What Does Rebbe Nachman Want?

What does Rebbe Nachman want? What does he ask of his followers/disciples?

  • He wants us to do a lot: study a lot of Torah; pray a lot; do a lot of charity and kindness; all while maintaining a relaxed, buoyant attitude.
  • He wants us to engage in the following two practices every day: the study of halakhah (almost universally translated as Jewish law, although I would prefer Jewish way, sort of like tao—sort of) so that we will be in sync with the Divine will. The other is hitbodedut, speaking to God in your own words about whatever is on your mind. It cannot be overemphasized how much Rebbe Nachman stressed these two practices.
  • He wants us to be dedicated to serving Gd, no matter what we’re doing: eating, sleeping, making money, etc.
  • He wants us to trust him, to rely on his advice and spiritual strength, in this world (and in the next).
  • He wants us to go about our day with a song on our lips, a song of faith—to have faith in God that some how everything will work out in the end, even when it’s so dark we can’t see it.
  • He wants us to dance every day, a dance that celebrates our being Jewish, our being alive and our being who we are.

© Copyright 2013 O. Bergman

2 thoughts on “What Does Rebbe Nachman Want?

    • Sorry for the delay in responding. I’m not the most active blogger, to put it mildly.
      Hope you are still doing hitbodedut.

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