THE ESSENTIAL
RABBI NACHMAN
Translated by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum
MASHIACH
Mashiach will conquer the entire world without firing a single bullet.
Siach Sarfey Kodesh 1-67
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Mashiach's main weapon is prayer!
Likutey Moharan I, 2
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Mashiach will have a great task just to bring people to pray a Shmoneh Esrey clean of outside thoughts.
Siach Sarfey Kodesh 1-20
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On the threshold of Mashiach , God runs the world with the utmost delicacy, like filigree work.
Siach Sarfey Kodesh 1-99
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Mashiach will conquer the world only through simple people who recite the Psalms simply and sincerely.
You may understand this through a parable about a certain king who went hunting dressed in ordinary clothing for greater comfort. A sudden cloud-burst, a literal flood of water, sent all the ministers scattering in search of shelter. The king was in great danger but finally found the house of a villager, who invited him inside with great honor, dressed him in warm clothes and gave him simple peasant food, lighting a fire and leaving him there to sleep and warm up. The king was so exhausted that the food and rest in the home of the peasant were the sweetest delight, the like of which he felt he had never tasted.
The ministers searched for the king until they came to the peasant's house and found the king asleep. They waited until he awoke. They wanted him to return home with them, but the king said to them: "None of you came to save me: you all scattered in different directions to save yourselves! Only this peasant saved me. Since I have tasted the sweetest delight with him, he will bring me home in his wagon and I will sit on my royal throne in the very clothes in which he dressed me!
Likewise, just before Mashiach comes, there will be a flood of atheism - not a literal flood of water but one of strange thoughts that will cover all the "high mountains" even in the land of Israel, which was not affected by Noah's flood. The rains will teem down with such force that even the "mountains of Israel " will be drenched - even the hearts of the pure will be affected.
Wisdom and sophistication will be of no avail. The only ones who will hold firm are the simple Jews who recite Psalms simply and sincerely. That is why, when the Mashiach comes, they will be the ones who place the royal crown on his head.
Sipurim Niflaim
Great atheism is coming to the world as a test from on high. The world's many sins are causing a terrible lack of faith. Happy is the person who stays firm in his faith in these times.
The fact that I am predicting this will not prevent the increase of Godlessness and confusion. Long ago Daniel and others made it known that this would happen in the days before the Mashiach. "Many will purify themselves and be refined, and make themselves shining white. But the wicked will do evil. and only the wise shall understand" (Daniel 12:10 ) .
Knowing that this has already been foreseen, it would seem that it should not be such a great trial for people to remain strong and firm in their faith. But the truth is that even though the prophets made this known long ago, it will still be a great trial. Many will fall by the way , and that is why it is written: "the wicked will do evil."
I am revealing this for the sake of the few pure souls who will remain firm in their faith. They will certainly face great battles even in their own minds. But when they see that this has already been predicted, it will give them greater strength and encouragement.
Sichot Haran #35
Many of the misguided follies of primitive times such as child-sacrifice to Molech (Leviticus 20:2) have now disappeared. But the folly of war has still not been abolished. What kind of wisdom must the scientists possess in order to invent a wonderful weapon that can kill thousands of people at once! Is there anything more foolish than to kill so many people for nothing!
Chayey Moharan #546
The world is full of strife. There are wars between the nations of the world and conflicts in every city. There are feuds in every household, discord between neighbors, friction within the family, between man and wife, parents and children...
Every day man dies - for the day that has passed will never return. Death comes closer every day, yet nobody remembers the purpose of life.
Friction in the home directly parallels the wars between nations. Each member of the household is the counterpart of one of the nations: their quarrels correspond to the wars between the nations. Even the traits of the different nations can be discerned in the individual members of the household. Each nation has its own particular trait, such as anger, blood-thirstiness and so on. The counterparts of these traits are found in the different members of each household.
You may have no desire for strife: you may only want to live quietly and peaceably with everyone. Even so, you may find yourself forced into conflicts and disputes.
The same happens between nations. One nation may want peace and is willing to make many concessions in order to achieve it. Yet it finds itself dragged into other nations' disputes, with each of the opposing sides demanding its allegiance until it is drawn into war against its will.
The same is true in household wars. Man is a miniature world containing the entire world and everything in it. A man and his family contain the nations of the world and all their wars and strife.
For this reason someone living alone in a forest can go out of his mind. This is because all the warring nations are contained within him. Each one attacks the other, and his personality keeps changing depending on which of the nations within him prevails. Swinging from one extreme to another can drive him insane. But when a person lives with others, these battles are played out among the different members of the household, or between neighbors and friends and so on.
However, when Mashiach comes, all war s and conflict s will come to an end and great peace will come into the world, for "They will neither hurt nor destroy." (Isaiah 11:9) .
Sichot Haran #77
Through the spread of peace the whole world can be drawn to serve God with one accord, because when men are at peace with one another they talk to each other about the true purpose of the world and its vanities. They discuss the realities of life and how, when a person dies, all that remains is whatever he prepared for the world of eternity after death, because neither silver nor gold accompany a person after death. When people come to understand this they will abandon their illusions and idols of silver, aspiring only to God and His Torah. Their only aim will be to serve God and seek out the truth.
But when there is no peace in the world, and worse still, when there is strife, men are not open with one another and never discuss the true purpose of life. Even when someone does discuss it, his words do not penetrate the hearts of others, because they have no interest in discovering the truth but only in winning the argument. They are aggressive and full of hatred and envy. When a person wants to win an argument, his ears are not open to the truth. The main reason most people are so far from God is that divisiveness and strife are so widespread today through our many sins.
Likutey Moharan I, 27
The real meaning of peace is to join two opposites. You should therefore not be perturbed when you encounter someone who is and thinks the exact opposite of yourself. Don't assume you will never be able to live amicably with him. Likewise, when you see two people who are completely opposite types, don't decide that it is impossible to make peace between them. Quite the contrary! Perfect peace is achieved through the effort to make peace between two opposites, just as God makes peace in His high places between fire and water, which are two opposites. Peace is attained when you are completely willing to sacrifice yourself to sanctify God's Name.
Likutey Moharan I, 80
God always takes into account the good that people do. Perhaps something not so good was mixed in, but God disregards it.
If this is God's way, we should try all the more to do the same. Don't look for other people's bad side or search out their weak points and shortcomings. Look only for the good in others and always search for worth and merit in them. Then you will be at peace with everyone.
Likutey Moharan II, 17
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As to what will become of me, I have no idea. But this much I have achieved with the Almighty: the Mashiach will be one of my offspring.
Chayey Moharan #274
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BACK TO THE ESSENTIAL RABBI NACHMAN HOMEPAGE
By Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Greenbaum
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