Rabbi Yitzchok Breiter was born in Poland in 1886. He was one of
the leading Breslover Chassidim of his day. Intensely devoted to
avodas HaShem, he had a magnetic effect on people and was an
extremely gifted speaker. Before World War II, he attracted
thousands to Breslover Chassidus in Poland. He was killed in a Nazi
concentration camp in the early 1940's. The following is a translation
from a beautiful little book he wrote called The Seven Pillars of
Faith, in which he summarizes many of Rabbi Nachman's
teachings.
Second Pillar: Revelation of G-dliness The second fundamental principle is to know that G-dliness is being revealed to us all the time -- all day and all night. There has been continuous revelation ever since the Creation first came about. On rare occasions the revelation is direct: your eyes are opened and you become filled with a genuine yearning to come closer to G-d. You are being called, and you hear it. In most cases, however, the revelation is indirect. The communication may come to us in the most amazing ways, even "back to front," as it were. G-dly vitality is coming down to us even in the thoughts we have when we feel lazy, heavy, depressed, unenthusiastic, and so on. It comes to us even in the guise of atheistic thoughts, mental confusion, negative ideas and feelings, fantasies, material impulses and cravings, etc. etc.. The main thing to know is that whatever you hear, see or experience, whether from a man or a woman, from someone close to you or someone distant, and especially from your spouse and the members of your household -- all are the words of G-d calling you to Him. It is through these communications that the things you need to attain your spiritual perfection are sent to you from above. The Talmud hints at this principle when it tells us that "from the day the Holy Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to madmen and children" (Bava Basra 12b). Prophecy means G-d's communication with us, showing us where we are going wrong and what direction we need to go in. The Talmud calls those prophesying in this sense "madmen and children" because the people giving us this Heavenly guidance are not themselves aware of the true significance of their words. They have their own ideas about what they are telling us and why. Yet even when people tell us things which seem very unfair, there is an underlying message which is for our own ultimate good. This downward chain of revelation -- which may often seem to us as if it is full of contradictory messages -- has its roots in the holy controversy in the Mishnah and the Talmud, which contain the discussions and disputes between the Tannaim (the Mishnaic teachers) and the Amoraim (those of the Talmud). Although they disagree with each other, "these and these are the words of the living G-d" (Eruvin 13b). When it comes to the final legal decision, the halachah, it has to be according to one of the disputants and not the other. Yet G-d still caused the other to put forward his opinion giving full proof from the Torah, even though his view diverges from the actually halacha. When it comes to practice, we have to follow the halachah as established by the rules of the Talmud. Yet even though the words of the second teacher contradict the halacha, we must still try to understand this approach, because his are also the words of G-d. If we find ourselves faced by contradictory messages in life, that is the way the Creation has been designed in order to give us free will and thereby test us. when we choose correctly and act accordingly, we sift out the good from the bad and bring about the refinement of the Creation. All this relates to why we have to study the Code of Jewish Law, the Shulchan Aruch, every day, as emphasized strongly by Rabbi Nachman (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #29). A halachic decision brings peace, as it were, between the disputing sages. Since their disputes are the ultimate source of all conflict in the world, a halachic decision thus helps to resolve conflict in general. Study of the Shulchan Aruch, which is entirely made up of halachic decisions, thus helps a person make peace in himself and resolve both his inner conflicts and those he has in the external world. He will no longer suffer from a "divided heart" (cf. Hosea 10). For "When G-d is pleased with a person's ways, even his enemies" -- these are the thoughts which come from the evil inclination, which make the heart twisted -- "even his enemies will make peace with him" (Proverbs 16:7). In time to come, G-d "will send to the nations a pure language so that all will call on the Name of G-d, and the idols will completely pass away" (Zephaniah 3:9). Evil will be turned into good. For it will then be revealed that even attempts to deny G-d are actually a call to faith. There is a hint of this in the opening words of Leviticus (1:1): "VaYiKRA -- And He called to Moses." In theTorah Scroll, the letter aleph in this word is written small. The remaining letters of the word, VaYiKR, would mean "it happened." Concealed within all the different things which happen to a person is the voice of G-d, calling him -- the quiet, small voice. Understand this.
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