“Each person must cast aside all of his sophisticated ideas and serve God in simplicity and innocence. For a person’s deeds should be greater than his wisdom.” —Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
To some, this is one of the most startling teachings in the Breslov panoply. Simplicity and innocence are not glamorous. And they don’t hold much appeal for a certain kind of brilliant person, the kind whose mind is a natural playground for intellectual hijinks. Continue reading What’s Greater Than Wisdom?
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and Jewish sages throughout the millennia have long understood that the heart has thoughts of its own. Exploring Torah, we can begin to identify the psychospiritual functions of the heart.
What insights into self-image can Ezekiel’s chariot offer us? How do we mirror the Creation in our hearts? Why do we feel that the location of emotional suffering is in the heart? In what way are our hearts divided? How can we begin to heal “heartache?” We discuss this and more, in the first class of this semester’s Healing Dance of Body and Soul at BreslovCampus.org.
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The Healing Dance of Body and Soul, Part III – Class 1 from Breslov Research Institute on Vimeo.
Free, Online Breslov Class for Women at BreslovCampus.org, The Healing Dance of Body & Soul
Please join me at BreslovCampus.org for The Healing Dance of Body and Soul, Monday evenings at 8 pm. The new semester begins January 23 through February 27.
We recognize that there are deeper truths in common idioms such as: She is broken-hearted. Their excuse sticks in my throat. I felt it in my bones. We instinctively sense that the body has messages for us beyond the physical and even beyond the emotional.
In part three of The Healing Dance of Body and Soul, we’ll continue to explore the reasons that God houses our soul in this brilliantly complex home we call “my body”, the paradoxical interplay between body and soul, and a fresh yet ancient outlook on health and healing. Topics this semester include: Holistic healing and Jewish mysticism; Healing the Heart; Emotions; Lungs; The Neck: Exile and Exodus; The Throat and the Voice; Our Image; Flesh; Bone; And more. No prerequisites required, course is open to everyone (women only.)
Please be sure to check out the other wonderful free Breslov classes, both live and recorded, at BreslovCampus.org.
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Live in Manhattan This Sunday, January 29, 10:00 am through 5:00 pm, the JCC of Manhattan with Rabbi Naftali Citron of The Carlebach Shul are hosting their very popular Annual Day of Kabbalah learning with the theme, “The Beautiful Maiden Without Eyes.”
Professor Moshe Idel, Emeritus Professor of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University, and Senior Researcher, Shalom Hartman Institute, will be keynote speaker. Other speakers include Dr. David Ariel, Shimona Tzukernik, Rabbi DovBer Pinson, Dr. Nathaniel Berman, Rabbi Naftali Citron and me. I’ll be teaching two afternoon Breslov-based workshops (please contact me or the JCC for the schedule.)
Workshop 1 The Maiden Without Eyes: Beyond Logic and Reason
When Rebbe Nachman’s daughter Chaya was suffering with an eye infection, he taught Torah 62 (Likutey Moharan) in order to draw down healing for her. In this lesson, he leads us on a beautiful, winding path in his interpretation of the Zoharic phrase, “A beautiful maiden who has no eyes.” The Rebbe reveals the beautiful maiden to be the healing belief called emunah (faith), which lies beyond logic and reason. Using the text from Lesson 62 and the story, The Lost Princess, as a jumping-off point, we’ll discuss the two main types of emunah, how the energy of emunah is relevant today, and answer the question: How do I begin to implement the power of emunah in my life, especially when I’m struggling or in pain?
This workshop is based on exegetic and revelatory texts and commentary including Likutey Moharan and Sippurey Maasiot (Rebbe Nachman)and Likutey Tefillot (Reb Noson), and others.
Workshop 2 The Maiden Without Eyes: Conscious Vision
Green tea or soda? Steamed kale or a donut? Every day we make choices about what to eat, and we know that these choices affect our bodily health. But we also make choices about what we see and these choices dramatically affect our spiritual health. In Likutey Moharan 36, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s “beautiful maiden with no eyes” shines a light on the psychospiritual dangers of seeing as the masses do. In this workshop you’ll be given tools, including two types of Chassidic meditation, to help you develop your own personally relevant approach to conscious vision.
This workshop is based on texts which offer a blend of both mystical and practical wisdom including Likutey Moharan, Sippurey Maasiot, Sefer HaMiddot/The Aleph-Bet Book (Rebbe Nachman of Breslov); Likutey Tefillot/The 50th Gate (Reb Noson); Sefer Charedim (a 15th century deontological classic by R. Elazar Azikri); the Talmud Bavli; the Baal Shem Tov on Pirkei Avot; and others.
Please note: There is a fee for the entire day. I suggest you buy tickets in advance as this event is very popular. Breakfast will be served and a kosher lunch will be available for purchase. The classes at the JCC are open to men and women. For more information on this program please email Susie Kessler, Director of Makom: Meditation + Spirituality and Adult Support Programs at the JCC or call 646.505.5726.
Please contact me if you have any questions about the topic or format (or to book your own event).
“All of a person’s journeys and all the traveling around that he must do a because of a blemish in his emunah, which is, in essence, idolatry.
“For if a person believed with perfect emunah that the Holy One, Blessed be He, is capable of supplying him with all his needs, he would not undertake a single journey. ” —Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (Kitzur Likutey Moharan, 40; Reb Nosson)
Continue reading Long And Winding Road
You’re Invited!
Dear Breslov Woman,
Please join me for THINK SMALL: Tapping Into Our Hidden Connection To God, a free mini-workshop online for women only. It’s tonight, Tuesday, August 25 at 8:00 PM (EST); 5:00 PM (PST) at BreslovCampus.org.
This Elul workshop offers a timely preparation for
Rosh Hashanah. We’ll explore a unique Breslov perspective on connecting emotionally to Hashem by following His lead. It allows you to experience the freedom to let go of limiting self-beliefs so you can go to your next level of spiritual growth.
Based in part on an important theme in one of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s most lyrical Torahs, LM 219, Beetza Emrato, together we’ll learn how each of us has an essential, personal role to play in God’s Kingly coronation. How do we do it? We “think small.”
Time permitting, we’ll explore the following:
Beginners are welcome! Please share this post with your friends, sisters, moms, daughters.
Visit BRESLOVCAMPUS for more information and live class link.
*This special Elul class for women is sponsored in memory of Esther Faiga Bas Yitzchok by her grandchildren.
*If you’d like to sponsor a workshop or class in honor of or memory of a relative, teacher, or friend, please contact me to discuss the date and topic at chayarivka@breslov.org and/or contact Yossi Katz at yossi@breslov.org to arrange the sponsorship.
Conflict and opposition lifts up a person, just as floodwaters rise and lift up a tree which was lying on the ground. —Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
How is it possible that conflict and opposition can lift up one person when they seem to so easily crush another?
Why does one person grow spiritually from her struggles while another succumbs to despair, apathy, or worse?
What makes the difference? Continue reading Flood & Faith
Know! There is a tree on which leaves grow, and each leaf takes one hundred years to grow. This tree which is found in the orchards of the nobility is called “100 Years.” And when it grows for one hundred years Continue reading The “100 Years” Tree
