A Strengthening Talk from the Holy Rebbe Regarding Spreading the Light of the

And specifically, a living message from the Rav shlit"a regarding the matter of his longevity, as follows:

"The more my prayers are spread, the more my days will be prolonged, even up to 250 years. The prayers of the Rav are the 'Ner' (lamp/candle) with which the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) kindles the light. Whoever spreads these prayers will also merit longevity, up to 250 years, which is the numerical value of the word 'Ner' (נר)."

Sefer Chayei Moharan - Section 543

(100) Several times, he [Rebbe Nachman] spoke with us extensively and strongly cautioned us to draw souls closer to Hashem. He urged us to make every effort to speak with people frequently in order to awaken them, bring them to teshuvah (repentance), and draw them near to Hashem. His desire was that we should even engage people in mundane conversations about worldly matters, hoping that this might eventually lead to words that would awaken them to Hashem. Even if this only achieves a slight movement—planting a mere thought of teshuvah or a temporary awakening within them—that is also very good. How much more so, over the course of time, by speaking with them again and again, one might merit to truly awaken them to Hashem and draw them close to His service. There is no greater thing than this, as is brought down in all the holy books, particularly in the holy Zohar, which states: "Fortunate is the one who takes the hand of the wicked [to lead them back to the right path]... and the Holy One, blessed be He, is praised through him in all the worlds."

He, of blessed memory, spoke with us at length about this many times, urging us with various expressions. Several times, he rebuked and shamed us for being lazy in this matter. Once, he called us "dry trees" because we were not bearing fruit by bringing souls closer to Hashem through our efforts. Another time, on a Saturday night (Motzaei Shabbos), we stood before him along with several of his prominent followers, and he strongly rebuked us for several hours regarding this, speaking extensively on the subject. It was also his desire that people should travel specifically for this purpose, just to speak with others.

When he spoke about making the effort to draw souls to Hashem, he would mock those who only tried to draw near people of lower standing, such as the poor, the destitute, the ignorant, and similar individuals of low status. He explained that the main thing is to strive to draw near people of high standing and importance. Such people are very difficult to bring close, and when one merits to draw them near, fortunate is he! For it is a very great thing to bring great souls closer to Hashem. When that happens, the smaller and lower-status individuals naturally follow suit and are drawn to Hashem, because they nullify themselves before the greater person who has embraced the path of truth to Hashem.