One of the Rebbe’s followers, Reb Chaikel, had a relative who was extremely poor. Once, while traveling with Rebbe Nachman, Reb Chaikel instructed the wagon driver to stop at this relative’s house. Inside, Reb Chaikel pointed out the man’s poverty and asked the Rebbe to give him a blessing for wealth. T he Rebbe said to Reb Chaikel, “I have no blessings for him. If you want him to have a blessing, you give it.” After making certain that he’d heard correctly, and obtaining the Rebbe’s assurances that he wouldn’t mind his “presumptuousness,” Reb Chaikel emptied a pitcher of water across the floor. Then he spread the water in all directions, saying, “Abundance to the east, abundance to the west, north and south!” Then Rebbe Nachman and Reb Chaikel left. Shortly afterward, a group of merchants came to this man’s home seeking to purchase food and drink. When the man told them that he had none, they gave him money to buy it for them. From then on, whenever these merchants came to the area, they would lodge at the man’s house, and they eventually commissioned him to sell their wares for them. Before long, the man prospered and became very wealthy. Before, whenever he came to Breslov, this man had always made certain to visit the Rebbe. But now, the more he prospered, the more engrossed he became in his business dealings. He no longer had the time to visit the Rebbe. Once, while rushing around Breslov on business, he passed by the Rebbe’s house. Rebbe Nachman saw him and called him in. “Did you glance at the sky today?” the Rebbe asked him. The man replied that he hadn’t. Calling him to the window, the Rebbe said, “Tell me what you see.” “I see wagons and horses and people scurrying about,” the man replied. “Believe me,” Rebbe Nachman said, “fifty years from now there will be other market days. There will be other horses, other wagons, different people. What is here today will no longer be. I ask you, what pressure are you under? What’s making you so busy that you don’t even have time to look at Heaven?” Based on Kokhavey Or
#5, p. 41 ENCOURAGEMENT. 27. At times a person can undergo the most terrible decline, and then the fall can be very, very low. There are some who fall so low that the only term for where they are is the “filthy places.” Such a person can become wracked with doubts, morbid thoughts and mental turbulence. His heart races, because the “husks” torment and circle the heart with every kind of confusion. It may seem impossible to f ind God in such places, but the very act of searching for God from there, asking and seeking “Where is the place of His glory?” – in itself can bring healing and reconstruction. The more a person sees how far he is from God’s glory, the more grief-stricken he should become. He should search even more intently and ask, “Where is the place of His glory?” Through the very act of searching and seeking and longing for God’s glory with anguish, cries, questions ... through this alone, he will attain the ultimate ascent – he will be worthy of ascending to the level of “Where?” which is the most exalted holiness. The essence of repentance is to search at all times, “Where is the place of His glory?” Then the fall will be transformed into a great advance. Understand this well, for it is very deep (Likutey Moharan II, 12). breslov.org PO Box 5370 • Jerusalem, Israel • 972.2.582.4641 PO Box 587 • Monsey, NY 10952 • 1.800.33.BRESLOV Pathways is a weekly publication. To subscribe, please visit breslov.org/pathways. To make a dedication, please email pathways@breslov.org. © 2018 Breslov Research Institute
