Why is it Mandatory to Travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah? The Gaon and Tzaddik

Wonderful Words of Awakening for the Journey to Uman for Rosh Hashanah from the Mouth of the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Rebbe Nachman said, "My Rosh Hashanah surpasses everything. And it was a wonder to me, since my followers believe in me, why all the people close to me are not careful to all be present for Rosh Hashanah—not a single person should be missing!" Why is there no proclamation, no campaign, and no noise made in the world so that everyone travels to Uman for Rosh Hashanah? Not a single person should be missing! And for this, one needs mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice)!

*The Efforts and Labors Create the Vessel!*

A person must travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah! And there are menios (obstacles)! This one has no money, that one has obstacles from his father or father-in-law, another simply doesn't feel well, and another has all sorts of delays. Regarding this, the Rebbe says that according to the efforts and labors of each person—according to the difficulties of each individual—that is how much more of a vessel he has to receive the light of the Tzaddik. The efforts and labors create the vessel!! Those who merit obstacles and hardships merit such wonderful vessels, even more than those for whom everything goes smoothly. The more obstacles a person has, the more he is prevented—whether by his father, other people, lack of money, confusion, or feeling slightly unwell—and yet he overcomes and breaks the obstacles! Then he has more vessels for the attainment of Godliness! In this way, he will merit holiness and purity! From the labor, the vessel is made! A person who has no labor or effort has no vessels.

*From the Journey Alone, One Receives a Great Light*

When traveling to Rebbe Nachman, one receives Yirat Shamayim (fear of Heaven)! Rebbe Nachman said, "I am a treasury of Yirat Shamayim." From every step taken to travel to the Rebbe, an angel is created! From every step taken for the sake of the Tzaddik, one receives awe! From every movement for the sake of Rebbe Nachman, angels are created! From the journey alone, one already merits to receive a great light! Because Rebbe Nachman is fire! When traveling to Rebbe Nachman, one travels on paths of fire. Rebbe Nachman is a pillar of fire; the holy Rebbe is a flaming fire for Hashem, may He be blessed.

*A True Tzaddik*

Everyone wants to travel to Rebbe Nachman! People travel to Rebbe Nachman with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice)! They leave everything behind! Everyone in this generation knows that the holy Rebbe is a true tzaddik! For the holy Rebbe had no outlook on this world; he never even heard the world, nothing in this world interested him, and he never truly saw the world.

*Salvations for a Lifetime*

The Rebbe said—Do I not see?! What do you think, that I am blind? Truly, I have eyes! I have eyes to see from one end of the world to the other! We are traveling to such a tzaddik who sees from one end of the world to the other, traveling to such a tzaddik who can heal all the illnesses in the world—there is no illness he cannot heal. On Rosh Hashanah, we draw down parnassah (livelihood), we draw down the souls of children, and all the salvations for an entire lifetime.

*There is No Salvation That Cannot Be Achieved*

On Rosh Hashanah, everything can be achieved! If a person believes in Rebbe Nachman and believes in Rosh Hashanah, then there is no salvation that cannot be achieved for him, for his friends, for his wife, and for all generations. There is nothing a person cannot achieve on Rosh Hashanah. If he only stands at the Tziyun (holy gravesite) and prays with true seriousness, without wandering or strolling about, then everything can be achieved. No gate is closed; one can merit all salvations for himself and for all of Am Yisrael (the People of Israel).

*I Have Rectified Everything for You*

The Rebbe says, "My Rosh Hashanah is a great novelty. Hashem knows that this matter is not an inheritance from my ancestors; He only gave it to me as a gift—that I know what Rosh Hashanah is! Not only do you depend on my Rosh Hashanah, but even the entire world depends on my Rosh Hashanah." The Rebbe called out with a strong voice from the depths of his heart: "What can I tell you? There is nothing greater than this." And whoever comes to me for Rosh Hashanah can receive tikkunim (rectifications) that he cannot receive all year long in any way. You have nothing to worry about; eat delicacies and drink sweets, for the joy of Hashem is your strength. I have rectified everything for you on Rosh Hashanah, I have rectified everything for you.

*My Matter is a Wonder*

Rebbe Nachman said, "My matter is a wonder!" You, a father, believe in me! You travel to me! So why, if your son wants to travel, do you not take him? I don't understand!? If you believe in me, that I can give you a tikkun (rectification), then believe that I can also give your son a tikkun! What? Does the son not need rectifications!? What? Do you think your son is already holy and pure!? A person must know that his sons also need rectifications! A person says: "We will wait until he grows up, there is time!" What do you mean there is time! All day long, the son is exposed to forbidden sights! Every day he can stumble in immodest things! What... do you follow him 24 hours a day!? A child must be guarded all the time! Who will guard him if not the Rebbe! Who will guard him if not our holy Rebbe! One must take the children to Uman! And there too, one must guard them, one must supervise them even in Uman! One must take the children to Uman so they can see this sight! The child will see what Uman is! He will see what this entire gathering is! He will come and receive the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence).

*The True Tzaddik Has the Power to Rectify the Entire World*

This Tzaddik can bring the whole world back to the good! If people would draw close to him and believe in him, they would emerge from all their evil and become completely refined. For the Tzaddik who has already transcended the four elements, who has refined all four elements, and who is already clean of every desire—he can pull all the people of the world out of their evil and their desires. This is what the Gaon Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk (author of the "Or Sameach" on the Rambam) says regarding the Gemara in Tractate Sotah (13a): "'And they lamented there a very great and sore lamentation' (Genesis 50:10)—it was taught: even horses and even donkeys [lamented]." Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen says—"And they lamented a great lamentation"—even the horses eulogized Yaakov Avinu! There was such a great and heavy lamentation that the horses cried! The donkeys cried! Everyone cried over the Tzaddik! The horses felt that the Tzaddik had disappeared! The donkeys felt that the Tzaddik was gone! "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider." The horses acknowledge the True Tzaddik!! The donkeys acknowledge the True Tzaddik!! It is truly a shame and a disgrace how people do not see the Tzaddik!! How people are blind!! They wander the world and do not know who the Tzaddik is.

*Even Horses and Donkeys Felt They Were Lost Without the Tzaddik*

A person, with his pride and his impulses, does not want to believe in the Tzaddik! He doesn't want to know who the Tzaddik is! But the horses and donkeys felt they were lost without the Tzaddik, for who will sustain the world? Who will protect them? Who watches over horses? Who watches over donkeys? Who protects the world? They know in whose merit they live! If the Tzaddik is not present, there will be famine! There will be a Holocaust in the world! There will be wars! This is what Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen says—start seeing the Tzaddikim! Start following the Tzaddikim! Open your eyes and see who the Tzaddik is in whose merit you live.

*One Must Truly Perform a Blood Transfusion*

If a person wants to ascend from level to level, he must diminish himself! He must have bizyonos (humiliations)! Because the blood—the murky blood of pride—must be poured out. Every time, new blood is needed! One must truly perform a blood transfusion! And removing the blood only happens through humiliations. A person is full of pride! He needs to have a humiliation every day! If a person does not have humiliations, then no mitzvah will ascend above! A person is full of blood! Full of pride! He can become so inflated with pride that he won't be able to pass through the door! And Hashem wants to taste his mitzvos, but He cannot! Because the person is full of pride! Full of blood! When a person does some mitzvah, he immediately becomes inflated by the mitzvah! "I did a mitzvah! I woke up at night! I studied Gemara! I am the greatest tzaddik! I am the greatest scholar! I am the holiest!" He becomes so inflated with pride that Hashem cannot "eat" his mitzvos! The Rebbe says this is like a limb from a living animal that requires shechitah (ritual slaughter) to be permitted! The Rebbe says one needs shechitah! One needs shame to come upon him! He needs to be humiliated! He needs shame to come so that the blood is spilled! And when the murky blood of pride is spilled out, then Hashem can taste his mitzvos.

*This is How One Receives the True Light*

We travel to Uman to let the blood! You travel to Uman, and they let your blood! Just traveling to Uman like a tourist is not it! That is not a tikkun (rectification)! One must let the blood! If not, it is not a tikkun! Someone needs to come and humiliate you! "Why are you traveling to Uman!? Why with these people!? You are like this... you are Breslov... your Rabbi is like this..." Because whoever wants to ascend from level to level, whoever wants to rise to a new level, needs his blood to be let! People must disagree with him! They must humiliate him! This is how one receives the true light!! If a person accepts all these humiliations with love and passes through it peacefully, then he can bring the Geulah (Redemption).

*To Shed Streams of Tears*

Whoever knows of Rebbe Nachman and believes in him will be able to literally feel the Rebbe. A person arrives in Uman, and the Rebbe elevates him to the highest worlds—"Atika Kadisha" (the Ancient Holy One). In Uman, one is in the highest worlds. With Rebbe Nachman, everything can be achieved! If one comes to Rebbe Nachman and performs teshuvah (repentance), Vidui (confession), regret, and acceptance for the future, then one can merit to receive a new Nefesh, a new Ruach, a new Neshamah, a new Chayah, and a new Yechidah (the five levels of the soul). In Rebbe Nachman's time, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, there were 600 people in the Kibbutz (gathering), and the Rebbe received each and every one from 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM. It turns out that each person was with the Rebbe for only one minute! And when he would enter the Rebbe's presence, he would immediately remember his sins from the day he was born and would begin to confess, and streams of tears would burst from his eyes like a river. And when he began to say a few words, the Rebbe would send him out and tell him to continue the confession outside. Therefore, one must come to Rebbe Nachman and remember everything that has passed over us and shed streams of tears, and then we will merit to receive a new Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, and Yechidah.

*The Rebbe Speaks With Us*

When we merit to come to the holy Tziyun (gravesite) and prostrate ourselves upon it, the Rebbe speaks with us, whispers in our ears, encourages us, and hears our cries. People who have never cried suddenly feel something enter them that causes them to weep; the soul of Moshe, the soul of our holy Rebbe, has become impregnated (ibbur) within them.

*The King*

When coming to the holy Tziyun, people wonder: Will I have an awakening? Will I feel something? These thoughts are a mistake. The matter of Rosh Hashanah is not about feelings or awakening. Rather, the matter of Rosh Hashanah is only bittul (nullification)—to reach the point of absolute nothingness, to stand at the Tziyun and pray, to reach the peak of nullification, to feel the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), to know that "Ein Od Milvado" (there is none besides Him). There is only Hashem in the world! There is nothing in the world besides Him. For our entire coming to the holy Rebbe's Tziyun is in order to crown Hashem as King and to know that there is none besides Him. Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, we say "HaMelech" (The King). We did not come to ask for requests, we did not come to receive prizes; rather, our entire coming to the holy Tziyun is to know that "there is none besides Him."

*A Tzaddik Who is the Revelation of Mashiach*

Rebbe Nachman said—"Everything that Mashiach will do of benefit for Israel, I can do; the only difference is that Mashiach will decree a matter and it shall be established, but I am still..." (he stopped and spoke no more, Chayei Moharan 266). Rebbe Nachman said, "I can do exactly what Mashiach will do, but the generation is not yet ready to hear, the generation is not yet ready to receive what I will say." I say—do an hour of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer), pray the Shemoneh Esrei with intention, slowly, word by word, study Gemara in depth, and know that I am the least of everyone. In Rebbe Nachman's time, there was already a revelation of Mashiach, but the generation was not yet worthy. In every generation, there is a Tzaddik who is the revelation of Mashiach, and only because the generation is not worthy, it is postponed to another generation, and another, until the end of the sixth millennium—it will not be postponed longer than that! People do not yet accept Rebbe Nachman's advice in its entirety. If people would accept Rebbe Nachman's advice, then the Geulah (Redemption) would be today! Today the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) would be built.

*Why Did Breslov Suddenly Seize Upon One Tzaddik From 200 Years Ago?*

The Rebbe attained "Yechidah at the ultimate level" (Chayei Moharan 267). There is only one, only one! Who is the aspect of Yechidah of Yechidah, who merited to see Hashem every second, to see the angel Metatron every second, all the angels, all the Seraphim. Reb Noson says—that only the Tzaddik who refined himself completely, in every way, who is clean of everything, who has no scent of the body, who no longer sees anything besides Hashem—he sees nothing! He sees Hashem 24 hours a day before his eyes—this is only one unique individual, one unique individual who comes once in several generations. Everyone says, "Why did Breslov suddenly seize upon one Tzaddik from 200 years ago?" And truly, this is an explicit Rambam, simply an explicit Rambam. The Rambam says in the introduction to Tractate Berachos that a true Tzaddik who loathes the world and has no scent of the world is one among many—he will not be found except for one in a generation of generations. The Rambam rules against all those who ask why you have seized upon the Rebbe, upon Reb Noson, when there are other awesome Tzaddikim, other pure Tzaddikim, other holy ones. To them, the Rambam says: know that a true Tzaddik who is clean of every desire and completely refined, who has no evil, no scent of desire, no scent of the body—this is not in every generation! It is only one in several generations! This is a halachic ruling that one should not question—that only one Tzaddik in a generation of generations can reach such a level of refinement, and he continues to refine all the generations that come after him as well.

*Hold Yourselves Together*

The Rebbe left a testament—I ask of you, I am going to pass away from the world, "hold yourselves together." The Rebbe placed his hand on the Mezuzah and said, "What I ask of you is to gather together, to pray together." Each person must see to push himself into the community, into the Kibbutz (gathering), and think that truly I am the least of everyone, and I have an immense merit to be here with everyone. And if you pray together like this, become included in one another, and pray with intention, then perhaps you will draw me down to you. And truly, if we are all together, we will draw the Rebbe to us, and then Mashiach the King will come and there will be the complete Geulah (Redemption).