THE ESSENTIAL
RABBI NACHMAN

Translated by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum

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A man from a certain town once dreamed that in Vienna , under a bridge, there lay buried treasure. He travel ed to Vienna and stood there by the bridge trying to think what to do. During the day it would be impossible to dig because of the people.

As he stood there, a soldier passed by and asked, "What are you standing thinking about?" The man thought it would be best to tell him the truth. Perhaps he would help him and they could share the proceeds. He told him the whole story.

"Jews only think about dreams!" cried the soldier. "I also had a dream, and in my dream I too saw a treasure. It was in a particular house belonging to a particular person."

The soldier mentioned the very name of the man's city and the name of the man himself. "There in the cellar lies a great treasure, and I want to go there and take it."

The man returned home, dug in his cellar and found the treasure.

"Now I know that the treasure is with me!" he said. "Except that to find out about it, I had to travel to Vienna ."

So it is in serving God. The treasure is inside each person. But to find out about the treasure, one must travel to the Tzaddik.

Sipurim Niflaim