Hiking the Narrow Bridge

Know this: every person must cross a very, very narrow bridge. The most important thing is not to succumb to fear.

The core idea in the service of God is that a person should have no fear, as our rabbis (zichronam livrachah) taught us that in this world a person needs to walk on a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing is that this person should have no fear. The most important thing as a person is strengthening herself to walk across this narrow bridge in peace and without fear is the holy faith.

"Hisbodedus" is the highest level of all, which means to set aside an hour or more to seclude oneself in a room or in a field, and to have express himself in dialogue with his Creator, with claims, words of favor, and to request and supplicate before Him that He should bring him close to His service. And this prayer should be in one's native language which is German (in our country), because in Hebrew it is hard to express oneself, and the heart isn't drawn after such words... And he should speak what is in his heart, whether it be regret and teshuva on the past, or supplications to merit to come close to Hashem in truth from that day on, and similar things, each according to his level. And one should be accustom himself to do this every day at a desginated time, and the rest of the day he should be happy. And even if sometimes he doesn't have anything to say, he should speak to Hashem about not having anything to say, and he should cry out to Hashem, that he is so far away that he doesn't even know what to say... And you should know, that many righteous people said that they only reached their level because of this practice.

(1) (This is the exact language of our Rebbe, may his memory be for a blessing). "The depths covered them, they sank like rocks...". For the main element of life-force is received from prayer, as it is written, "A Prayer to the God of my Life." Therefore, a person must pray with all of their power, for when a person prays with all of their power, and puts their power into the letters of the prayer, then their power is renewed there, in the aspect of "they are renewed in the morning, great is your faithfulness." For faith is [also] prayer, as it is written, "and his hands were steady," which [Onkelos] translates as, "they were spread in prayer."

(2) And know, that there are twelve tribes, corresponding to the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. Every tribe has its own unique liturgy (nusach), and their own unique gate through which their prayers enter, and each tribe awakens through their prayer the power of their particular constellation of the twelve in the zodiac, and their constellation shines back down and causes vegetation to grow, along with whatever else is needed. And this is the explanation of, "A star emerges from Jacob, a tribe stands up out of Israel." "Stands up" - this is the aspect of Amidah (standing), the aspect of prayer; for when a Jew stands in prayer, through this it awakens the star, and the star encourages and forces things to grow, as the sages have said: there is no blade of grass below that does not have its own star and angel above, that strike it and say to it: Grow!

(13) Rabbi Shimon says: Be careful in the reciting of Shema and praying. When you pray, do not make your prayer routine, rather prayers for mercy and supplication before the ever-present God, as it says, "For He is gracious and merciful." And do not be wicked in your own eyes.

(1) 1. One who isolates himself and separates himself from others, they attend to him from Above (t.n. Rabbi Nachman of Ttcherin's references show clearly that this attention from Above is to redress the persons sins. Examining the word Rabbainu used -- "mizdakek" in the holy books of the Torah, show that in fact this word is used to invoke action of obligation and redress, Rabbi Nachman of Tcherin who was a very holy, accomplished, knowledgeable Torah scholar, and also very much familiar with the traditions and teachings of Breslov, obviously was on the in on the meaning here. However a quick look at present day understanding of this maxim shows a complete misunderstanding -- it is taken as a positive thing, as purification or some sort of grace. This misconception is based on the common knowledge of the high regard Rabbi Nachman of Breslov had for hisbodidus -- secluding one's self in communion with G-d. However, just like in the second entry here on hisbodidus, where Rabbi Nachman of Breslov reveals that there is a way that hisbodidus can be harmful, so here too Rabbi Nachman is revealing that if in addition to one's hisbodidus he generally separates himself from people, this will bring upon him judgment and redress G”F. See Ramba”m, Laws of Repentance, 4:1 that seperating one's self from the public prevents one from repenting.

(76) 76. Before praying, one should attach one's spirit to the Creator, and due to the attachment, the words will emerge from his mouth of their own accord.

(1) It is written, "The whole earth is filled with His glory" (Isaiah 6:3).

(2) God's glory cries out from all things.

(3) Even the stories of all nations ring with God's glory. This is the meaning of the verse, "Let the nations tell of His glory" (Psalms 96:3). It is even reflected in their tales.

(4) God's glory always cries out, calling you to come close to Him. For God, with all His love and mercy, wants you to be close.

(5) Sometimes in the middle of your prayers, you become enflamed and the words flow from your lips with burning devotion.

(6) At this time, God's own light is inside you, beckoning you to draw near. This arousal is a spark of God's own Essence.

(7) It is written, "He is your praise, He is your God" (Deuteronomy 10:21). God Himself is in your praise and prayer, and at times, you pray right in front of God.

(8) [And sometimes] when God withdraws and is far off, you must still pray to Him. It is written, "Throw your burden upon God" (Psalms 55:23). You must literally throw your prayers towards God from afar. The Tikkuney Zohar (#21, 61b) states, "Happy is the man who knows how to throw arrows." These are the prayers that must be thrown towards God.

Know that it is possible to let out a very great scream in a still small voice, in such a way that no one will hear.

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 nerves 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, traveling through the nerves to the mind, can activate the vocal organs. These might then produce some sound, but it will be very faint.

It is much easier to shout in this way without using words. When you wish to express words, it is much more difficult to hold the voice in the mind and not to let any sound escape. But without words, it is much easier.

(2) Rabbi Chanina, the Deputy High Priest, says: Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear of it, man would swallow his fellow alive. Rabbi Chananya ben Teradyon says: Two who are sitting together and there are no words of Torah [spoken] between them, this is a session of scorners, as it is said (Psalms 1:1): “[Happy is the man who has]... not sat in the session of the scorners.” But two who are sitting together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, the Divine Presence rests with them, as it is said (Malachi 3:16): “Then those who feared the Lord spoke one with another, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for those who feared the Lord and for those who thought upon His Name.” I have no [Scriptural support for this] except [in a case of] two. From where [is there proof that] that even [when there is only] one [person studying Torah], the Holy One, blessed be He, determines a reward for him? As it is said (Lamentations 3:28): “He sits alone and is silent, since he takes [a reward] for it.”

The Min asked him, "Whence hast thou this?" He replied, "Earthly kingship is like the Kingship of Heaven, of which it is written, 'Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind ; and after the wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake ; and after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire ; and after the fire a still small voice' (I Kings xix. 11f.)."

Even someone who has fallen to the lowest level, God forbid (the Merciful One should save him) - even if he finds himself at the gates of hell - nevertheless, he should not give up on himself! As it is written: "...[In my trouble, I cried out to the Eternal, and God answered me;] from the belly of Sheol I cried out and You heard my voice!" (Jonah 2:3) He should gather his strength because even he, with the help of his teachers, with the help of Torah, can return. The key thing to remember is this: strengthen yourself with every resource available to you because there is no giving up in this world!

Chapter thirty-one explains that from the connection of the parts of nature with each other we may infer the existence of one cause which unites all nature, which uniting agency is the necessary existent. It points out that the vision which Elijah saw on mount Horeb was an allusion to this. It explains the meaning of the expression a still, small voice (I Kings, 19, 12), and the statement of the Rabbis that hashmal means Hayyot of fire speaking.

(14) And God said unto Moses: ‘I AM THAT I AM’; and He said: ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you.’

(16) And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: ‘Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.’ (17) And he was afraid, and said: ‘How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

The Rebbe often spoke about the importance of names. He also discussed the biblical verses beginning and ending with the same letter as one's name, which are customarily said before the line "Yehiyu l'ratzon" at the end of the Amidah.

He once said that he could explain the mystical meaning of the names of all those standing around him, and he spoke most about R'Shimon. He said, "take the letters Shin, Mem, Ayin, Vav, Nun and rearrange them. You then have "Avon MaSh" (away with sin).

The Rebbe would not discuss this further. R'Shimon was one of his favorite disciples, and the Rebbe said that this rearrangement literally described his essence.

He also said, "Do not be led astray by questions of how a name can contain the secret of a person's existence when so many people share the same name. Do not even refer to such things."

From what the Rebbe said, we understood that every aspect of a person's essence is defined by some combinations of the letters of his name. We were also able to realize that the Rebbe himself had complete knowledge of this.

The Rebbe sad, "The Permutation of letters can teach us great lessons. My teachings are very great, but where they involve these letter-permutations, they are even greater."