Nachman of Breslov

“ For many are the people who desire this book, that in such a compact volume includes all the traits as we as many other matters, and much advice to reach straight paths in serving the Creator. There is nothing in the world that you are deficient in, that this book does not address, as the reader will see with his own eyes. It is all founded on mountains of holiness, verses from the Bible, Prophets, and Scriptures, and the words of our Sages, may their memory be for blessing, in the Talmud, the Midrashim, the Zoharand the other holy books. ”

“ Brilliant, ingenious people of the generation inspire awe; through that awe, ancestral merit sparkles, and through the sparkling of ancestral merit, repentance is aroused in the world.
2. At the entrance to a man's house it is discernible if his ancestral merit has finished, or if his ancestral merit is effective.
3. One who does acts of kindness does not need ancestral merit. ”

“ For I have already disclosed, that I heard from his holy mouth, that his his later words -- those of the second Aleph-Bet greatly and vastly surpass and surmount the first ones, therefore I put a border between them, to differentiate and to distinguish.
The good L-rd should lead us in the straight and true path, so that we may merit to learn and teach, observe, do and fulfill all these words written here, and to understand and comprehend all the paths of advice elucidated here next to each trait. Then we will have success in our way, and then we will be enlightened. ”

“ One who starts to serve G-d, the Holy One -- Blessed is He- says to him, "I know that your longing and desire is to serve Me. But what assurance do I have that tomorrow you will not leave me? So how can I draw you close for the wish you desire, and how can I reveal to you hidden things right away? Rather do the following: In the beginning, love Me this way and do my commandments, even though you do not know the reason (lit. intellect) of the mitzva, and serve Me simply without sophistication. ”

“ When one goes from master to master, then he needs to strengthen his faith in the Unity of Hashem, may He be Blessed. Because learning from many teachers damages faith in the Unity. So too, the master who has faith in the Unity, he is able to illuminate to each and every student according to his ability, and each student only hears what he needs, and no more. ”

“ The blessed G-d should lead us in the truthful path, and just as we merited to arrange them so we should merit to fulfill them, until Israel returns to their habitat like doves to their windows, very soon, in our days, amen, so should be the Divine will. ”

“ People who love one another, it is permitted for them to tell each other things they heard from someone else, and the one who hears is permitted to accept his words, and this does not constitute slander. ”

“ He should marry a woman who is fitting to him, sanctify himself at the time of marital relations, and ask [for sons] from the One to whom all sons belong.
19. Anyone who begets a child, brings forth a child similar to himself.
20. A man should beware not to cut down a tree before its time, for this harms the raising of his children.
21. All who pursue (giving) charity, merit to have sons who are wealthy, wise, and proficient in the homiletic section of the Torah.
22. What should a man do to have children? He should spread his wealth to the poor, and cheer his wife before relations with her. ”

“ Someone who guards himself from thoughts of idol worship merits to have constant faith (confidence in G-d) , to the extent that he does not worry what he will eat tomorrow, and he is on the level of "Blessed is Hashem day after day." Through this, the Holy One, Blessed be He, perceives no wrongdoing and sees no iniquity in him, and anyone who touches him, it is as if he touched the pupil of His eye. ”

“ Arrogance is a sign of (or for) downfall, God forbid.
34. Arrogance is a result of your not having rectified the sins of youth.
35. One who's wine sours, it is certain that he is haughty.
36. One who is haughty, his dwelling place will not endure.
37. One who has arrogance, I (God) and he cannot dwell (together) in the world. Even a slight breeze troubles him. His prayer goes unheeded. He does not have healing. He becomes impoverished in Torah, and his wife denigrates him.
38. One who dons the garb of a Torah scholar and he is not a Torah scholar, will not be brought into God's partition. ”

“ Through Torah, one comes to Faith, and through Faith, one comes to sanctify the Name of G-d.
15. Those with pure eyesight can recognize in a man, who is the rabbi who taught him Torah. This is specifically when the one looking is familiar with the face of the rabbi. For through the religious law that a man learns from his rabbi, his face becomes similar to the appearance of the face of the rabbi, for the law is his wisdom that enlightens the face of a man (as in the verse, "The wisdom of man enlightens his face.") ”

“ Two Torah scholars who honor each other in legal study for the sake of the Divine Presence, and in humility, G-d grants them success, and they rise to greatness, and merit to the Torah that was given by G-d's right hand, and merit to things given through the right hand of the Torah.
88. A Torah scholar who avenges and is spiteful like a snake -- cling to him, for in the end you will benefit from his learning.
89. It is forbidden to learn from one who is drawn to idol-worship, and one who learns from him is liable to the death penalty. ”

“ For one whom merited being by a true tzaddik on Rosh HaShana, wherever he looks, the air of that place gains the aspect of the air of Israel. Therefore, anyone who knows the taste of the Land of Israel, each person according to his level, will without question sense the Land of Israel when he chances upon and meets with a man who had been by a true tzaddik on Rosh HaShana. For through such a man the air becomes the aspect of the air of the Land of Israel, as explained above. ”

“ When there is no truth, there is no kindness, also he cannot do [kindness] with people (t.n. See also #23) .
19. Falsehood forestalls salvation, for falsehood exposes one's sins, in order that he not be saved.
20. The truth redeems from all troubles.
21. It is better for a man to die, than to live and be [considered] a deceiver in peoples' eyes.
22. When there is truth, there is peace.
23. Someone who is far from truth is far from charity (t.n. See #18. This is also explicitly taught in Likutay Moharan, Torah 251) . ”

“ Every matter of holiness requires preparation and invitation (this is done by reciting a short disclosure beforehand stating and praying that one's intent to do such and such a mitzva will be for the sake of unifying the Name of G-d, and at this time one should also bind one's self to the tzadikim, especially to Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman -- see below #33. t.n.) .
24. In requesting one's needs, one should not be so bold (lit. raise one's head) as to ask for a huge request. However, in matters of Torah and fear of Heaven, one should request all that he desires. ”

“ When one extracts stolen goods from the hands of his fellowman, it is as if he has given charity (translators note: according to Rabbi Nachman of Tcherin, Rabbi Nachman is coming from the same place as the Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin 6b, if this is the case, the considered charity is being given to the thief, in that which he is being saved from retaining the theft) .
11. Compromise is a legal judgment wherein there is charity (translators note: that part which is forfeited to the other litigant) .
12. One who gives charity to an improper poor person is not rewarded for it. ”

“ One must look for a mohel who is righteous and G-d fearing. For when the mohel is not fitting, it can happen that the child, [when he is grown,] will not be able to have children (lit. cause birth) . Also, when the mohel is not fitting, the child can, G-d forbid, come to suffer from "falling disease" (often translated as epilepsy) .
11. [A deceased person] who has a son involved in studying the Torah, is as if he never died.
12. The milk of a righteous woman is good for a child's (lit. baby's) fear of Heaven, and also gives him dominion over this world. ”

“ Thoughts of idol worship, thoughts of immorality, bloodshed and evil speech come to someone who is accustomed to making vows, but they become nullified by the leader of the city, who arranges the fines and taxes upon each person, according to the amount that each one can handle. ”

“ A hint for this from the Torah: "my going and resting you have encompassed (t.n. meaning -- have complete knowledge and control) etc." (Tehillim 139:3) [these Hebrew words can also be translated as my seed you have scattered -- thus hinting that by the scattering of one's seed, i.e. sexual impurity, one's travel will be endangered] .
4. Through traveling the ways, a man gains the ability of understanding (the Hebrew word here is “mavin” -- very similar to the English usage) .
5. On a night that you have a nightmare (lit. fear at the time of sleep) , do not travel in the day. ”

“ When a tzaddik says something, as long as it does not come to pass, because its time has not come, the statement is engraved in the supernal world, but does not radiate brightly, and when its time comes to be manifest, the words begin to radiate brightly.
49. One who gives benefit to a Torah scholar must strengthen himself, that the scholar should not become disrespected in his eyes. ”

“ Sages of the generation with love between them, that they see each other occasionally, then they have the power to judge the whole world, and their judgment stands, and no one can change or annul their judgment, for the Holy One Blessed be He is their Supreme Judge of their court. ”

“ One who is strict with others and lenient with himself, and claims he heard things he did not hear, through this he does not merit to see the beauty of the King. For the klipa (evil force) of Edom, which is bad fear, darkens the light of his eyes so that he cannot gaze upon the beauty of the countenance of the King. ”

“ Through keeping the Shabbat one draws upon oneself the light of the Mashiach, also through repentance.
זכירה MEMORY: 1. One who embarrasses his friend becomes forgetful.
2. Through worry comes forgetfulness.
3. Through learning aloud one comes memory (t.n. The insertion of this adage in between two similar entries, seems to me that it is an allusion to what the Talmud teaches that although one should not worry -- as we see in #2, when it comes to not forgetting one's learning, worrying is commendable, and we learn elsewhere -here #3 -- the way to remember one's learning) . ”

“ For a feast of a mitzva a person should take the trouble even to chopping wood. When splitting the wood, he should have the intention that he is splitting and separating out the evil from the good in the Tree of Knowledge. Through this he will merit to a livelihood.
9. Through repentance, livelihood comes easily.
10. One who fulfills the maxim, "Your friend's money should be precious to you like your own", through this he merits to pray with intention in his heart.
11. Great is one who benefits from the exertion of his hands, for he recognizes the honor of G-d what angels don't know. ”

“ When a tzaddik accepts money from a wicked person, even if the money is possibly stolen, it is permitted for the tzaddik to accept it, so that the wicked one will not take on some wicked Torah scholar, claiming that the scholar is a tzaddik, giving him the money, and he will oppose the True Tzaddik. ”

“ One who raises an orphan in his home is as if he gave birth to him.
27. One who teaches his friend's son Torah is as if he gave birth to him.
28. Forty days (of the beginning of a pregnancy, which is) before the creation of the fetus, one should pray that his wife will give birth to a son.
29. One who thinks about promiscuity, his wife also comes to have such thoughts. And when his wife has promiscuous thoughts, the husks (evil forces) come to her (have relations with her) in a dream, and through this her children die. ”

“ Regarding thoughts of idol worship, one should rouse in one's mind and one should accept upon himself to get involved in acts of kindness, and through this, he will be nullified from thoughts of idol worship. ”

“ Through slander, a man does not have desire to learn (Torah) , also he derides the Tzaddik.
9. From slander one is saved through truth.
10. When one guards himself from slander, he will also not contemplate bad on his fellow.
11. One who does not accept slander about a Tzaddik, through this he will merit to be counted among the tzaddikim.
12. Coarseness brings a person to speak disparagingly about others.
13. Slander, one doesn't say until one comes to denying the core of faith and sinning in the Heavens and earth.
14. It is permissible to say slander about one who causes strife. ”

“ One who marries a woman for the sake of money will have improper children, and will lose the money in a short time.
35. One who is involved in learning Torah and acts of kindness will merit to have many children.
36. Children do not die for the sins of their fathers, unless they grasp the deeds of their father's in their hands (i.e. continue in their path of sin) .
37. Marital relations during pregnancy are beneficial to the fetus to beautify it (literally: lighten it) , make it more agile, and possessor of fine form and strength. ”

“ The love of a woman for her husband can be discerned by the flies and mosquitoes in the house. Also, through their love, it is possible to know the power of the evil inclination, whether it has been weakened or not. ”

“ For this reason, before naming a child, one should do kindness, and through this the child's name will endure.
ממון MONEY: 1. One who ridicules -- his livelihood is diminished.
2. The speech (terminology) of the sages brings wealth.
3. Wealth does not endure, on account of not having mercy on people.
4. One who stands in a test of sexual immorality will merit to great wealth amidst his enemies.
5. Great is work, being that G-d warned about it, that a person should do some type of work.
6. [People weak] such as ourselves, should borrow in order to eat. ”

“ This is alluded to in the verse, "Rage and do not sin". [I heard from our master, of blessed memory, that the intent is to rage and get angry at oneself. This is hinted at in the words of our rabbis, of blessed memory: A person should always enrage his good inclination over his evil inclination, as it is written, "Rage ..", that is, to rage and get angry at oneself. But not to, G-d forbid, actually get angry, because the sin of anger is extremely grave, as is known.] It is also a segula (conducive) to uproot from one's place and and go to another place. ”

“ One who eats without first washing his hands (in the way prescribed by halacha) is as if he had relations with a prostitute. And one who trivializes the ritual hand-washing is uprooted from the world. ”