The Rebbe Is Alive and Enduring!! The Na Nach (ננמ"ח) Hillula in the Presence of Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a • Extensive Coverage
Maariv and a preparatory shiur for the night of the Hillula ○ Thousands in the giant sukkah at the greatest Hillula of Rebbe Nachman in the world ○ A fiery, blazing shiur on the greatness of Rebbe Nachman ○ Completion of Shas by Rabbi Berland shlit"a according to the daily learning order he composed ○ Singing and dancing until the first light of morning ○ Chol HaMoed prayer lasting more than three hours
Chol HaMoed Maariv and a preparatory shiur for the Hillula of Rebbe Nachman
As on every evening, on the night of the Hillula of Rebbe Nachman we merited a Maariv prayer of an hour and a half. Rabbi Berland shlit"a came out for Maariv at 19:40, and for many long minutes led the singing of “Or Zarua LaTzaddik.” After that came Maariv itself—filled with melodies and tremendous vitality—for about twenty-five minutes. After Aleinu Leshabe’ach, he delivered a preparatory shiur for the Hillula of Rebbe Nachman. Here is a short excerpt:
“In another quarter of an hour, Rebbe Nachman’s seudah begins, and each person can see Rebbe Nachman face to face once a year—on the night of the 18th, Chai (18) of Tishrei. Today is the greatest day of the year, because it is possible to truly see Rebbe Nachman! And each person can receive a spark from Rebbe Nachman. On the yahrzeit, the Tzaddik ascends to completely new levels—entirely new attainments. And he bequeaths this to everyone who dances. Rebbe Nachman is alive and enduring; Rebbe Nachman is the only Tzaddik who is alive and enduring. All the other Tzaddikim have already passed on, may it not be upon us; the grandchildren continue, the great-grandchildren continue. The Baal HaTanya writes to rise for Chatzos—yet there isn’t a single person who rises for Chatzos. It is written explicitly in Likkutei Amarim in the Tanya that the first thing is to rise for Chatzos, to be among the masters of accounting, to sit on the ground and cry for a full hour. No one fulfills this; there is no one who fulfills it. But Rebbe Nachman is alive and enduring! Rebbe Nachman’s followers rise for Chatzos, sit on the ground, and weep over the Churban. And we are waiting for Rebbe Nachman to rise from the grave—and this needs to be already this year—that Rebbe Nachman will rise from the grave!”
Afterward, he recited the fifteen Shir HaMa’alos that are customarily said in remembrance of the Simchas Beis HaSho’eivah. Then, as every evening, there were dances to Rebbe Nachman’s songs for more than half an hour. He then entered back into his holy dwelling, saying that everyone should go to the Hillula seudah that was beginning now in the great sukkah on HaEch Street.
The giant sukkah that held the thousands participating in the greatest Hillula in the world
Just as Rabbi Berland shlit"a said, after Maariv all of Anshei Shlomeinu went together to the Hillula seudah in the giant sukkah on HaEch Street in Musrara. This sukkah was built with mesirus nefesh by the Union of Breslov Chassidim and cost a great deal of money. It was significantly enlarged beyond the sukkos that Shuvu Banim had known in past years at Rebbe Nachman’s Hillulos. The sukkah was divided into two areas: one for the Hillula seudah and one for dancing—while the enormous space was doubled as well for the women’s section.
The Hillula of Rebbe Nachman — a fiery, blazing shiur on the greatness of Rebbe Nachman
Close to 23:00, Rabbi Berland shlit"a arrived at the sukkah and was received with the singing of “Or Zarua LaTzaddik.” After a few more minutes of dancing came the central address: Rabbi Berland shlit"a delivered a shiur like blazing fire. He began with the greatness of dancing, and then spoke about the greatness of Rebbe Nachman and the path every Breslov Chassid must yearn for—Hisbodedus, prayer, and learning Gemara with depth. Nearly a full hour of fiery words, with thunder and lightning. Here are several excerpts from the main shiur:
“The Rebbe said: If people would hear one Torah teaching of mine with its melody and its dance, the whole world would be nullified—because the entire matter is the melody and the dance! Every Torah teaching has a ‘melody and dance,’ and it is forbidden to miss it. If a person would hear one Torah teaching of Rebbe Nachman with its melody and its dance, he would be nullified until the soul expired.” “Now it is the yahrzeit of Rebbe Nachman, and Rebbe Nachman said: I longed to draw the world into Asiyah—everything I wanted was that people should learn Gemara. That is all of Breslov! What is Breslov? What is Shuvu Banim? To learn Gemara! And after Gemara, you dance for an hour. You learn twenty hours of Gemara, and after that you dance for an hour. The Rebbe said: I longed to draw the world into Asiyah. The Rebbe brings down awesome awe and awesome melodies, but the main thing the Rebbe intended is that a person should know all of Shas—2,700 pages. If he learns seven pages a day, that is one year.” “The Rebbe said: I can bring the world back in teshuvah—in one second I bring everyone back in teshuvah—if I would show what I know, what melodies I know, what wisdoms I know. The whole world would return in teshuvah in a second. Only I do not want to reveal myself. After 212 years—the gematria of ‘Rebbe’—now the Rebbe is only revealing himself a little!”
Dances of joy and awakening for five hours until the first light of morning, and the completion of Shas by Rabbi Berland shlit"a according to the learning order
At the end of the shiur, Rabbi Berland shlit"a began the niggun of “Adam Pitdah U’Varekess…” After a few minutes, the dancing began with the singing of “Ko Amar Hashem Matza Chen BaMidbar,” and the thousands who came to the greatest Hillula in the world burst into sweeping circles with tremendous joy that soared to the heavens. All the while, Rabbi Berland shlit"a strengthened everyone with his holy hands—holy motions urging them to jump and dance. Whoever has not seen the joy of Shuvu Banim at the Hillula of Rebbe Nachman has never seen joy in his life! In the middle of the dancing they began singing “LeHisvada U’LeHigalot…” Rabbi Berland shlit"a delivered another shiur, telling of the wondrous unfolding of this holy song, composed by the Maharam Shapira of Lublin and passed on to the gathering of Breslov Chassidim. After that, Rabbi Berland shlit"a made a Siyum HaShas according to the order of learning he instituted to learn each day—eight pages of Gemara—connecting the end of Maseches Niddah to the theme of the Hillula, weaving Midrashim and Chassidus into the Siyum. He then recited the Kaddish of completion. After the Siyum, the dancing continued with renewed strength. Not a trace of tiredness could be seen on the faces of the crowd. All night long, thousands continued streaming into the giant sukkah, joining the circles of dancing with joy. Long hours of dancing moved from song to song, each time with fresh renewal—Rabbi Berland shlit"a, with his holy motions, enlivened the entire public, who continued to jump and dance in honor of Rebbe Nachman in the joy of the festival. At 4:50, Rabbi Berland shlit"a rose from his chair and danced together with his grandsons. Despite the late hour, whoever saw him dancing and did not dance—such a thing did not exist. On the contrary, everyone continued with even greater strength, in tremendous joy and enthusiasm.
Shacharis, Hallel, Hoshanos, and Mussaf
The joyful dancing continued until 5:00 in the morning. Then Rabbi Berland shlit"a announced that Shacharis would be in the prayer hall area from the balcony. He left the sukkah on HaEch Street and came to his holy dwelling, saying that Shacharis would be in about half an hour. Indeed, at 5:30 Rabbi Berland shlit"a came out for Shacharis with Hallel and all the niggunim, with tremendous vitality. After that came Hoshanos, Krias HaTorah, and Mussaf—which alone lasted more than half an hour! After Mussaf, Rabbi Berland delivered a shiur with additional words about the greatness of Rebbe Nachman and the exalted level of the day of the Hillula. At the end of the shiur, he began reciting The Tikkun HaKlali, and entered his holy dwelling to the singing of “Becha Rebbe Nachman Nagilah…”—after a prayer of more than three hours! Thus we merited more than twelve hours of dancing, prayers, and shiurim. We merited the true light of the Hillula of Rebbe Nachman together with the Tzaddik of the generation—Rabbi Berland shlit"a.
Fortunate are we that we merited to draw close to Rebbe Nachman!!
Rabbi Berland shlit"a reciting Hallel — the Hillula of Rebbe Nachman[/caption]
Extensive coverage and a large photo gallery to follow…
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