Sichos HaRan
Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom

by Reb Noson of Nemirov

#10.

The wicked are filled with regrets. The wicked never really experience regret. Any sorrow they might feel only results in their strengthening of their wickedness. As soon as a thought of remorse enters their minds, they fight it by making themselves even more evil.

It is like two men fighting. As soon as one begins to win, the other must fight all the harder. The wicked are the same. As soon as any good is aroused in them, they fight it all the more. Understand this.

The same is true in the opposite case. The more you want to serve God, the more the Evil One strives against you. If you realize this, you can fight him with strategy and continually defeat him. With God's help, you will be worthy of emerging victorious.

#11.

Happy are we, for God has been good to us and given us the holiness of Judaism. The Rebbe said, "I have great joy simply because I was worthy of being in the Land of Israel."

The Rebbe's voyage to the Holy Land involved much confusion and many frustrations. Money for the trip was almost nonexistent. But still he overcame all barriers and attained his goal of walking in the Holy Land.

He said, "I believe this and understand it fully well. The effort involved in every thought and movement when doing something holy is not wasted. "When you want to do something holy, at first you are confused and unsure. You are standing on the balance deciding whether or not to do it and barriers seem to be springing up on every side.

"Then you are worthy of completing the task. Your every movement, your every thought and even the confusion you had in completing this deed, all are marked for good. They are lifted on high and made into very holy and exalted things."

Fortunate is one who is worthy of breaking down all barriers and completing each holy task.

#12.

When people want to become truly religious and serve God, they seem to be overwhelmed with confusion and frustrations. They find great barriers in their path and cannot decide what to do. The more they want to serve God, the more difficulty they encounter.

All the enthusiasm that such people have when trying to do good is very precious, even if their goal is not achieved. All their effort is counted like a sacrifice, in the category of, "For Your sake, we are killed each day, we are counted like sheep for the slaughter" (Psalms 44:23). The Tikuney Zohar states that this verse speaks of both prayer and sacrifice.

When a person wants to pray, he encounters many distractions. But still, he gives himself over entirely to the task, exerting every effort to pray properly. Even if his prayer is not perfect, his every effort is like bringing a sacrifice, in the category of "for your sake we are killed each day."

The same is true of everything else in religion. You may wish to perfect yourself, but find yourself unable to do so completely. Still, the effort and suffering involved in the frustrated attempt are not in vain. They are all an offering to God, included in the verse. "For your sake we are killed each day, we are counted like sheep for the slaughter."

Therefore, always do your part, making every effort to serve God to the best of your ability. Whatever task lies in your hand, do it with all your might. Keep it up, even when all your efforts seem to be frustrated and all your attempts in vain. Do everything in your ability, and God will do what is good in His eyes.

#13.

There are many religious people who have no livelihood, and find this is a source of great stress and confusion. But even this is good for the world, for there are many precious things that only come from such confusion.

There are many types of confusion and distraction. In the Midrash we find that there is slumber pertaining to prophecy, as when "a deep sleep fell on Abraham." On the other hand, there is the sleep of fools. In both cases, sleep refers to mental confusion.

#14.

I envy a sincerely religious Jew such as we call an erlikher Yid. He may appear to have hands and feet and a body like every one else, but he is really something more. For a sincerely religious man is very precious indeed.

The main thing is desire and longing. Of course, this alone is not enough, for it must be realized in action. We are taught that one under duress is exempted by God, but this is only true when one actually desires not to be exempted.

You may be under duress, but you should not be satisfied with the fact that you are exempt. You must continually long to bring this good desire to fruition. For when you are not willing to be satisfied with the fact that you are under duress, the desire to complete the task is in itself very beneficial. For then, even if you find the task impossible, you have a worthy accomplishment in the desire alone.

#15.

The Rebbe said that it takes both wisdom and great effort to be like an animal. The wisdom one needs to be like a beast is alluded to in the verse, "All whom God bestowed wisdom is a beast" (Exodus 36:1).

[It is also written, "God saves man and beast" (Psalms 36:7). Our sages say that this refers to "people who are wise and clever and conduct themselves humbly like an animal." This is also the meaning of Asaph's words, "I was a fool, I did not know, I was like an animal before You" (ibid. 73:22).]

#16.

You can shout loudly in a "small still voice." You can scream without anyone hearing you shouting with this soundless "small still voice."

Anyone can do this. Just imagine the sound of such a scream in your mind. Depict the shout in your imagination exactly as it would sound. Keep this up until you are literally screaming with this soundless "small still voice."

This is actually a scream and not mere imagination. Just as some vessels bring the sound from your lungs to your lips, others bring it to the brain. You can draw the sound through these nerves, literally bringing it into your head. When you do this, you are actually shouting inside your brain.

When you picture this scream in your mind, the sound actually rings inside your brain. You can stand in a crowded room, screaming in this manner, with no one hearing you.

Sometimes when you do this, some sound may escape your lips. The voice, travelling through the nerves, can also activate the vocal organs. They might then produce some sound, but it will be very faint. It is much easier to shout this way without words. When you wish to express words, it is much more difficult to hold the voice in the mind and not let any sound escape. But without words it is much easier.

#17.

The Rebbe once lectured too someone to spend more time in his sacred studies He said, "Why don"t you study? What can you lose? Don"t you realize that it will earn you an eternal reward?"

When the Torah attracts a person to really love it, he no longer thinks about his Future reward, only desiring the Torah itself. For even God studies the Torah, for we are taught that God's day includes three hours of such study.

In our times the study of Torah has fallen very low. The great rabbis of the past had no knowledge of Kabbalah, but were still able to perform miracles through their strength in Torah. It was so great that whatever they said would come true.

#18.

The Rebbe once spoke about the current printing of sacred books. The number of printers had increased, publishing both recent and earlier works. They had no lack of customers, for every one was buying these volumes.

The Rebbe said the Talmud teaches us that "The day will come when the Torah will be forgotten among Jews." Therefore, many books are printed and bought, with people building up their own libraries. Since even the simplest tailor has books, the Torah is not forgotten.

As each book is published, people rush to buy it, building up respectable collections. In this manner the Torah does not fall into oblivion.

What people do not realize is that these books are of no help unless people look into them and study their teachings. But today the Torah has fallen very much, and few people study it. For how can books prevent the Torah from being forgotten if nobody studies them?

#19.

The Rebbe said, "I have a great longing to institute a rule that each person study a fixed amount in our sacred literature each day without fail. He said that this should even apply to those who are very far from holiness, even those who are caught in the evil trap and sin habitually, heaven forbid. Still, the strength of the Torah is so great that it can free them from their habitual sins.

If even the worst sinner would take upon himself a set practice to study a fixed amount every day, he would be able to escape from the evil trap. The Torah's strength is so great that it can accomplish everything.

A person's main goal should be to do good and serve God without sophistication. Every good and holy thing can be done with absolute simplicity. One can study much Torah, do much good and spend much time in prayer, all without sophistication at all.

The Rebbe continually warned us to always be happy. Much of this discussion is recorded in his holy works. However, there were countless other times that he discussed this.