THE ESSENTIAL
RABBI NACHMAN

Translated by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum

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I will tell you what I saw. And you tell your children.

Someone was lying on the ground and around him people were sitting in a circle. Around this circle was another circle, and around that circle yet another, and so on - many circles. Then around them were sitting yet more people in no particular order.

The one sitting in the middle was leaning on his side and moving his lips, and all those around were moving their lips after him. But when I looked again , the one in the middle was not there and all those sitting around were no longer moving their lips. "What is this?" I asked. They told me that he had become chilled and had expired and that he had stopped speaking.

After this they all started to run and I ran after them. I saw two palaces - very fine, beautiful buildings. Sitting there were two commanders. Everyone ran to these two commanders and started arguing with them. "Why did you deceive us?" They wanted to kill them.

The commanders fled outside. I caught sight of them and could see that they had very good natures . I ran after them and saw a beautiful tent in the distance . From there they cried out to the commanders: "Turn back and seek out all your merits. Take them in your hands and go to the light that hangs there, for there you will accomplish everything you want."

The commanders turned back and took their merits - there were bundles of merits there - and ran to the light. I ran after them and saw a gleaming light suspended in the air. The commanders came and threw their merits to the light. From the light, sparks fell into their mouths. Then the lamp - NeR - turned into NahaR , a river. Everyone drank from the river, and creatures formed inside them. As they started to speak, these creatures came forth from them: I saw them running and returning. They were neither men nor any kind of animal - just creatures.

After this they decided to go back to their place, but they said, "How can we go back to our place?" Someone said: "We should send to the one who stands there holding a sword that reaches from heaven to earth." "Who should we send?" they asked. They decided to send the creatures, and the creatures went there.

I ran after them and I saw the one with the sword. He was terrifying. He was so tall that he reached from heaven to earth. In his hand was a sword reaching from heaven to earth. It had many blades. One of them was very sharp - for killing. Another inflicted poverty, while another sent weakness. There were many other blades to inflict different punishments.

They began to plead with the one with the sword: " We have suffered at your hands for so long. Now help us and bring us to our place." "I cannot help you," he replied. They pleaded: "Give us the blade for death, and we will kill them." But he refused . They asked for a different blade, but he did not want to give them a single blade, and they returned.

In the meantime they were ordered to kill the commanders, and they cut off their heads. The entire sequence of events then reverted to what it had been before: someone was lying on the ground surrounded by circles of people. then they ran to the commanders. everything as before.

But this time the commanders did not throw their merits to the light. Instead, they simply took their merits and went to the light and broke their hearts, begging and entreating before the light. Sparks fell from the light into their mouths. They entreated more, and the light turned into a river, and the creatures were formed.

They told me, "These will live!" The first ones deserved to be killed for having thrown their merits to the light without making entreaties like the later ones.

I did not know what this meant. They said, "Go to that room, and they will explain it to you ." I went, and there sat an old man. I asked him about the matter. He took his beard in his hand and said to me, "My beard is the explanation of what happened." "I still don't know," I said. "Go to that room," he replied, "and there you will find the explanation."

I went there and saw a room infinitely long and wide, entirely filled with writings. Wherever I opened, I saw the explanation of the story.

Chayey Moharan #83