Nachman from Bratslav

Great-grandson of the founder of Hasidism, Israel Baal Shem Tov . Parents: p. Simha son r. Nachman from Gorodenka (one of the closest disciples and followers of the Baal Shem Tov) and Rebetsn Feig, granddaughter of the Baal Shem Tov.

Rabbi Nachman grew up in the house of Baal Shem Tov himself, which his parents inherited. Childhood p. Nahmana passed in an atmosphere saturated with Hasidic traditions. Shortly before the Bar Mitzvah (13 years old), he composed a collection of aphorisms on the themes of various manifestations of Jewish spiritual life, “The Book of Moral Qualities”. After his marriage at age 13 p. Nachman settled in Osyaten (Osot), Kiev province near his father-in-law. R. Nachman spent a lot of time in prayers and solitary meditation in the neighboring forest, constantly fasting and in-depth studying Kabbalah . After the death of his father-in-law, he moved to Medvedevka , where a special style of future Bratslav Hasidism began to take shape.

In 1798, Rabbi Nachman traveled to Palestine , visited Safed and Tiberias , but was unable to reach Jerusalem due to Napoleon's invasion.

Since 1800, Nachman lived in Medvedevka, then moved to Zlatopol ^[4] . Here his wife died of tuberculosis ^[5] and was buried in a local Jewish cemetery.

After returning, the fierce struggle of individual Hasidism leaders with the p. Nachman. R. Nachman had to change his place of residence several times. Finally r. Nachman settled in Bratslav (in the traditional Jewish transcription - Breslev), which became the center of his " court ". Here p. Nachman met with p. Noson (Nathan) Shtöngarts, who became his closest follower and devoted his life to preserving the heritage and spreading the teachings of the river. Nachman.

In 1810 , Rabbi Nachman, foreseeing an imminent death, decided to settle in Uman, where the Uman massacre took place several years before his birth. “The souls of the dead there for faith,” he said, “are waiting for me.” There, he died on October 16 from consumption and was buried in a Jewish cemetery next to those killed by the massacre during the Haidamaks' uprising - Koliivschina .

At the center of the teachings of Rabbi Nachman is the attitude of the tzaddik to his adherents. The tzadik is the soul, and the Hasidim is the body. They mutually complement each other. Hasid "must cling to the tzaddik", eagerly listen to all his words and, having rejected all sorts of philosophies, renounce all his own judgments and think only with the tzaddik's mind. “This is the basis of piety .” However, the Hasid must remain free. In the tzaddik itself, as, incidentally, in the Torah and Kabbalah, there are two forces, deadly and life-giving, and it depends on the free choice of the Hasid, what power it submits to. But the tzaddik also needs Hasidim, for the illumination of the tzaddik, that is, his comprehension of the Divine, takes place only through the people. He insisted on the need for continuous moral self-purification and argued that despondency was the worst enemy of faith. Hasidism introduced a new element: folk tales . Before the Rebbe Nachman, the Hasidim told each other only stories about the famous tzaddiks. Tales and parables of Nachman are allegorical tales of princesses and heroes. Unlike other Rebbe, Nachman did not appoint a successor. Until today, the Hasidim draw inspiration from the teachings of the Rebbe Nachman, which was systematized and published by his closest disciple, the Rebbe Nathan Sternngarts .

The grave of Rabbi Nachman in Uman immediately became a pilgrimage site for Braslav Hasidim , especially during the main Jewish holidays, in particular on Rosh Hashanah . This tradition persisted until the mid-1920s. and revived in the late 1980s.

After Ukraine gained independence in 1991, by decree of President Leonid Kravchuk, the burial place of Rabbi Nakhman received the official status of the Historical and Cultural Center of the Braslav Hasidim, and the Braslav Hasidim bought the land on which the grave is located.

In January 1993, while on a visit to Israel , Leonid Kravchuk agreed to transfer the remains of Rabbi Nachman to Jerusalem . But the leaders of the Braslav movement opposed this, since this initiative was contrary to the will of Rabbi Nachman. In 1996, two young Israeli Hasidim attempted to abduct his remains and take them out for reburial in Jerusalem. This attempt was thwarted by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and caused a wave of indignation among representatives of Braslav Hasidism.

Near the grave of Rabbi Nachman began the construction of one of the largest synagogues in Europe, designed for 6,000 pilgrims. But due to the fact that the Ukrainian company-contractor did not receive payment for the work performed on the construction of the synagogue, she obtained a court decision to foreclose the unfinished synagogue and auction it. This caused a wave of protests from the Braslav Hasidim, as well as the Jewish community of Ukraine, Western Jewish and human rights organizations. In the end, the dispute was resolved in September 2008 thanks to the intervention of Kazakhstani billionaire and President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Alexander Mashkevich .

In the early 1990s the number of pilgrims visiting the grave of Rabbi Nachman in Uman was 12-15 thousand people a year. Since the second half of the 2000s, due to the growing popularity of the Braslav teachings in Israel, every year 20-25 thousand pilgrims visit the grave on the Rosh Hashanah holiday ^{[6] [7]} .

On December 20, 2016, at night, unknown persons doused the entrance to the grave complex with red paint and threw a pig's head with a swastika into the synagogue ^{[8] [9]} .

You are where your thoughts are. So make sure that your thoughts are where you want to be.

Everything in the world - everything that exists, and everything that happens is a test whose purpose is to give you freedom of choice. Choose wisely.

Know! The whole world is a very, very narrow bridge ... And most importantly, do not be afraid at all!

Music has tremendous power of attraction to God. Develop the habit of always humming some kind of motive. He will give you a new life and send joy to your soul. [one]

• Likutei Moaran
• Sefer amidot (Book of Qualities)
• Sipurei Maasiyot (Event Stories)
• Sikhot aRaN (Talks of Rabbi Nachman)

In recent years, these books have been published in Russian. In particular, the first part of the Likutei Moaran book with commentary and the book of Sipurei Maasiyot were published by the Breslov Research Institute.

In recent years, several "secret" works of Rabbi Nachman have appeared. Among them in 2006 was a vision of the coming of the Messiah Megilot Old Man (“Scrolls of Secrets”), recorded by Rabbi Nathan from the words of a teacher in 1806 in encoded form and considered to be lost for 200 years.

The book published in Russia is noteworthy - “The Teachings of Rabbi Nachman from Braslav. Fairy Tales ”(2003) translated and commented by Gershon Berman .

• “Uman, Uman, Rosh-ha-Shono ...”
• Yitzhak Breiter. Life Day of the Bratslav Hasid; Abraham Greenbaum. Questions and answers about Bratslav Hasidism. - St. Petersburg: Rosprint, 1992. ISBN 5-87180-009-2
• Artut Abraham Green. Suffering Mentor. The life and teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. - Moscow: “Bridges of Culture / Gesharim”, 2007. ISBN 978-965-7382-10-3

• Na Nah Nahma Nahman Meuman

• Brief Jewish Encyclopedia , Ed. Jewish Community Research Islands. Jerusalem: 1976-2005.
• 100 Jewish towns of Podolia

• Nachman from Bratslav - article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
• site dedicated to Breslav Hasidism (rus)
• “The Teaching of Rabbi Nachman” (inaccessible link) Fairy Tales of Rabbi Nachman with Comments