Here are the thoughts of the Na Nach Movement from a true follower of Rabbi Nachman.

Rabbi Israel Ber Odesser (1888-1994) lived in the Land of Israel at time when Breslov was persecuted and despised. He went to study at a Yeshiva in Tiberius, where he was constantly mocked. Once, on the eve of the 17th of Tammuz (a fast day commemorating the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians), he stayed up all night, crying over the exile. When prayer time came in the morning, he was asleep. His fellow students further mocked him, and he fell into a depression, and broke the fast. At that, he became even more despondent.

Here, are the pre-1977 version and the post-1977 versions of events.

The earlier story was that he was in his room, studying, while his roommate stood behind him. Suddenly, a piece of paper landed on his desk. he asked his roommate where it came from. He answered "I don't know. It just fell from Heaven."

In the later version, it fell out of a book in a locked bookcase, that only Rabbi Odesser had access to. The note said "My dear student. People are saying that you ate on the 17th of Tammuz.  I want you to know that you have already been forgiven. As a sign, I am revealing to you a great secret. The Zohar says that when Mashiach comes, there will be aroused in the world a great song; single, doubled, triples, quadrupled. Know that this is my name; Na, Nach, Nachma, Nachman of Uman".

Until the late 1970s, he always told the story, adding in that "until this day, i don't know if it was from the Rebbe, or if my roommate wrote it (the roommate's children confirmed that it was their father's handwriting.) Rabbi Odesser was a respected Breslover Hassid, but was never in any kind of leadership position. His family put him in a nursing home in the mid 1970s. An individual who had heard the story came and convinced him that the letter was real. he signed Rabbi Odesser out of the nursing home, taking the 89 year old on a world tour of fund raising and publicity. A following gathered around the old rabbi; mostly of American and French Jews, later they were joined by Israeli counter culture types.

Before he died, he announced "I am the Na Nach of Uman". All of the leadership of Breslov condemned the new movement. In the early 1990s, I witnessed fist fights over the issue. Hippies in Hassidic garb were now everywhere, blocking traffic while singing their mantra, as well as defacing synagogues with their slogan spray painted on every possible surface. In response, the Na Nachers rejected the Breslov leadership, calling them "evil doers." They attempted to dig up the Rebbe's grave. They got within two feet, when they were caught. The Na Nachers and the other groups broke off communication. They do their thing, and we do ours. For those dedicated to studying Rabbi Nachman's teachings, these people are an embarrassment.

Whether the man who took Rabbi Odesser out of the nursing home really believed in the letter, or whether he was an opportunist looking to make money, I do not know.