The Revealed and Hidden Writings of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav

His Worlds of Revelation and Rectification

Zvi Mark

• Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9783110407778
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish History

Zvi Mark uncovers previously unknown and never-before-discussed aspects of Rabbi Nachman's personal spiritual world. The first section of the book, Revelation, explores Rabbi Nachman's spiritual revelations, personal trials and spiritual experiments. Among the topics discussed is the powerful "Story of the Bread, " wherein Rabbi Nachman receives the Torah as did Moses on Mount Sinai – a story that was kept secret for 200 years. The second section of the book, Rectification, is dedicated to the rituals of rectification that Rabbi Nachman established. These are, principally, the universal rectification, the rectification for a nocturnal emission and the rectification to be performed during pilgrimage to his grave. In this context, the secret story, "The Story of the Armor, " is discussed. The book ends with a colorful description of Bratzlav Hasidism in the 21st century.

Part One: Revelation

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Chapter One

The Test of Letter Combinations: The Mystical Initiation Ceremony that Rabbi Nachman Underwent, and its Echoes in Likutei Moharan

1 Introduction

A thorough study of Rabbi Nachman’s teachings coextensive with a thorough study of his visions and mystical experiences reveals that his teachings drew directly from those visions.

His visionary revelations served as the experiential core and source of the information that he would later develop into the teachings that he delivered both orally and in writing–among these, visions that were recorded as such before being shaped into his teachings and lessons.

These visions of Rabbi Nachman decisively influenced his life in important ways and shaped the religious path that he developed and advocated for his Hasidim.

The particular visionary experience that will be discussed in this chapter apparently occurred in Rabbi Nachman’s youth and was at a later stage developed into a teaching that appears in Likutei Moharan.

This chapter is based on the essay, “The test of letter combinations: The mystical initiation ceremony that Rabbi Nachman underwent, and its Echoes in Likutei Moharan.” Da’at 68–69 (5771): pp. 131–147. [Hebrew]

2 The test of letter combinations as an initiation ceremony

Rabbi Nachman of Tcherin (1825–1894), a prolific Bratslav author and one of the central figures of the third generation of Bratslav Hasidism,³ quotes the following words of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.⁴

I heard from R. Dovid Tzvi that he heard from his grandfather, R. Yishaya Shalom (may his memory be for a blessing)⁵ that once our rebbe (may his memory be for a blessing) spoke as follows:

I was someplace where I was invited to read (in Yiddish: leinen)⁶–in other words, I [was asked to] recite the letter combinations of the entire Torah, from bereishit [‘in the beginning, ’ the first word of the Pentateuch] to l’einei kol Yisrael [‘in the eyes of all Israel,’ the last phrase of the Pentateuch] …⁷

After I performed this leinen, I was given another leinen to do: to recite the letter combinations in tashrak [backwards form], from l’einei kol Yisrael to bereishit. And I performed this leinen as well.

After that, the Torah was divided into two parts, with the second part of the Torah first and the first part second, and I was told to recite the letter combinations [of that]. But I was unable to do so, and I felt deeply ashamed–like a good boy who is given [a text] to read and cannot do so, and people are standing there, [before whom] he feels ashamed [in Yiddish: azoi vi men git a gut yungel a leinen un er ken nit, un se shtein derbei mentshen, hot er bushah].

I recalled that as soon [as a person perceives] that something is lacking [in himself], that [indicates that] something is lacking [in the realm of Godliness] [in Yiddish: hab ikh mikh dermant vi bald chesaron, iz zikh a chesaron]. [And that is true] whether [a person’s imperfection expresses itself] in physical or in spiritual matters.

And that is [the meaning of the phrase,] “You made [man] a little less than God” [Psalms 8:6].

[At that point,] I could not serve the Lord joyfully [in Yiddish: hab ikh nit gekant dinen l’Hashem Yisborach besimchah]. So I thought, Who am I [in Yiddish: hab ikh zikh meyashev geven, ver bin ikh] that the King Himself should tell me what He lacks, as it were? Is there a greater honor than that? And from that [thought] itself, I attained great joy.

And that [is alluded to in the words,] “You crown him with honor and splendor” [ibid.], [which refer to] “a new state of consciousness” [literally, ‘brains’]⁸. And then I performed that leinen.⁹

This leinen that Rabbi Nachman performed may be regarded as a sort of initiation ceremony, a rite of passage that tested the level of his expertise in combining letters of the Torah.

Although leinen literally means ‘reading,’ it also has the meaning of ‘a reading test.’¹⁰ As will be shown later on, Rabbi Nachman himself used the expression leinen in that sense.

This test is based on a pattern of traditional Jewish educational practices and children’s initiation ceremonies.

There exist testimonies to the effect that as far back as Talmudic times a teacher would begin his instruction by teaching his pupils to recite the alphabet. First they would recite the alphabet forwards, then backwards, and finally in atbash form–i.e., the first letter paired with the last, the second letter with the second-to-last, and so forth.

The description of Rabbi Akiva’s first steps in learning Torah, when he joined a class of school children, may be referring to this custom: “Immediately, [Rabbi Akiva] went with his son, and they sat with the school teachers. [Rabbi Akiva] said to [the teacher]: Rabbi, teach me Torah. Rabbi Akiva took hold of one end of the [writing] board. [The teacher] wrote alef bet [the first two letters of the alphabet] for [Rabbi Akiva] and he learned it. [The teacher then wrote] alef tav [the first and last letters of the alphabet] and he learned that … [Rabbi Akiva] learned and made progress until he learned the entire Torah.”¹¹

In later eras as well, this recitation of the alphabet forwards and backwards served as a component in initiation ceremonies that introduced a child to the world of Torah learning. When the child was taken for the first time from his home to the study hall or to his teacher’s home, his family would accompany him in a joyful, festive parade. In the teacher’s home a ceremony was arranged that included, among other things, the reading of letters.¹² It is reasonable to assume that Rabbi Nachman recognized the echoes of this custom from the Talmud and other sources. Possibly, this custom was still in existence in some form in his own lifetime, whether in the way that children began to learn or as a component of a test that served as an initiation ceremony for the young pupil.¹³

In this context, when Rabbi Nachman states that he was asked to perform a leinen of letters, he is describing himself as a child engaged in an educational ceremony. This idea is reinforced by the fact that when Rabbi Nachman mentions the shame of his failure, he offers the analogy of a child who, in the presence of adults, is asked to engage in a ritualistic reading (leinen), and whose failure to do so shames him.¹⁴

Before addressing the nature of this leinen, I will examine other episodes in which Rabbi Nachman engaged in a leinen. Avaneha Barzel relates that in his youth Rabbi Nachman concealed his greatness to such an extent that even his father-in-law, in whose house he lived, had no conception of his attainments:

Once one of the Maggid’s disciples stayed with [Rabbi Nachman’s father-in-law. The father-in-law told the student] of his sorrow that he had taken a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov to be his son-in-law, but [this descendant] did not learn [any Torah] at all and there was no doubt that he had even forgotten Hebrew.

The guest said that this was certainly not the case, because he was afraid to say anything against a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov.

But [Rabbi Nachman’s] father-in-law insisted until the guest told him, “In that case, I will give him a leinen.”

He began to test [Rabbi Nachman] on the mishnah, “The dog and the kid that jumped from the top–meirosh–of the roof.”¹⁵ [Rabbi Nachman] began by saying, “The dog and the kid that jumped–marsh…,” and the guest grew very embarrassed.

[Rabbi Nachman’s] father-in-law told [the guest], “Didn’t I tell you that he has even forgotten Hebrew…?”

Afterwards, [the guest] came upon [Rabbi Nachman] alongside the wall of the house when they were alone.

He asked him, “Is such a thing possible? Aren’t you a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov and of Rabbi Nachman of Horodenka? Your father-in-law liberally gave a vast dowry because of [your] pedigree, yet you do not learn [any Torah] at all, to the point that you have even forgotten Hebrew.” And as he said these words, he slapped [Rabbi Nachman in the] face twice.¹⁶

The leinen here is not administered as part of a celebratory initiation ceremony, but in order to test the youth’s knowledge of Mishnah and Hebrew. Here Rabbi Nachman’s failure is accompanied by the shame that the guest experiences as he is confronted with the ignorance of the Baal Shem Tov’s great-grandson.

Avaneha Barzel also describes a later episode in Rabbi Nachman’s life, in which he engages in a leinen:

One time [Rabbi Nachman] was staying with his uncle Rabbi Borukh. His uncle delivered a teaching, but [Rabbi Nachman] was not impressed by his teaching, and this was related to the rabbi, Rabbi Borukh.

Rabbi Borukh said, “And if someone cannot deliver a teaching, is he not a guter yid–a ‘good Jew’?¹⁷ After all, the Maggid of Mezeritch did not know the meaning of left-handedness–so was he no longer a guter yid?”

Hearing this, [Rabbi Nachman] said, “This means that I am being given a leinen, for I need to know what left-handedness is.”

Shortly thereafter, he delivered [Likutei Moharan I,] Teaching 66, which speaks about left-handedness.¹⁸

In this story too the leinen is a challenge and test–however, this time not to a youth but to a rebbe who is contending for the title of guter yid, qualified to teach Torah. Rabbi Borukh’s statement that the Maggid of Mezeritch did not know what left-handedness is and thus could not deliver a teaching about it challenged Rabbi Nachman, who felt that “I am being given a leinen” and hastened to demonstrate that he was qualified to deliver a teaching even on the topic of left-handedness.

Now I will return to the story that is the focus of the present discussion, and attempt to clarify the meaning of the leinen that Rabbi Nachman underwent. The following...

Table of contents

• Titel
• Impressum
• Widmung
• Inhaltsverzeichnis
• Introduction
• Part One: Revelation
• Part Two: Rectification
• Afterword
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Name Index