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27/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

‏There is a form of humility which is the ultimate in arrogance. This is when a person acts humbly because he knows that people look down upon those who flaunt themselves. All he wants is to gain their respect and approval. His humility is for show: he really wants honor. It takes a good deal of intelligence and self-examination to rid yourself of pride: you must cleanse yourself of it completely. As our Sages said: `Be very, very lowly in spirit' (Avoth 4:4). The exile of the Jews from our land was caused by `seven idolatrous temples' (Gittin 88). This is a reference to pride. Even today people are still chasing after honor and prestige, and this is why the exile has still not ended (Likutey Moharan 1:11).

22/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

You should be totally honest when you talk to God. Get into the habit of expressing yourself with such honesty that your heart is stirred and the words begin to pour forth with fire and passion. As you draw yourself closer to God you will see how small and insignificant you are compared with His greatness. You will be filled with feelings of humility before Him. For up till now you simply cast your sins behind your back and ignored them. But as you start to acknowledge them frankly you will be overwhelmed with a feeling of shame at having rebelled against the Master and Ruler of the Universe, the Source of all the worlds. At first this humility will not actually show on your face. This is because sin sullies the intellect and stops it from radiating on the face. Before a person repents his mind is so weakened that he can have no conception of the true gravity of sin and the greatness of the One before whom he sinned. But as he returns to God and strips himself of his folly, gaining wisdom and understanding, so his shame will become more and more visible on his face. The sense of humility is symbolized in the tefilin, which are the sign of our attachment to the Creator. The light of the tefilin is a ray of the light of God's inner countenance. When a person achieves this sense of humilty all his sins are forgiven and he becomes attached to the Tree of Life (Likutey Moharan I:38).

21/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

There are people who have the ability to interpret the messages contained in all the things around them, including even secular affairs. But it would be wrong only to pay attention to these signals to the exclusion of other sources of spiritual guidance. The perception of God which comes from the study of Torah is on a higher level. Thinking about the hints contained in material affairs is good up to a certain limit, but that is not sufficient. You should pay attention to them only as much as you need to but no more. And even, as here, when you take from the world just as much as is sufficient for you, you should still give a part of what you take to charity. If you develop your memory in the right way, as we have explained, great tikkunim will be brought about in the upper worlds and the unity of God will be revealed. However, the great mass of people do not have the level of understanding which is necessary to grasp the significance of the hints God sends. For them the same effects are accomplished through sleep, and when they observe the mitzvot of tzitzit and tefilin, learning Torah and praying and going about their business honestly and in accordance with the law (Likutey Moharan I:54).

20/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

To taste the hidden light of Torah -- the secrets which will be revealed in time to come -- you should seclude yourself as much as you can to pray and speak to God. Take a good look at yourself and make a reckoning. What are you doing with your life? How is your time spent? Is this the right way to spend your life -- to behave as you do before the Holy One, blessed-be-He, who bestows goodness upon you every moment of the day? Weigh all the different aspects of your life very carefully. If you make yourself the judge over everything you are doing, you will be able to rid yourself of all fears and worries. You will never be afraid of earthly powers -- princes or rulers, wild beasts, robbers or the like. Nothing in the world will frighten you. Only before God will you stand in fear and reverence. This is the way to elevate the fear that is within you to its true root, which is in Da'at, understanding. You will attain perfect knowledge, because you will know before Whom to stand in awe: God alone, in His greatness and glory. Then you will be able to understand the revealed Torah and you will attain genuine humility. You will learn how to put your whole soul into your prayers. All sense of self and physical being will be totally nullified as you pray, and you will be able to pray without any thought of personal gain. When you reach the point where your sense of self and physicality totally disappear, as if you were simply not in the world at all, then you will discover the hidden secrets of the Torah. This is the concealed light which is destined to be revealed in time to come. All this you can achieve through hitbodidut, secluded prayer (Likutey Moharan Part I Lesson 15).

16/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

THE CHANDELIER
There was once a boy who left his father to spend time in other lands. After a long time away, he eventually came home to his father. He boasted that while he had been away, he had learned a great art: how to make a chandelier.
He told his father to assemble all the expert chandelier-makers so that he could demonstrate his proficiency in this art. The father did so, gathering all the master chandelier-makers to witness his son's greatness and see what he had accomplished all this time that he had been away in other lands.
The son brought out a chandelier that he had made, but they all thought it very poor. His father approached them all asking them to tell him the truth, and they were forced to admit that it was very poor.
The son was still boasting: "Have you seen the wisdom of my art?" His father told him that not everyone saw it as being so beautiful.
"On the contrary!" replied the son. "This is precisely how I have demonstrated my greatness, because I have shown them all that they lack. This chandelier contains the deficiencies of each and every one of the master craftsmen assembled here. Don't you see? One of them considers this part of my chandelier to be very poor but he finds a different part very beautiful. Another craftsman finds the exact opposite. The very part that his friend considers poor, he sees as being exceptionally beautiful, while he considers a different part to be poor. So it is with all of them. What is bad in the eyes of one is beautiful in the eyes of another, and vice versa.
"I made this chandelier entirely out of their deficiencies - to show them all that they all lack perfection and that each one has some deficiency. For what is beautiful in the eyes of one is a deficiency in the eyes of his friend. But if I want, I can make a perfect lamp."
If people knew all of a thing's shortcomings and deficiencies, they could understand the nature of that thing even if they had never even seen it.
"Great are God's works!" No one person is like any other. All forms were included in Adam: the very word Adam includes all the different human forms. Similarly, the word "light" includes all the different light-sources that exist. The same applies to all the different things in creation. Even among the highest of the high, not one is like any other.
This world contains wisdom that people could live off without even having to eat or drink.
(Sipurey Maasiot)

13/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

Genuine enlightenment and wisdom come only in the Land of Israel. But even the People of Israel outside the Land have the power to draw enlightenment and wisdom from there. Every single Jew has his share in the Land. According to his share, so is the wisdom he draws from the Land. But those who insult the honor of the Almighty, God forbid, are cut off from the radiance of the Land of Israel and they fall into the mentality of `outside the Land', which is one of conflict and divisiveness. This is the source of all the conflicts and divisions which have become so rampant (Likutey Moharan II, 71).

09/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

The coin in front of the eye
The sun shines constantly with the same intensity at the beginning and middle of the day. What blocks the light of the sun is only the earth, which intervenes between man and the sun. Owing to the position of the earth, the light spreads only gradually as the day begins but steadily increases until it spreads over the earth.
Similarly, the light of the Tzaddik shines constantly while the barrier is on the side of the receivers. The cause of the barrier is the intervening "earth" - this material world. People are so deeply sunk in the material world that they are unable to receive the light of the Tzaddik.
The Torah is enormously great and broad, but a tiny handbreadth - this world - stands before people's eyes, preventing them from seeing the light of the Torah despite the fact that this entire world is merely a tiny handbreadth in comparison.
How could something so tiny block something thousands of times greater?
To understand this, consider how a small coin held in front of your eyes can prevent you from seeing a great mountain, even though the mountain is countless thousands of times larger than the tiny coin. However, because the coin is directly in front of your eyes, it blocks your entire field of vision.
In the same way, when a person enters this physical world, he remains sunk in the vanities of the world and imagines that there is nothing better. This tiny insignificant world stands in his way, preventing him from seeing the amazing light of the Torah, which is thousands of times greater in comparison. This is exactly parallel to the way the great light of the sun is blocked by the intervening earth even though the sun is many times greater than the earth.
"The path of the Tzaddikim is like a radiant light" (Proverbs 4:18 ) - a radiant light like the sun, which shines constantly. The only obstacle is the earth, which blocks out the light even though the earth is tiny compared to the sun. In the same way, the Tzaddikim radiate constantly, except that the earth - this-worldliness - intervenes and prevents people from seeing their great light. Despite the greatness of the light of the Tzaddikim and the insignificance of this entire tiny world in comparison, the world nevertheless intervenes, preventing one from seeing their light, as in the example of the coin.
However, if one remove s this tiny barrier from before one's eyes - averting one's eyes from this world and instead raising one's head and lifting one's eyes beyond the intervening world - one attain s a view of the great and amazing light of the Torah and the Tzaddikim. For in truth their light is countless thousands of times greater than all of this world and its vanities. It is just that this world stands before people's eyes and does not permit them to lift their eyes upwards to see the light of the Torah and the Tzaddikim. It is like the small coin in front of the eyes that prevents one from seeing a great mountain.
But it is easy to remove the coin from before your eyes - and as soon as you do so you will see the mountain, which is so much larger. Similarly, with a simple movement you can remove this world from before your eyes. You will then be able to see the great light of the Torah and the Tzaddikim, which radiates in all the worlds.
Likutey Moharan I, 133

08/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

Opening the gate
When we give charity, our main task is to break our innate cruelty, turning it into kindness in order to give generously. This is the main service involved in the act of charity. When one who is kind by nature gives charity purely out of instinct, this cannot be called an act of service because even certain animals are kind by nature. The main task is to break one's innate cruelty and turn it into kindness in order to give charity.

Starting to give charity is very difficult and onerous. For all acts of true repentance and service of God require many cries and groans and strenuous contortions before one can succeed. The hardest part is starting, because "all beginnings are difficult" ( Mechilta , Yitro ) . Many cries and groans are needed before one can begin. Even after beginning, devotion never comes easily. It takes many strenuous efforts before one can achieve something of true worth. But starting is the hardest part of all.

For the main offspring of the Tzaddikim are their good deeds, and thus all mitzvot, good deeds and acts of devotion are like giving birth. How many shrieks and cries a woman emits when giving birth! How many pangs she endures before the baby is born, especially when it is her firstborn, which is particularly hard.

And charity is always a beginning, as it is written, "Open! Open up your hand!" (Deuteronomy 15:8) . Even when there is already an entrance and a beginning, giving charity opens and widens the entrance even further. Whenever a person wants to enter any pathway of devotion and service of God, it is necessary to make an opening in order to enter that pathway. "All beginnings are difficult" because it is first necessary to break through and open up the entrance all over again, which is very difficult. However, charity has the unique power of being able to open and widen the entrance further.

When you make an opening in some pathway of service and with it give some charity, this charity opens and widens the entrance even further. For charity is the beginning of all beginnings and opens and widens all the gates.
(Likutey Moharan II, 7)

07/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

Have you looked up at the sky today?
When you look outside, what do you see? The market, wagons, horses, people running in all directions.? Fifty years from now the market will be completely different, with different horses and wagons, different merchandise and different people. I won't be here and you won't be here.
Then let me ask you now: How come you are so busy and preoccupied that you don't even have time to look up at the sky?
(Kochvey Ohr)

04/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

You cannot always prevent bad thoughts from entering your mind. However, you do have the power to reject them once you become aware of them. This is very important, because this is how you can make amends for sins you may have committed earlier on in your life. Perfect repentance has to balance the original sins exactly, and this is literally what happens here. Before, when you sinned, it was because the desire entered your mind and you succumbed to it. Now the same thought is in your mind , but this time you reject it.
Do not let yourself become discouraged if you constantly find all kinds of desires and fantasies pressing in on your mind. They actually provide you with the opportunity to repent and make amends for damage done in the past. Today you have the power to master your thoughts and temptations. When you do so, the sparks of holiness that fell because of your earlier transgressions are released and you can purify yourself. Your mind and your voice will be purified and you will find harmony and peace.
— Likutey Moharan I, 27

02/07/2025

R’ Nachman Thought for Today

Make a profit from this world
The profit you can gain from this world is indescribable. You don't even need to lay out money to make a profit from this world. All you need to do is reach out and take advantage of the many opportunities God constantly provides for you to make a very great profit.
Likutey Moharan II, 55
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Each mitzvah creates a lamp
Each mitzvah that a person does in this world creates a lamp with which he can explore the treasure house of the King after he dies. This is the ultimate bliss of the life to come.
Likutey Moharan I, 275
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