"Breslov Is Not a Vacation"

What is Breslov really? How does one truly merit to be a Breslov Chassid? The daily chizuk from our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Tuesday, 10 Nissan 5785 - "'Swift in his work' refers to the study of Gemara"

People come to Breslov, they come to Shuvu Banim, in order to know that the entire foundation of our Rebbe is the study of Gemara.

The Rebbe says in Torah 1 that through Torah, prayers and requests are accepted.

A person sees that he is praying for a shidduch, praying for this..., and does not understand why the prayer is not accepted immediately? Because he is not studying Gemara!!

In order for the prayer to be accepted immediately, he must study Gemara! He must study with depth—the Rebbe says, to understand what he is learning!

The Rebbe says: A swift and sharp mind, not just any mind; one needs a swift and sharp mind, and if not, then there is no point in coming.

If a person does not have a swift and sharp mind... Breslov is not about pampering oneself or going on vacation. [Thinking] 'It is hard to study Gemara in the yeshiva, so I will go to Breslov, where one is exempt from studying Gemara'—this is exactly the opposite; one falls from the frying pan into the fire, thinking he has been freed from the study of Gemara.

So here the Rebbe says that one needs a swift and sharp mind, not just any mind, because "Have you seen a man swift in his work," a verse in Proverbs. "Swift in his work" refers to the study of Gemara. If you came to Breslov [to avoid this], you have fallen from the frying pan into the fire.

It truly saddens me that such a disaster has happened to you, but what can be done? Know that for each and every one, according to the illumination of the intellect, the intellect is only [attained] through the study of Gemara—the mind is built through the study of Gemara.