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Online
multimedia class on Rabbi Nachman:
Prayer Power
Torah study adds grace to our prayers
Likutey
Moharan Part I Discourse 1
- This
page contains all the links you need to hear all four
segments of the audio class and see the Hebrew text
on your screen.
Where
better to start Likutey Moharan -- the main collection
of Rabbi Nachman's principle Torah discourses -- than
at the beginning?
The first ma'amar (discourse or teaching)
of Likutey Moharan explains how to make our prayers
acceptable -- by enhancing them with grace and charm
through the study of Torah.
This teaching also graphically portrays the conquest
of the evil inclination through studying and keeping
the Torah. This is the essence of the Jewish spiritual
path.
The first teaching in Likutey Moharan is a classic
example of Rabbi Nachman's method of exposition in many
of his longer ma'amarim and therefore serves
as an excellent introduction to the work.
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Instructions
for taking the class
To
hear the class you
need at least a 14.4Kbps modem, 16-bit sound card and
speakers, and Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator 2.0 or later.
You
will also need RealPlayer
to enable you to download and hear the
audio files). For FREE download of
RealPlayer,
click HERE!!!
Each
segment of the class includes:
Why
was this teaching given pride of place at the start of
Likutey Moharan?
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This teaching provides the key
to having our prayers accepted -- by enhancing
them through Torah study. Rabbi Nachman said
his main mission was to teach people to pray.
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Central to the teaching is the idea of Chen,
"grace" or "charm", alluding
to Malchus, the goal and purpose of all
creation. This teaching is a fitting introduction
to what is often called Toras HaChen
the "Torah of Grace", i.e. Kabbalah
and Chassidut, the inner dimension of the Torah.
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The letters of the word CheN
are part of the name NaChMaN.
A person's soul and mission is bound up with
his name. Study of Rabbi Nachman's
exploration of the idea of Chen
contained in his name can help us connect with
his spiritual essence.
Torah study enhances our prayers
with Chen, a unique "charm" or
"grace".
Analysis of the concept of Chen
into its components as contained allusively in
the constituent Hebrew letters Ches and
Nun.
The Jew must seek ways to connect with God through
everything he encounters in life. The archetypal
example of this orientation is Jacob (Israel),
as opposed to his twin brother Esau, who represents
the opposite.
Key term: Bechinah, the most common technical
term in Likutey Moharan, usually rendered
as "category" or "concept".
The Hebrew word bechinah is from the root
bochen, "test" or "check",
which appears in the first of the daily morning
blessings, praising God for giving the rooster
the intelligence le-haVChiN… "to distinguish
between day and night". Through exploring
the similarities and distinctions between one
thing and another, we learn what each thing is
in itself and what it is not. This is how we come
to know the truth about things.
For example, when Rabbi Nachman states that searching
for the underlying wisdom in all things is the
bechinah (category) of "Jacob",
he means that this trait is a defining quality
of the personality typified by Jacob.
Through putting our strength in
the study of the Torah we are able to receive
the light of God's wisdom, thus "joining"
the receiver -- Nun -- and the giver --
Ches -- the vitalizing "sun"
of wisdom. Joining the two together makes Chen,
the quality we need for our prayers to be accepted.
Conclusion: The entire structure
of concepts in this teaching is shown to be contained
allusively in Rabba bar bar Chana's graphic tale
of a near shipwreck and in the key verse in Psalm
119:1:
"Rabba bar bar Chana said: Sailors told
me of a wave that rose up to sink the ship.
It looked as if there was a flame of white fire
at its crest. But we beat it with rods inscribed
'I am that I am', and it subsided" (Bava
Basra 73a).
"Happy are those who are
perfect in their path, who go in God's Torah"
(Psalms 119:1).
We're
on a journey -- where next?
Suggestions on how
to go further with this teaching
"We should try to study each
of Rabbi Nachman's teachings with a view to understanding
the practical guidance contained in it...
Having drawn out the practical points contained
in a given teaching, we should look into ourselves
and see how far we are from the spiritual levels
discussed in it. We should pray to God time and
time again to ask him to help us fulfill the entire
teaching. We should pray specifically to fulfill
each of the individual points discussed in the teaching,
begging God to help us fulfill them to perfection
and attain all the levels described."
Reb
Noson, Introduction to Likutey Tefilot
- Recite
Reb Noson's prayer in Likutey Tefilot I:1 to
fulfill Rabbi Nachman's teaching in Likutey Moharan
I:1.
-
For
deeper study of the discourse, in English, a fuller
commentary by Rabbi Chaim Kramer is available
in Volume 1 of the multi-volume English translation
and commentary on Likutey Moharan published
by the Breslov
Research Institute.
- For
further study of this discourse in Hebrew, look at
Reb Noson's concise version of this discourse in Kitzur
Likutey Moharan. Reb Noson provides important
clues about how to interpret Rabbi Nachman's discourse.
Look at Reb Noson's related discourses in Likutey
Halachos. The latter can be located with the help
of the relevant Index in Hebrew editions of Likutey
Moharan. The principle Hebrew commentaries on
Likutey Moharan are Parpero'os LeChochmah
and Bi'ur HaLikutim. Both contain commentary
on this discourse.
-
Go
on to other teachings of Rabbi Nachman in Likutey
Moharan or other works. AZAMRA hopes
to have more online multimedia classes on Likutey
Moharan very soon.
Reb
Noson's Prayer
Likutey
Tefilos I:1
HaShem
our God and God of our fathers:
Help
me to be able to study, teach and practice Your holy
Torah for its own sake at all times, and to keep the
Torah at the forefront of my mind day and night.
The
Power of Torah Study
Through
the merit and power of Torah-study, give me the strength
to conquer and break my evil inclination and drive it
out of myself. Help me rid myself of the foolish spirit
that has taken hold of me because of the wrong I've
done. I'll be able to get free by studying and keeping
the Torah, which is entirely made up of Your holy Names.
The power of the Torah will overcome any sway this foolishness
may have over me. Just help me drive it out and remove
it from myself and my life.
Please,
HaShem: You know the many thoughts that trouble me every
single moment of the day and distract me from serving
You properly. They are all caused by the foolish spirit
that has taken hold of me because of the wrong I've
done and all my sins and transgressions. My mind is
in turmoil, and my good sense and intelligence have
been severely impaired.
Father
in Heaven: You are good to all and merciful to all Your
creatures. Forgive me and save me from destruction.
Loving God: Give me the strength to conquer my own foolishness
and drive it out of myself by studying and practicing
Your holy Torah.
Mitzvot
of the Evil Inclination
Be
kind to me and help me not to fall prey to the irrational
appeals of my evil inclination. It tries to influence
me and prevent me from serving You properly by dressing
up its promptings as mitzvot, as if trying to
persuade me to do something right and proper. The truth
is that these "mitzvot" which it dresses itself
in are a hidden trap, as You alone know. Please, HaShem,
have compassion on my poor soul and save me from the
promptings of the evil inclination. Let it have no power
to deceive me with these distractions.
I
am throwing my whole burden upon You, HaShem, my God
and God of my fathers. I am relying on You alone to
lead me lovingly on the straight, true path at all times
and in everything I do. Let my every movement be in
complete accordance with Your will, and don't let me
turn aside from what You want either right or left.
You
know that we are flesh and blood -- it is impossible
for us to always know exactly what You want. I appeal
to You to show me Your love and help me. Do not let
the evil inclination have any power to unsettle and
distract my mind with any kind of foolishness and irrationality
whatsoever. Let me rely on You alone. Show me Your great
love, and lead me on the path of truth at all times.
Let all my actions, activities and behavior, and those
of my children, my descendants and all who depend on
me, be in full accord with Your good will at all times,
from now on and for ever.
Loving
God: Help me to be able to strengthen the power of holiness
so as to overcome the power of evil. Help me to strengthen
my good inclination against the evil urge.
The
wisdom in all things
Grant
me holy wisdom and intelligence. Let me always see all
things in the light of the holy wisdom they contain,
and so attach myself to You through everything in the
world. Let me understand the constant messages and signals
You send me to come closer to You.
Chen:
Grace
O
God: You are full of favor, tender mercy, kindness and
goodness at all times. May it be Your will to have pity
on me and shine upon me with grace and kindness. Grant
me favor in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see
me. Send me words of grace and endearment that will
enter into Your heart. Accept my prayers and requests
at all times, and fulfil Your promise to pour out on
the house of David and those who dwell in Jerusalem
a spirit of grace and endearment.
Let
the words with which we address You be words of grace
and endearment, and give them room to enter into Your
heart, and let our words arouse favor and pleasure before
the throne of Your glory.
Master
of the World, see our poverty, our lowliness and shame.
The grace and prestige of Your holy people Israel have
fallen in this bitter exile. The Jewish People are despised
and lowly in the eyes of the nations of the world and
the wicked. All the grace and importance have fallen
to them.
Take
pity on Your great and holy glory, and exalt, raise
up and magnify the grace and prestige of Israel, materially
and spiritually. Bring down the idol-worshippers, the
unholy and the wicked. Let them have no grace and status
whatsoever either above or below. Exalt Your people
Israel and hear and receive our prayers and cries at
all times. See our toil and look at our plight, and
fulfil what is written: "For He has not despised
or spurned the suffering of the poor and He has not
hidden His face from him. When he cries to Him, He hears."
Show
us favor and answer us and hear our prayer. For You
hear the prayers of every single one of Your people
Israel in love. Blessed are You who hears prayer.
From
The Fiftieth Gate: Likutey Tefilot Volume I.
Reproduced with kind permission of the publishers, Breslov
Research Institute.
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