Azamra

10/05/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

Today publicity and fame go to false figures. The arrogance of these false leaders causes sexual immorality to become rife, with the wanton destruction of seed. The `flesh is stopped' (Leviticus 15:3). This `sealing' of the flesh is the seal of the forces of the Other Side. The only way to escape this is through the strength of the Guardians of the age, the Tzaddikim and those who are truly pious. They are called the `Guardians of the earth.' The battle they have to fight is very fierce. But these Guardians have the power to transform the `stopped up flesh' to a `seal of holiness'. This seal is the tefilin. The greater the victory over sexual immorality the greater the spiritual enlightenment which follows. This enlightenment is the `seal of holiness' which the tefilin embody. Every one can draw strength from the `Guardians of the Earth' to break his desires and put all his fantasies out of his mind, filling it instead with holy thoughts. Something you should understand is that the more strongly you are assailed by temptation and desire, the greater the tikkun when you fight and break them. Holiness is realeased from the power of the husks. You will be suffused with the holiness of the tefilin: to know and make known God's power and glory in the world. The sole reason why these fantasies and evil thoughts are sent to a person is precisely that he should transform them and sublimate them to the realm of holiness.
— Likutey Moharan II:5:6

One who breaks his sexual desire, and cleanses and purifies his mind, is worthy of dreams sent by an angel. Then he is worthy of the status of Man. But a person whose mind is impure receives dreams from a demon and resembles a beast.
— Ibid. 9

Rabbis and judges who are dishonest and pervert the law cause the filth of nocturnal pollutions. The perversion of the `thrones of judgement' (Psalms 122:5) causes the love that is in the Chariot (the Throne) to fall, and stirs up the heat of impure passion. The remedy for this is `binding the chariot' - a reference to the institution of the Sages that before we go to sleep we should say: `In the name of the Lord God of Israel: at my right, Michael; at my left, Gavriel; before me, Uriel and behind me, Rafael, and upon my head, Shechinat-El'
— Ibid. 11

06/05/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

When someone is happy all day it is easier for him to spend an hour or so with a broken heart, talking to God and pouring out his heart like water before Him. After a broken heart comes joy. The test of whether your heart was really broken is if afterwards you feel joy.

— Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom 45

You should constantly center your thoughts on contemplating the root of all things. This is the source of all that is good and all joys. You will feel an overwhelming joy, because when one contemplates this root which is wholly good then everything good and joyous is merged into one and radiates with abundant light.

Likutey Moharan II, 34

What a great thing it is when you study Torah or carry out a mitzva with such joy that you literally dance for joy. This is the remedy for saying something bad. You will be blessed with wealth and children and your faith will be strengthened.

— Likutey Moharan II: 81

To find true joy is the hardest thing of all. It is harder than all other spiritual tasks. You must literally force yourself to be happy all the time. Put all your energy into it. Use every kind of ploy. Often the only way is by literally doing something crazy.

— Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom 20

Most important of all, you must be happy while you are praying. Be sure always to pray with joy. The same applies to carrying out the mitzvot. You should be especially joyous on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Even on weekdays it is a great mitzva to be happy always.

— Ibid. 155, 299

05/05/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

Peace
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 pe*****te 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

* * *

Joining opposites
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

04/05/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

The true teacher
Everyone must search very hard in order to find a true teacher who can help him attain great wisdom and Godly perception. This requires an outstandingly great teacher who has the power to explain this deep wisdom in terms comprehensible to the simplest people.
The lower a person's level and the further away he is from God, the greater the teacher he needs. Thus when the Jewish people were on the lowest of levels in Egypt , sunk in the forty-nine gates of impurity, they needed the greatest rabbi and teacher of all: Moshe Rabbenu. For the lower down and further away from God a person is, the greater the teacher he needs. He needs a master craftsman who has the ability to bring the supreme wisdom of Godly perception within the grasp of one as lowly and far away from God as himself. The sicker the patient, the greater the doctor he needs.

One should therefore never say, "It is enough for me if I attach myself to someone respectable and God-fearing, even though he may not be on an outstanding level. First let me simply be like him!" This is a mistake. On the contrary, the more a person recognizes his own lowliness and great distance from God, the more he should search out the greatest and most outstanding doctor for his soul and strive to draw close to the greatest possible teacher. For the lowlier the person, the greater the teacher he needs.

— Likutey Moharan I, 30
* * *

Benefit of the Tzaddik after death
The true Tzaddik can greatly benefit even a person who has died and gone to the next world, as long as that person is sufficiently worthy to come to the Tzaddik to rectify his soul.
Be aware that the main obstacle encountered there by one who is undeserving is that he is not permitted to come to the true Tzaddik to be purified. He is simply pushed aside and led on the wrong track by all kinds of confusing doubts, as if the Tzaddik has no power at all. Even there , just as in this world, there is great opposition to the Tzaddik among the destroying angels and evil forces .

The most important thing is to be constantly aware of this so as not to let yourself be deceived there. Stay firm in wanting to go to the true Tzaddik and nowhere else, and then you will certainly be permitted to do so.

— Chayey Moharan #309
* * *

Seeing as I am going before you, what do you have to fear?

— Chayey Moharan #225

03/05/2026

Monday May 4 / 17 Iyar

Today is the third of the three optional fasts of BeHaB following the Pesach festival. The fast is observed from dawn until nightfall, and Selichot (penitential prayers) are recited in the synagogue. Great spiritual gains are available for those who are able to observe these fasts.
Today is the Yarhzeit of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov (1748-1800), son of Udil (daughter of the Baal Shem Tov) and author of Degel Machaneh Ephraim.

"Any rains that fall during the month of Iyar are a great remedy for all sicknesses -- there is no remedy like them in all the drugstores. It is good to stand in the rain and bare one's head a little and open one's mouth to the rain"

The Ohev Yisrael of Apta
Monday night-Tuesday May 4-5 / 18 Iyar
Lag BaOmer

This is the 33rd day of the Omer count (Lamed=30; Gimmel=3), exactly two thirds of the way from Pesach to Shavuot, famous as the day when the plague that had struck Rabbi Akiva's students ceased in the merit of his foremost disciple, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, known as RaShBI, author of the kabbalistic teachings of the Zohar. While the other students failed to show each other due respect, R. Shimon said, "For me, everything depends on friendship" (Zohar).
Lag BaOmer is the Yahrzeit of R. Shimon, and hundreds of thousands flock to the site of his burial cave on Mt Meiron in the northern Galilee. All over the world Jews light bonfires and rejoice in honor of RaShBI. This is a propitious day for binding ourselves to all the true Tzaddikim and for the study of the secrets of the Torah.

Parents: Please ensure that your children are under proper supervision if they light a Lag BaOmer bonfire!
Lag BaOmer is also the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Isserles (1520-72) author of the Mappah, glosses on the normative Torah law code Shulchan Aruch which give the Ashknezi legal rulings where they differ from those of the main work.

Tuesday night-Wednesday May 5-6 / 19 Iyar

Today is the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Riminov, (?-1815), an important Hassidic leader who emphasized the benefit of daily recital of Parshat HaMann (Exodus 16:4-36 about the Manna) accompanied by prayers for livelihood.

"All medicines come from the earth. Therefore during the season when the earth gives forth her bounty and puts strength into all the trees and plants, i.e. during the month of Iyar when the fruits ripen, all medicinal plants have greater power, because the earth then puts strength into them. However at other times, even if one were to take exactly the same medicines, they would not have the same power. This is why people take medicines in the month of Iyar - May."

Rabbi Nachman, Likutey Moharan I, 277
Friday night-Saturday May 8-9 / 22 Iyar
Shabbat Parshat BEHAR-BECHUKOSAI

This week's Torah reading is the double portion of BEHAR, Leviticus 25:1-26:2 giving the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years and the laws of sale of property, joined with BECHUKOSAI, Leviticus 26:3-27:34, detailing the rewards for keeping the Torah and the punishments for failure to do so. With today's reading we conclude the book of Leviticus -- Hazak Hazak Venit-Hazek!!! Haftara: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14. On Shabbat afternoon we read chapter 5 of Pirkey Avot.

30/04/2026

Friday May 1 / 14 Iyar
Pesach Sheni

In Temple times those who had been ritually impure or far from Jerusalem at the time of the Pesach sacrifice on 14 Nissan had a second opportunity to bring their paschal sacrifice on Pesach Sheni, "the second Pesach" (see Numbers 9:1-22).
Today is a semi-festival and the usual Tachanun supplications are not recited in the Synagogue services. Some celebrate Pesach Sheni by eating Matzot. The most appropriate time to eat the Matzot would be on Friday evening since the Pesach Sheni sacrifice was offered on the afternoon of 14 Iyar and eaten that night at a "Seder" together with Matzot.

The lesson of Pesach Sheni is that even if we fail to put things right the first time, G-d gives us a second chance!!!
Today is the Yahrzeit of the great Tanna, Rabbi Meir "Baal HaNess" ("Master of the miracle"), familiar from his teachings throughout the Talmud. He is buried in Tiberias, Israel. It is also the Yahrzeit of his equally outstanding contemporary, Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai, who is buried aside the Safed-Meiron road.

Friday night-Saturday May 1-2 / 15 Iyar
Shabbat parshat EMOR

Torah reading: EMOR, Leviticus 21:1-24:23, including laws relating to the priesthood and the annual cycle of festivals; Haftara: Ezekiel 44:15–31 on the laws relating to the priests of the Future Temple. Pirkey Avot Chapter Four is read after the Minchah service on Shabbat afternoon.
On this day the 30-day supply of Matzot which the Children of Israel took with them out of Egypt came to an end, and when they cried out for food, HaShem sent them the Manna. This is a day to focus on the miracles with which the Almighty provides us with our livelihood, physical and spiritual, and to develop our trust that He will always supply us with everything we need. The practical expression of this trust is when we pray to Him for what we need.

Pirkey Avot chapter 4 is read after the Shabbat afternoon Minchah service.

29/04/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

When to push, when to wait:

When you just can't fall asleep, it's no use trying to force yourself to sleep. The more you try to force yourself, the more sleep will elude you. The same applies to many other things: it is not good to force yourself too much, because the more you try to force yourself, the stronger the opposing forces will become.
At times this applies even to prayer and devotion. You should certainly make every possible effort to sanctify yourself and attain true devotion. When something can be done today, don't leave it for tomorrow - because the world never stops for a moment. Man's world consists only of the present. Whatever you can do to serve God, do immediately and determinedly without delay. Who knows what obstacles you may face from the outside and from within if you leave it until later?

But at times you may see that, despite all your efforts and determination, you simply cannot achieve what you want. Sometimes you must simply wait. Don't be discouraged because you are not achieving what you want. Don't let this push you off course. You must wait a little until the time is ripe.

The most important thing of all is to look to God at all times with longing and yearning, even when things are not going as well as you would like in your prayers and devotions. Never despair, no matter what. And as soon as God gives you the opportunity to do something holy, do it at once.

— Chayey Moharan #431

27/04/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

Be very eager to serve God. Do as much as you can every day and every moment. The main thing is practical action. Study as much as you can. Carry out many mitzvot. Spend a lot of time praying and pouring out your heart to God. Do as much as you possibly can.
Even so, do not allow yourself to be rushed on account of the many devotions you may encounter in Torah literature. Maybe you wonder, "When will I be able to practice even one of these devotions, let alone all of them?"
Don't allow such thoughts to frustrate you. It is no good to rush and try to achieve everything at once. Go forward steadily, step by step.
If you are overhasty, trying to grasp everything at once, you may become totally confused, like when a house burns down and people sn**ch the most worthless items in their panic.
Go forward steadily, one step at a time. If you are unable to do everything, that is not your fault. God exempts those under duress.
There may be many things that you cannot do. Even so, you should long and yearn to fulfill them. The longing itself is a great thing - for God desires the heart.

Sichot Haran #27

* * *

People are often very confused as to the best way to serve God. Sometimes it seems necessary to follow one practice, but later this appears to have been wrong and another way seems better. This can cause a person to become very confused and disturbed.
But why do you need to confuse yourself? Whatever you do, you do! As long as you don' t do anything bad, heaven forbid.

— Sichot Haran #269

* * *

Everything depends on a person's work and effort, nothing else. With work and effort, everyone can reach great levels.

— Chayey Moharan #230

26/04/2026

https://youtu.be/Kbf3PqlZMRY?si=VXWW5wa2Wnph4de8

Fighting Illness

26/04/2026

R’ Nachman Thought For Today

Despair is forbidden no matter how you may have fallen. You may be lying in the lowest pit of hell, but you should still not despair of God's help in any way at all. Even there it is possible to draw close to Him, because `the whole earth is filled with His glory.' The true Tzaddik is only worthy of the name because he has the power to revive and raise up even those who have fallen very far: he can strengthen them, arouse and awaken them and reveal to them that God is close by. He is at their very side, for `the whole earth is filled with His glory.' This is the message of the Tzaddik to those on the lowest levels. But to those who are on higher levels he must show that they still know nothing of the Creator: for `what knowest thou? what hav e all thy searchings achieved?' (Zohar I, 1b).

All this climbing and falling and turbulence are a necessary preliminary to entering the gates of holiness. All the Tzaddikim have endured all this.

— Likutey Moharan II:7:7