The Daily Strengthening from The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a — “You must hold on to all the kosher Tzaddikim—but Rebbe Nachman is the inner essence.”

Sunday, 11 Tammuz 5782 — What makes Breslov Chassidus unique above all the rest? These are his holy words:

[ Here too there is one misnaged whose son began to draw a bit closer to Anshei Shlomeinu, and he learned a great deal of Gemara and Poskim. Now, however, certain worthless people—who call themselves “Chassidim”—are forcing him and preventing him against his will from learning Gemara and Poskim, saying that it is better to speak with them. And his father shouted at his son, as mentioned: “I give you food on condition that you do not learn more than one daf of Gemara each day—no more—because whoever learns all day is a Breslover,” etc.

The principle is this: the misnagdim are not really trying to stop people from learning Rebbe Nachman zt"l’s sefarim. Rather, the inner intention of the evil in their hearts is to uproot the entire Torah from Israel. For you know the behavior of the youth—especially in this generation—and there is no salvation except through the Torah. And no one can bring Torah learning and Torah observance into the world like our master, teacher, and rabbi, Rebbe Nachman zt"l, through the truth of his holy paths that he revealed to us and in his holy books. And because of this they attacked us so fiercely, saying, “Come, and let us wipe them out,” Heaven forbid. (Aleh LiTerufah, 174) ]

The whole inyan of Breslov is to see Hashem face to face.

Because the Rebbe says (Torah 14 in Likutey Moharan) that all the Chassidic groups are kosher. A person must make himself small before the Tzaddikim and before all the average people, and say, “I am the worst of everyone.” But Tzaddikim are Tzaddikim.

Admorim, Rebbes—everyone is holy of holies. But “face to face” is something completely different. There is an inner essence within the inner essence within the inner essence—and that is Rebbe Nachman HaKadosh.

All songs are holy—but Shir HaShirim is holy of holies. Rebbe Nachman is holy of holies. He is the inner essence of the inner essence—so that we will see Hashem face to face.

If we do not see Hashem face to face, then we have seen nothing. All the learning of Gemara is the vessels through which to see Hashem face to face.

He brings (Rabbi Avraham), the son of the Rambam, who writes that among them (the Arab sages who lived in his time) there are dervishes, and there are fakirs, and there are monks. They go out to the deserts to do Hisbodedus—but they do not see Hashem. To see Hashem is only through learning Gemara.

Hashem revealed this only to the Jewish people: that it is impossible to see Hashem face to face except through learning Gemara—learning Ketzos HaChoshen, Nesivos HaMishpat, Takfo Kohen, the Shach. A person needs to know the entire Shach by heart. In Heichal HaBerachah (by Rabbi Yitzchak Eizik Yehudah Yechiel Safrin of Komarna) he says one must know the Shach the way people know by heart “Ashrei yoshvei veisecha”—with the Turim, with everything.

A person must understand: everyone wants to see Hashem face to face—even a blind person wants to see. That is why they have monks and fakirs and dervishes; they have all kinds of names for all their delusions. But they do not see anything—they grope in the darkness. To see Hashem is only through learning Gemara.