Your ordinary, average human being feels that he’s missing something, or that he needs something. (If he doesn’t, there’s a whole industry devoted to making him think that he needs exactly what they him to buy.) Sometimes that feeling comes from something that the body craves to see, hear, smell, taste or touch. A person may imagine that owning something or achieving some form of status will confer upon him some sort of worth.

These feelings of lack make each of us very susceptible to one of the yetzer hara’s (evil inclination’s) most successful ploys. The yetzer hara is like a prankster who runs through a crowd while showing his tightly closed hand. No one knows what he is holding. He fools people by asking everyone, “What am I holding? What am I holding?” Each of us imagines that the prankster is holding what he desires. So we run after him, certain that he is holding what we want. When the prankster finally opens his hand, it is completely empty. The expression “bitter disappointment” comes to mind.

Another form of this prank is a contemporary variation of a carnival shill. In order to get people at a carnival to gamble away their money, a shill would parade around with his supposed winnings. People would think that the games were easy to win and would end up wasting their money—and time—in a vain attempt to duplicate the shill’s success. Nowadays, a handful of the rich and famous are paraded in the (social) media so that millions waste their lives trying to strike it rich and/or become “the next big thing.” “Heaven protect us from this misleading notion!” (Shabbat 84b).

The yetzer hara tricks the entire world. One way or another, at some point, everyone runs after him. Each of us is so fooled by his notions and desires that he is tricked into thinking that the yetzer hara holds exactly what he wants. But when the yetzer hara opens his hand, it is empty. He satisfies no one’s desire.

Now, let’s take a look at that other openhandedness we referred to earlier. Whether we realize it or not, the eyes of all living beings (not just humans, but birds and animals, too) look to God with the hope that He will provide what they lack. For all sorts of reasons—our unreadiness to properly receive and use what we would be given is one of them—even what we need may be late in coming, according to our reckoning. Yet, “You open Your hand and satisfy every living being with ratzon (will, desire)” (Psalms 145:16). King David tells us that when God opens His hand, we are not disappointed.

I can almost hear someone asking, “Really? So where’s my Lexus and overflowing bank account?” The answer is: Is that really what you want? Given a choice between a Lexus and being able to get out of bed in the morning on your own, which would you prefer? Given the choice between “having more and enjoying it less” and “having less, but enjoying it more,” which would you choose? Because the prankster is so good at his job, we confuse what we want—what would be nice to have—with what we really want, namely, what we need—material, psychological and spiritual satisfaction.

So before we set off in the pursuit of happiness, let’s remember to examine what it is that we really want and Who is the One that can really deliver it.

a gutn Shabbos! 

Shabbat Shalom!

—Based on Sichot HaRan (Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom) #6 and #284

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This is not a “shocking headline” or a teaser or a hypothetical question. It’s a real challenge to emunah (faith) for an elderly person who is watching his body and/or his mind deteriorate. For the caretakers as well—in particular family members, who watch the decay unfold, the slow, sad, even tragic, slide of a confident, capable individual whom they love, and from whom they drew strength and inspiration for decades—it can be bewildering: If Hashem (God) loves the oldster, why is He doing this? Does the oldster deserve such a comedown, that s/he becomes immobile, cannot reach out and take things so (seemingly) near, that s/he cannot bathe or relieve himself without an aide?

There is added distress and anxiety for many, when the oldster’s financial reserves are depleted by the need to pay for caretakers, medicines and operation or procedures. A lifetime of work “is down the drain,” with all their savings going to strangers instead of to the children and grandchildren. Does God love our cherished oldster?

First, as we must often, often, remind ourselves, we cannot ever hope to intellectual or rationally understand what God does. At our best, we can only believe that all that God does (had done and will do) is good and for our benefit.

Second, to answer our question, we will extrapolate from a comment Rabbeinu (Rebbe Nachman) zal once made, regarding how Hashem views the world. Hashem views the world, Rabbeinu zal said, in a very non-human way. When we purchase a new item of clothing, we enjoy wearing it and taking care of it. But as it fades, or gets torn and ripped, we esteem it less and less (Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom #239). Hashem, on the other hand, does the opposite. The more His “cloak”—the world, with all it contains—gets older, the more important it becomes to Him. Why?

Rabbeinu zal explained. Initially, the world was imperfect, but slowly and steadily it began to improve. The Patriarchs and Matriarchs came. Then Moshe Rabbeinu arrived. The Rebbe said, “Tzaddikim constantly come along and repair the world more and more. The world steadily grows dearer to the Blessed One.”

A human being is an olam katan, a miniature world. When we are born, we are imperfect. But slowly (even if not steadily) we improve. We learn alef-bet, begin to say Shema, make berakhot (blessings), and keep Shabbat. We add a mitzvah here, a mitzvah there. The vicissitudes of life make us wiser, our emunah and over-all appreciation of God’s ways deeper. All these improvements mean that Hashem loves us more and more as we get older. He must love old people a lot!

(So why the suffering? Why? We do not know. Since suffering of this sort, the suffering of the innocent [or to us, seem innocent] is something we cannot comprehend, this question has no answer. To a Jew who had suffered terribly for a long time, Rebbe Nachman said, “You have suffered the most severe and bitter pains all these years. But it is still better than one burn in Hell. One singe in Hell is worse than all this” (Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom #236). This we believe.)

In regard to the world’s improvement Rabbeinu zal said (ibid. #239), “In the end, Mashiach will come, speedily, in our days. Then tikkun haolam will be complete.” Amen.

© Copyright 2012 Breslov Research Institute

IN THE BEGINNING: FIRST  THOUGHT

To understand the inner workings of the universe and tap into their awesome power, we must go back to the beginning, to Creation. The Torah, which starts “in the beginning,” is our authoritative guide to what happened during the Seven Days of Creation. What happened before Creation—namely, how God approached this new project and His intentions for it—falls under the purview of the Kabbalah.

The stories we read in the Torah are not just pages out of history. They are meant to be a guide to each and every one of us as we live our own lives. Scripture states ( Genesis 5:1), “This is the book of the chronicles of Adam (man).” Reb Noson explains this verse to mean, “These accounts are the chronicles of each and every person.” Every person can find direction for himself and his goals if he but looks into the Torah and fathoms its depths to interpret its meaning on a personal level (see Likutey Halakhot, Nesiat Kapayim 5:27).

In the same way, the Kabbalistic teachings of how the world came into existence illuminate the way in which we too can bring our goals to fruition. The Kabbalah’s description of God’s “step-by-step” approach to creating the world, as well as all the Supernal Universes that preceded it, does not depict an arbitrary process. Through Creation, God developed a spiritual blueprint that applies not only to forming new worlds but also to choosing a career or undertaking a difficult project. The very first step in God’s plan, as in our own, is the “first thought.”

Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, a leading sixteenth-century Kabbalist, composed the Lekha Dodi hymn which is sung in all congregations during Friday-night services. In this hymn he wrote, “Last in deed is first in thought.” Ostensibly, this refers to the creation of the Sabbath, the final day and goal of the first six days of Creation. But it also applies to the way we should approach any goal. Our potential to accomplish lies within our own individual thoughts. We must learn how to react to our thoughts and focus on them, using our creative abilities to grasp the dimensions of our ideas and build the necessary parameters, so that these “first thoughts” can develop into real deeds.

To illustrate how this works, Rebbe Nachman gives the example of someone who wants to build a house. At first the builder must imagine what the house will look like, where it will be built, and the time frame of its construction. After drawing up the blueprints, selecting the location and resolving the time elements, he will purchase the property and materials and go to work. The final deed of completing the house was actually in his first thought, for he imagined its construction down to the last detail. Thus, “Last in deed (the finished house) is first in thought”—that first thought contained everything in potentia.

Thinking, creative human beings are the goal of Creation. Rebbe Nachman repeatedly told his followers that no two people are—nor ever were, nor ever will be—exactly alike. Each and every one of us has unusual qualities that allow our originality to develop. Rebbe Nachman’s message is clear: People are not clones, and trying to be “like others” automatically inhibits creativity. We must focus on our own individual strengths and perfect them. Only then can we fully develop our potential.

With these ideas in mind, let us now examine exactly how God created the world, and the messages He wished to convey to us.

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A massive 30-year project unprecedented in scope is nearing conclusion. Now is the last chance to be a part of this historic effort to bring the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov before an international, multi-lingual audience.

By contributing $500 you will be sponsoring a page and can include a dedication in the book in memory/merit of a loved one. You will also receive the entire 15 volume set, or the set of books below:

PLUS now before Pesach, receive a complementary copy of the Breslov Haggadah as a token of our appreciation!

Sign Up: Take part in this great mitzvah by clicking here. You may choose to pay in ten monthly increments of $50.

Watch a video about this project featuring Rabbi Chaim Kramer by clicking here.

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