A short video for Rosh Chodesh Adar
From BRI Breslov.org YouTube videos:
Music can heal, uplift, and bring happiness. It can also agitate, drag down, and bring depression. Rebbe Nachman teaches that music, in order to exert its most beneficial effect on the soul, should come from a holy source. By choosing music that has the power to heal, we can nourish our psyche and help our soul connected to God.
Chaya Rivka Zwolinski teaches Rebbe Nachman of Breslov wisdom to English speakers around the world, using a psychospiritual approach. She leads trips for women to Uman and Jewish Ukraine and teaches in NYC and other locations. Find her video classes, articles, and podcasts at Breslov.org, BreslovWoman.org, and YouTube.com (BRI Breslov).
Shabbat Shalom–Good Shabbos
Scroll down for this past week’s audio of Rebbe Nachman’s Remedies.
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206 Thanksgiving Offering Parshat Tzav Chaya Rivka Zwolinski BRI Women
205 Purim and Prayer Chaya Rivka Zwolinski BRI Women
204 The Power of Music Chaya Rivka Zwolinski BRI Women
You’re invited to a special Breslov event just for women on Sunday, February 26th at the JCC of Manhattan.
Azamra: Hearing the Song of Your Soul
An Afternoon of Self-Discovery with Healing Chassidic Meditation, Art and Music for women
Date: Sunday, February 26th Time: 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Place: The JCC of Manhattan at 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St, New York City
Come for a creative afternoon of Chassidic workshops based on the joyful wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. Experience the power of Chassidic meditation, art, and song. Uncover unique healing insights you can build on. Gain self-knowledge. Take home doable ideas for a personal spiritual practice that will work in your life.
Save money and reserve online now. Or call the JCC to register 646.505.5708 or Susie Kessler, Director of Makom at the JCC, directly. 646.505.5726
Online registration is $40 per person. Price at the door will be $50.
Beginners through advanced participants are welcome. Kosher snacks served.
Co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan & Breslov Research Institute
An Iraqi melody to Kah Ribon, on oud and other instruments.
Music is a vital Jewish spiritual practice. The importance of music, lyric, and melody to Judaism and particularly to Breslov Chassidus can’t be overestimated. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov encourages us to sing, dance, and connect to our deepest spiritual self through song, for through song we become happy, and happiness is a great mitzvah.
Sing many songs at the Shabbos table. Pay no attention to any obstacles. Others at the table may show little desire to sing, but you should still do your part. Make a determined effort to sing happily. Lead the Shabbos table with happiness, because the main thing is the joy of Shabbat.
—Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Kah Ribon is a zemer, one of the zemiros (songs) we sing on Shabbos. Zemer* means song. Zemer also means “to prune”. Pruning involves cutting away excess matter to strengthen the core, the roots.
To find joy is the hardest thing of all. It is harder than all other spiritual tasks…Put all your energy into being happy. — Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
The Rebbe tells us that, if need be, we should force ourselves to be happy.
Of course, this advice is not politically correct. From today’s psychological viewpoint, forcing yourself to be happy is wrong. It’s denial. Better to be miserable.
At a Jewish wedding and other happy times, while the band plays an upbeat melody, the guests form a circle and dance.
Once in a while they might spot a downcast person standing in the corner, perhaps unable to chase her personal troubles from her mind. The others will reach out and grab her, pulling her to her feet and forcing her to join them in their joyful dance. As her feet move faster and faster, she claps her hands and begins to smile at the other smiling faces. She’s transformed.
♥
It is very good to set one’s dark bitterness and suffering aside and be happy, even for awhile.
But Rebbe Nachman of Brelsov tells us there is something even greater than setting our sorrow aside (although this is indeed an admirable achievement): Pursue and grab hold of your “sadness and sighing”. Bring them—against their will—into the circle dance of happiness and “introduce them to joy” so that they are actually transformed into joy.
Gloominess and depression are persistent tricksters, rooted in the side of evil, but happiness is holy. So if you want to lift those stubborn shysters up into the side of holiness, you may have to force them, dragging them with you into the holy dance of happiness.
Based on Likutey Moharan Tinyana (II), Lesson 24