Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Some of the Ways I'm Preparing for my First Time in "Uman Uman Rosh Hashanah!"

I'm doing some reading and contemplating how to try and prepare myself for going to Uman for the first time this Rosh Hashanah using some books and seforim. My friend Simcha, who's gone for two years so far and took most of these pictures, recommend that I read Through Fire and Water, Reb Noson's biography by Rav Chaim Kramer. So far I'm reading it over Shabbosim and I'm a little over halfway done. It's a very long book but very interesting. It's crazy what Reb Noson had to go through and the way that other Tzadikim and their thugish followers treated him and other Breslovers. The most amazing part of it, though, is just to truly learn from Reb Noson what it really means to attach one's self to a Tzadik totally and completely. He was the perfect talmid. My question from this book is how I can change to become a true talmid of Rav Moshe Weinberger...






A Simple Jew also recommended that I see two other books, which came in the mail last week. I plan to save at least one of them for the plane on the way to Uman. One is Against All Odds, about one person's mesirus Nefesh to be in Uman for Rosh Hashanah when it was still under Soviet control.
By the way, when I ordered these books from the Breslov Research Institute, Rav Chaim Kramer's organization, I was very happy with how it worked. They now have free shipping on all orders, and Yossie Katz, who handles the shipping from Monsey, has done a great job and shipps things out very quickly, B"H.

Interestingly, Yossie Katz is also the author of one of the chapters in the next book A Simple Jew recommended to me here:






The other is Rebbe Nachman and the Knights of the Rosh Hashanah Table. It is a collection of essays from about 50 people, some of whom are pretty well known. They write about how they discovered and became connected to Rebbe Nachman, Breslov, and Uman.
Some of the people featured in this book are Menachem Herman, R. Jonathan Rietti, and Yossie Katz, the the Breslov Research Insititute's illustrious sefer to distributor to all orderees.







My wife asked me to order Rav Ozer Bergman's guide to Hisbodedus, Where Heaven and Earth Kiss. It really is a great and practical book from the parts of it I've looked at. My wife's working on it now and IY"H, I will as well. Hisbodedus is such an ikar in Yiddishkeit and in what Rebbe Nachman teaches, so it's obviously something I need to work on and hopefully Reb Ozer's book will help with that.








I'm also trying to go through and review some of the major pieces in Likutei Moharan like Azamra, Ayeh, and Tinyana 48. It is amazingly deep and the connections are hard to grasp sometimes. But I do find that after the second or third time through, I pick up a few more things. Though it is like that when learning anything deep.

Ashreinu ashreinu ashreinu she'yesh lanu Rebbe kazeh!

IY"H, all of this should lead toward the true tachlis, which is "Va'ani, Kirvas Elokim li Tov."

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7 comments:

Avi said...

And Rabbi Nachman's tales are amazing too:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/31422419/Nachman-of-Bratzlav-Tales

Anonymous said...

Don't forget about "Crossing the Narrow Bridge"

Neil Harris said...

Crossing the Narrow Bridge is excellent, as is Sefer HaMidos.

How does R Bergman's sefer differ from UNDER THE TABLE by Avraham Greenbaum in terms of the "how to" of hisbodedus?

DixieYid (يهودي جنوبي) said...

ASJ says Under the Table is a more general overview of Rebbe Nachman's teachings, but isn't as much of a practical how-to guide.

Neil Harris said...

Ah. I bought the book in 1991 and ate it up (b/c you can eat a book and still be a turkey).

A Talmid said...

I would strongly suggest learning LM 4, which speaks of vidui devarim in front of a tzadik with the Parparos Lechochmah on it which explains how it applies today (printed at the end of the English version from BRI). Vidui devarim is one of the main inyanim at his tzion, especially Erev Rosh Hashona. Many people overlook it, but if you speak to the anash you will see how crucial this is. All the best. Maybe we will finally meet.

DixieYid (يهودي جنوبي) said...

Thank y'all for the suggestions. Funny Neil!

A Talmid,

IY"H, I'll check out that piece over Shabbos although i don't have a Parparos l'Chochma.

Hey, e-mail me a picture and your name so i can look for you in Uman! I'll be staying at R' Lazer Brody's place.

Kol tuv & gut Shabbos!