forming an entire work. [If the latter is true,] then the original ideas were revealed to this author so that he might bring them into print. Actually, he did not work for these insights, which came easily because someone else had already labored to discover them.

4)
When a new book is printed, the crying it took to produce it - which is the aspect of, "and mixed my drink with crying" (Psalms 102:10) - overcomes the nations' evil decrees against us. Indeed, the essential strength of their rule stems only from the time Esav cried [when Yaakov took his blessing]. This can be extracted from the verse, "And the number of the Jewish People will be like the grains of sand in the sea" (Hosea 2:1). [The word mispar -idon can also be read mi'sefer -idon, a holy book; and the words "B'nai Yisrael K'chol Hayatn - the Jewish People will be like the grains of sand in the sea" form an acrostic for B'KhiYaH, crying.]

5)
By refraining from gazing at women, a man will be rewarded with offspring who will one day author commentaries on the Torah.

6)
It is actually beneficial that certain of the holy books written by righteous authors, including Tanaim and other past Tzaddikim, have been lost and forgotten from the world. Their disappearance is the cause for many books on apostasy and heretical thought to be uprooted and erased from existence. The loss of these holy works also serves to eliminate the jealousy and hatred that may have arisen between husband and wife who have conducted themselves according to the principles of holiness.

7)
When a great book appears in the world, it causes barren women to bear children. This is alluded to in the verse, "Herein is recorded the history of mankind" (Genesis 5:1); [alernatively translated: "This book is the birth of man."]

SEGULAH
DIVINE REMEDY

B

1)
The feathers of wild birds of prey are a segulah for curing diseased lungs and for strengthening vitality.

2)
The heavens change in appearance to match the different grasses which grow because of them. It is a segulah to gaze Heavenward.

3)
Rainwater is a segulah for virility.

4)
Reciting Psalms is a segulah for bringing the rains. [This can be seen from the Hebrew word for] Psalms - TeHiLiM which is an acronym of "Lim'tar Hashamayim Tishteh Mayim [the Land of Israel] drinks water from the rain of Heaven" (Deuteronomy 11:11).

5)
Hospitality is a segulah for returning a woman's menses [so that she can again bear children].

6)
An abnormally hairy person is susceptible to much harm and misfortune at the hand of the Other Side. A segulah [for protection] is for him to recite the Torah section read on Yom Kippur (Leviticus, chap. 16).

7)
A person who has suddenly lost his ability to speak should have a knife which is suitable for use in ritual slaughtering passed over his mouth.

8)
A segulah for a woman who has difficulty in childbirth is to hang the cemetery key around her neck. This key is also a segulah for[countering] barrenness.

9)
A segulah for a person suffering from a neck ailment is to cry over the destruction of the Holy Temple.

10)
A segulah for a person moving to a new house is to bring into it a sword, or a knife or some other type of weapon. A hint to this is found in the verse "A house is built with ChoKhMah, wisdom" (Proverbs 24:3); the letters being an acronym for "Klei Chomos Me'cheiroteihem - weapons are their wares" (Genesis 49:5). [The explanation of me'cheiroteihem is alternatively,] their swords or t' eir p aces of dwelling.

11)
Apples are a segulah for those [women] who have difficult births.

- A segulah for curing sickness is to gaze upon the strings of the tzitzit. (This is the deeper meaning of the verse, "Behold, your son Yosef comes to you" (Genesis 48:2); whose Hebrew letters allude [through numerology] to the number of strings, twists and ties of the tzitzit (Pri Etz Chayim). [Yaakov was sick at the time he was told of Yosef's arrival, after which] it is written, "And Yaakov recovered.")

- Giving charity generously is a segulah for curing epilepsy. This is alluded to in the words, "Pizar Natan L'evyonim - he has generously given to the poor" (Psalms 112:9); the first letters of which form the word NeFeL, an epileptic (see glossary P).

- A segulah for a woman who has difficulty giving birth is for her to bathe her entire body in wine; as in, "when wine enters, that which was hidden comes out" (Eruvin 65a).


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