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Rebbe Nachman’s Stories

Classes and Events

Diana Korzenik: Creative Writing from the Breslov Contemplative Writing Workshop

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z

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This powerful piece is from a prompt for The Sophisticate and The Simpleton, and the lessons we can learn from it about our own, personal three-cornered shoe. The author, “Diana Korzenik is a lauded writer, arts educator, and painter. She was the chair of the Department of Art Education at Massachusetts College of Art from 1972-1987, and in 2014, celebrated the acquisition of one of her paintings by the Brooklyn Museum.” (The Art Connection) She is also the author of Lithuania to Brooklyn: The Rabbi Daniel and Minnie Shapiro Family.” Diana has been a supporter of Breslov projects and books, a student of Breslov teachings for many years, and traveled to Uman with me and BRI Women in 2016.

The Three-Cornered Shoe

by Diana Korzenik

Each of us has a 3-cornered shoe. What is my 3-cornered shoe?

My “3 cornered shoe” is my misperception/ distortion in certain relationships that leads me to block  out the feeling of pain.   A 3- cornered shoe hurts. 

Like the simpleton I want to be happy with what I have “made.” What I have. The fruits of my efforts. 

Sometimes in my little world I am in the midst of a situation “that does not fit”—  like a 3 cornered shoe.

 I can’t even imagine how a 3 cornered shoe would look…but I can imagine how my foot would feel in a 3 cornered shoe. My foot would hurt. Do I do anything? Do I tell anyone? Do I do anything differently?  

What do I do? (as simpleton and sophisticate) Do I pretend I have mastered shoe-making? After all the sophisticate learned gold smithing fast, then he learned gem-cutting fast,  and I the shoemaker  who stayed working at  shoemaking should be doing better now..better  than making a three cornered shoe.

But I keep being proud my skills. instead I pray to refine my skills.

If my 3 cornered shoe-making is being drawn to certain hurtful people —its time I refine my skills, improve my shoe-making. Its time I stop saying of my work,  it is” sweet and perfect” as it is.  It is not even if the shoe makers wife says it is.   It will be  work to understand why my foot hurts in my 3 cornered shoe. It is time to see what I can do differently to avoid pain.

Diana Korzenik  Jan 19, 2021

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Classes and Events

Rebbe Nachman’s The Master of Prayer (This week, Beauty & Free Speech) Wed. January 20 Tale of Money, Kabbalah 7 Prayer

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z

Topics for this week’s class: Land of Beautiful Women; Land of (Free) Speech, and more, powerfully relevant to what the World, the Jewish people as a nation and each person individually are going through during this unprecedented era.

Please join me for The Master of Prayer this Wednesday, in our live phone class IyH. You don’t have to attend previous classes in order to attend, but if you have time, you can listen to the recordings of previous classes:

class 1 Civilization, Money, Hitbodedut, Desire

class 2 The Land of Money, Chanukah Gelt, Educating and Rectifying, the Power of Imagination

class 3 Money and the Chashmonaim, Money as a Deity (Worshipping Money), The Messiah (Mashiach ben Yosef)

class 4 The Meaning of the Hand, Finding Yourself in Torah, The Priestly Blessing, Using Your Hands in Prayer, The Secret/Manifesting Wealth

class 5 The Sefirot & the Characters, The Wise Man, The Child, Finding Yourself in the Story

class 6 The Turbulent Hurricane, The Child, The Warrior, The Goal of Life, The Desire for Personal Honor, The Nasty Beggar, Finding yourself in the story and the story in you

class 7 The Land of Murder, The Land of Abundant Food, Murder, Soul Murder, Jealousy, Unlocking the Spiritual Nutrition in your Food, Refined Eating

While all the Rebbe’s stories and teachings are relevant for all times, this is one in which the current American and global situation will positively reverberate throughout the tale! We travel with the Rebbe through various lands (the land where they worship money, the land where they worship physical strength, and so on) and meet characters that help us make sense of our own journeys, the Master of Prayer, the Warrior, the King, the Queen, and so on. Of course, it is also packed with psychospiritual exploration for us to delve into personally, and connect to emotionally, as well. See the flyer, below, for more information, class times, and call-in number.

The story will take a few weeks to unfold, and I will do my best to make time for your questions and comments in each class.

If you have never heard this story before: DO NOT MISS THIS PHONE-IN CLASS

With joy,

Chaya Rivka

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Audio Lessons & Podcasts

Breslov Podcast: Master of Prayer Class 7 (Soul-Murder, Jealousy, Unlocking the Spiritual Nutrition in your Food and Refined Eating, etc.), Finding you in the story, the story in you…

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z
Master of Prayer 6

This week we discuss the land of murder and the land of abundant (refined) food. Soul-Murder, Jealousy, ad hominem attacks, censorship as murder, killing someone through destroying their parnassah, etc. The Souls in Food and Refined Eating, unlocking the spiritual nutrition of your food. You are your own unique world! You are the monarch of your personal “land.” Protecting and Nurturing your own environment. What can Rebbe Nachman pack into a few paragraphs? More than anyone — instruction for life.

What is your relationship to: Money? Status? Power? Physicality? Join me for Rebbe Nachman’s brilliant allegorical-Kabbalistic tale, The Master of Prayer. Free live call-in at 12:15 EST on Wednesdays.

Listen to previous classes here

Sign up at BreslovWoman.org to receive class announcements via email, or join BreslovWoman Whatsapp or Signal for free daily mini-lessons and class announcements:

Follow this link to join the BreslovWoman WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/0K6yMTGZyDyBvUI0WMpDQP

Follow this link to join the BreslovWoman Signal group (same info as on WhatsApp): https://signal.group/#CjQKILZ7CG9Hd_hACuEnwv8Lcn2PGqqI2UGF8TUczdDGhKZgEhAUmiymv7jCxHVdMEpMN1Su

Or just call in on Wednesdays 712-770-4598 access code 144097# (If you receive Whatsapp or email notifications, you’ll find out what the topic is and whether or not class is scheduled.)

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Classes and Events

The Sophisticate, The Simpleton and Time: Creative Writing from the Breslov Contemplative Writing ZOOM Workshop

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z

We have two spaces left in the upcoming intermediate writing class beginning on January 19th. Previous classes have sold out quickly, please register now to save your space – for information visit: Contemplative Writing from the Soul

Please sign up to receive emails via this blog (see the right sidebar for sign up) and/or to the whatsapp group where you will receive timely updates and daily Breslov audio mini-lessons click to join.

This beautiful piece is from the prompt for The Sophisticate and The Simpleton, and the lessons we can learn from them about how we relate to and understand “time.” Shulamit Michal Strassburger is also an award-winning writer, she won an award in the BRI Women writing contest in 2018.

Time

by Shulamit Michal (Susan) Strassburger

     I have had arguments with time since childhood; the school year went too slow, Summer vacation went too fast, not enough time to study for the test, the test time flew……  Nothing changed in adulthood – couldn’t something be done about that nine-month long pregnancy?  Time moves us along to our various plateaus in life.  Arguing with time can lead one to the belief he has some control over it.

     At each plateau, I felt the Sophisticate fought time in his unwillingness to accept where he was.  Where he was, was never good enough.  He always looked to his next step, to the future.  Assuming he had time and control of it was central to his character.  He admits this when the subject of marriage comes up.  “But this is not my concern now. I will have plenty of time for this in the future.”

     When the Sophisticate receives the letter from the king summoning him, he begins his conflict with time.  The first thing he says is, “Wait”, stopping his progress to his next plateau, trying to stop time.  He proceeds to block his summons to the king by questioning the king’s existence with everyone.  It is like he grabs time by its throat forcing it to his will.  Time retaliates, in the guise of the Devil, by throwing the Sophisticate into a quicksand bog rendering him immobile.  There is nothing the Sophisticate can do on his own to get himself out.  He is stuck where he is for the first time.  There wasn’t an argument that would make a difference, nothing he could control.  He must live in the present as we all need to. 

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Audio Lessons & Podcasts

Breslov Podcast: Master of Prayer Class 6 (The Turbulent Hurricane, The Child, The Warrior, The Goal of Life, The Desire for Personal Honor, The Blind, Lame, Mute, Nasty Beggar) Finding you in the story, the story in you

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z
Master of Prayer 6

This week we discuss the child, the warrior, the goal of life, the death of Rebbe Nachman’s son, Shlomo Ephraim, The Sword, the turbulent storm wind, fear and awe, lashon hara, and so much more! What can Rebbe Nachman pack into a few paragraphs? More than anyone — instruction for life.

What is your relationship to: Money? Status? Power? Physicality? Join me for Rebbe Nachman’s brilliant allegorical-Kabbalistic tale, The Master of Prayer. Free live call-in at 12:15 EST on Wednesdays.

Listen to previous classes here

Sign up at BreslovWoman.org to receive class announcements via email, or join BreslovWoman Whatsapp for free daily mini-lessons and class announcements:

Follow this link to join the WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/0K6yMTGZyDyBvUI0WMpDQP

Or just call in on Wednesdays 712-770-4598 access code 144097# (If you receive Whatsapp or email notifications, you’ll find out what the topic is and whether or not class is scheduled.)

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Classes and Events

NEW SESSION Starting Jan. 19th Contemplative Writing Workshop: The Sophisticate & the Simpleton

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z

Four Tuesdays, January 19 through February 9

RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY — LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE

You’re invited: Sign up today for BreslovWoman’s Zoom intermediate writing workshop. Class will run between one hour and fifteen minutes and one and a half hours, per session. Text 917-348-1573 or email crzbreslov@gmail.com to register or for more info.

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Classes and Events

Student’s Creative Writing from the Breslov Contemplative Writing ZOOM Workshop 3

by chaya rivka z
written by chaya rivka z

We are continuing to post pieces from the latest Contemplative Writing workshops.

Please sign up to receive emails via this blog (see the right sidebar for sign up) and/or to the whatsapp group where you will receive timely updates and daily Breslov audio mini-lessons click to join.

This beautiful piece is from the prompt for Kaptzin Pasha, regarding the mitzvah we find ourselves most drawn to.

Water

by Charlene Hakimi

            The mitzvah I feel most draw to performing is Netilat Yadayim. I love the water. Water is so beautiful and mystical to me. It is a liquid, a thing, that comes from the Earth, or the sky, or the Heavens, or HaShem Himself. It is clear yet full of all nutrients. It goes in my body easily. I thirst for water. I love to drink it, and I love to swim in it, and I love to stand under it. I love the feeling of water on my hands.

            The other mitzvah that I am drawn to perform in the future, very soon G-d willing, is the mikveh. That is my ultimate goal. I am so excited to put not just my hands but my whole body in the water, enveloped by something physical that represents HaShem.

            The mitzvah of Netilat Yadayim has saved me from the Kaptzin Pasha and has also brought out the Kaptzin Pasha in me. I used to be so vigorous with this mitzvah that my hands were very dry, and it became a burden to me. It had to be perfect. When I cooled down and learned the halacha better, I was able to enjoy it much more without the stringencies. I learned from this experience that the love of the mitzvah is more important than the stringency of it.

            Netilat Yadayim saved me from the executioner because it made me think about the importance of going to the bathroom. It showed me that I took using the bathroom for granted. The fact that I had a process in the bathroom that had to do with G-d showed me hat G-d even takes care of the lowly things in our lives. He cares for every part of us. He trained me to go from the Sophisticate to the Simpleton in that way.

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