Sichos HaRan
Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom

by Reb Noson of Nemirov

#280.

The Rebbe spoke about tzaddikim who always wander and move about. He said, 'There are outcast souls that cannot be elevated except through the wandering of a tzaddik. Even if the tzaddik does not want to travel, he roams and wanders in his house. He paces back and forth, and this is also in the category of Ôwandering and roaming.'Ó

#281.

The Rebbe very strongly cautioned us to safeguard our money. He was very particular that we should take good care of our possessions. He was very opposed to being careless, and strongly ridiculed the hapless individual, the shlim mazelnik.

The Rebbe said, 'A man takes time from Torah and prayer, and struggles to earn some money to support his family. After he earns the money, he becomes a hapless shlim mazelnik and does not take care of it at all. Honest Jewish money must be guarded like the eyes in one's head.Ó

It happened occasionally that one of the Rebbe's followers would lose his money while travelling and come to the Rebbe and complain. The Rebbe would berate him and lecture him for not taking better care of his money.

#282.

The Rebbe said that leaving a tzaddik is like committing idolatry. The only difference between {the Hebrew letters} dalet and reish is a small protrusion. It is written in the holy Zohar that this protrusion is the tzaddik. Leaving a tzaddik separates the protrusion from the dalet making it into a reish.

The word Æchad {one} expresses God's unity. Substitute a reish for the dalet in ÆchaD and you have ÆcheR–another. It is written, 'You shall not bow down to another godÓ (Exodus 34:14). Remove the protrusion and the dalet becomes a reish the ÆchaD of God's unity becomes the ÆchaR of idolatry and atheism.

Faith in God comes through the tzaddikim, the protrusion of the dalet that expresses God's unity. In many places the Rebbe says that the root of faith can only be attained by closeness to the tzaddikim.

#283.

The Rebbe once spoke about young married men who find their worship greatly disturbed by the fact that they have not sanctified themselves properly in their marital relations. They feel tainted and find prayer very difficult. The Rebbe constantly warned us not to become discouraged because of this.

He said, 'What happened, happened. When you pray, you must forget everything else. No matter what happened, strengthen yourselves and pray properly.Ó He said that this is the meaning of Abba Benjamin's saying, 'I am concerned... that my prayer should be close to my bedÓ (Berakhot 5b).

'BedÓ is a euphemism for marital relations. 'My prayer should be close to my bedÓ means 'I should be able to pray without being disturbed by my Ôbed.'Ó

#284.

There were many youths in the community who prayed with great feeling and enthusiasm. Others would disturb them and cause them trouble. When the youths complained, their detractors had a stock answer. They said, 'If you have true feeling and are really bound up in your prayers, then you should not hear any disturbance. Your devotion should be enough to block out everything else.Ó

The Rebbe said, 'The truth is that this is no argument. The greatest tzaddik may pray with great strength and attachment to God, but he can still be disturbed. No matter how great his enthusiasm, no matter how deeply he is bound up in prayer, he can still be greatly disturbed by one who makes fun of him and disturbs him. All his feeling and emotion will not prevent him from being disturbed and distressed.Ó

The Rebbe once said that sometimes a person is given great wealth. Everyone else envies him. They spend days and years pursuing wealth because of this envy. But in the end they have nothing. This is all the work of Satan. He works hard to make one man rich so that many others should waste their lives envying him. 'Heaven help us against this misleading notionÓ (Shabbat 84b).

#285.

The Rebbe was once speaking of the tremendous greatness of the Torah, and its awesome secrets. He said, 'The entire Tikuney Zohar {a work of seventy chapters} is a commentary on but one word, Bereishis, the first word of the Torah. Thousands of volumes would not suffice to explain all the secrets found in the Tikuney Zohar. Its study has no end. So great is the Tikuney Zohar that all the skins of Neviot would not be sufficient to contain its wisdom.

'All this is but a commentary on a single word, Bereishis {In the beginning}. Take the next word, bara {He created}. A volume equal to the Tikuney Zohar could also be written concerning it. It would contain an equal number of mysteries.

'Now understand the depth of our holy Torah. A Tikuney Zohar could be written on each and every word. Each one contains inconceivable depth and mystery. The Torah contains not one, but many words. Its greatness is beyond the ability of language to describe.Ó

#286.

The Rebbe once said to me, 'You do speak with people. You probably ask them ÔWhat?' Du shmust zikh yaw mit mentschen. Kersti zei tzu fregen vos?.Ó He emphasized the word vos {what}, stressing it in a loud voice from the depths of his heart.

What?

It is fitting to ask people this question. You do not think about your purpose in life. 'What?Ó You have many vain and foolish complaints and excuses. Your life is filled with confusion and frustration. After all this: What?

You say that you have reason to be far from God.

What?

What will become of you?

What will you do in the end?

What will you answer the One Who sent you?

What do you think?

What are you on earth, if not a stranger?

What is your life, if not vanity and emptiness 'a passing shadow, a scattered cloud?Ó

You know this well. What do you say? Take these words to heart. Bring them into the depths of your being. Do not ignore them. Turn them over and over and you will save your soul.

#287.

The Rebbe said, 'What must a man do in this world? He needs to do nothing but pray and study and pray. Meh bedarf mer nit nor davenen oon lernen oon davenen.Ó

I heard many similar things, but they could not be recorded.

#288.

I heard that the Rebbe was once speaking to a man and quoted the Mishnah, 'Repent one day before your deathÓ (Avot 2:10). The Rebbe stressed the words 'one day,Ó drawing them out at great length.

Yesterday and tomorrow are man's downfall. Today you may be aroused toward God. But yesterday and tomorrow pull you back. No matter where a person stands, he suffers reverses. The person who dwells on yesterday and tomorrow will surely fail. The Rebbe therefore stressed, 'Repent one day before your death.Ó

'Before your deathÓ is your entire life. During your entire lifetime, you may only be worthy of one day of repentance. This one day is more precious than all treasures. For what does person gain from all his worldly effort? Nothing remains of your entire life other than this one day of repentance before God.

Repent one day–even one day
before your death– during your sojourn here on earth.

Forget about yesterday and tomorrow. This one day is everything. Understand this.

#289.

The Rebbe once said, 'Only a person trapped by his possessions borrows money to do business. A free man does not borrow. He engages in honest business, using only his own money.

'It is written, ÔYou shall love the Lord your God... with all your might' (Deuteronomy 6:5). This is fulfilled by a person who does not borrow money for his business.Ó

The Rebbe also said that this commandment is fulfilled by one who gives a fifth of his income to charity.