https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breslov_(Hasidic_group)
Breslov (also Bratslav, also spelled Breslev) is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous relationship with God and receive guidance toward this goal from the teachings of Rebbe Nachman.
The movement has had no central, living leader for the past 200 years, as Rebbe Nachman did not designate a successor. As such, they are sometimes referred to as the טויטער חסידים (the "Dead Hasidim"), since they have never had another formal Rebbe since Nachman's death. However, certain groups and communities under the Breslov banner refer to their leaders as "Rebbe".
The movement weathered strong opposition from virtually all other Hasidic movements in Ukraine throughout the 19th century, yet at the same time experienced growth in numbers of followers from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.
By World War I, thousands of Breslov Hasidim were located in those places. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Communist crackdowns forced the movement underground in Russia. Thousands of Hasidim were imprisoned or executed during the Great Purge of the 1930s, and killed by Nazis who invaded Ukraine in 1941. The movement was regenerated in the United Kingdom, United States, and Israel by those who escaped, with large numbers of Yemenite Jews and other Mizrahim joining the sect.
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Important books
The main Hasidic texts revered and studied by Breslover Hasidim are those written by Rebbe Nachman and Reb Noson. All of Rebbe Nachman's teachings were transcribed by Reb Noson. Additionally, Reb Noson wrote some of his own works.Rebbe Nachman's magnum opus is the two-volume Likutei Moharan (Collected [Lessons] of Our Teacher and Rabbi, Nachman), a collection of 411 lessons displaying in-depth familiarity and understanding of the many overt and esoteric concepts embedded in Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and Kabbalah. In the introductory section of certain editions of Likutei Moharan, the book is likened to the Zohar itself, and Rebbe Nachman is likened to the Zohar's author, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. This is based on the citation of numerous parallels between the lives of the two sages, as well as the fact that the names "Nachman ben Simcha" (Simcha being Rebbe Nachman's father's name) and "Shimon ben Yochai" share the same gematria (numerical value) of 501.
Upon the Rebbe's instructions, Reb Noson collected all the practical teachings and advice contained in the Likutei Moharan and published them in:
- Likutei Eitzot (Collected Advices)
- Kitzur Likutei Moharan (Abridged Likutei Moharan)
- Sefer HaMiddot (Book of Traits) – a collection of aphorisms on various character traits; also published in English as The Aleph-Bet Book
- Sipurei Ma`asiyot (Story Tales) – 13 mystical parables, also published in English as Rabbi Nachman's Stories, 13 Tales of Rabbi Nachman, Tales of Ancient Times.
- Tikkun HaKlali (The General Remedy) – a specific order of 10 Psalms which remedies p'gam habrit kodesh (blemish to the sign of the holy Covenant, i.e., the organ of procreation), and all sins in general.
- Shevachei HaRan (Praises of the Rav Nachman) and Sichot HaRan (Conversations of the Rav Nachman) – published in English as Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom
- Chayei Moharan (Life of the Rebbe) – published in English as The Life of Rabbi Nachman
- Likutei Halachot (Collected Laws) – an 8-volume Hasidic commentary on Shulchan Aruch which shows the interrelationship between every halakha and Rebbe Nachman's lessons in Likutei Moharan.
- Likutei Tefillot (Collected Prayers) – 210 direct and heartfelt prayers based on the concepts in Likutei Moharan.
- Yemei Moharanat (The Days of Our Teacher and Rabbi Noson) – an autobiography
- Alim LeTerufah (Leaves of Healing) – Reb Noson's collected letters
- Shemot HaTzaddikim (Names of Tzaddikim) – a list of the tzaddikim of Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, Kabbalah, and Hasidut, and Geonim of Torah in general.
Beginning in the 1970s, Breslov works in English began to appear, most notably Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's Gems of Rabbi Nachman. The Breslov Research Institute, founded in Jerusalem in 1979, publishes authoritative translations, commentaries and general works on Breslov Hasidut in the major languages spoken by modern-day Jewish communities: English, Hebrew, Spanish and Russian.
Breslovers do not restrict themselves to Rabbi Nachman's commentaries on the Torah, but also study many of the classic texts, including the Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, and many others. They may also study the writings of Rebbes from other dynasties. In fact, Rebbe Nachman claimed that while even a complete simpleton can become a pure and righteous Jew, the ideal study schedule of an extremely scholarly Hasid should include the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) with its commentaries, the entire Talmud with its commentaries, the entire Shulchan Arukh, all the Midrashic works, the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, the teachings of the Arizal and other kabbalistic works, all over the course of a single year.[10]
English-language prayer book
The Breslov Siddur published in a 2014 hardcover edition (828 pages in length) is one of the few Hasidic siddurim available in an English language translation (and contains the original text). Translated by Avraham Sutton and Chaim Kramer. Yonina Hall is the editor.[11]Today
Today Breslover communities exist in several locations in Israel, as well as in major cities around the world with large Jewish populations, including Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, Montreal, and Lakewood Township, New Jersey. While there are no exact statistics, according to the Breslov Research Institute, the number of core adherents in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak amounts to several thousands families, and several tens in Safed.[12]The original Jerusalem community, was founded by emigrees from Ukraine in the late 19th century, and was joined by descendants of the Yerushami yishuv hayashan (Old Yishuv in Jerusalem) community. It is built around the Breslov Yeshiva in Mea Shearim founded by Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Rosen in 1953, which is referred to as the shul. It is affiliated with the Edah HaChareidis and led by Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter and Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Kramer.[citation needed]
Baal teshuva followers
Breslov teachings emphasize the importance of drawing people to the "true tzadik" as the key to rectifying the world, overcoming evil and bringing people closer to God, according to Rebbe Nachman and Reb Noson.[13] In Breslov thought, the "true tzadik" is Rebbe Nachman himself.The first large-scale Breslov outreach activities were conducted by Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bender, who attracted thousands of baal teshuva followers to the Breslov movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Concurrently, Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick began publishing his nearly 1,000 pamphlets distilling the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and disseminating them to a worldwide audience.[14] Schick also founded the Heichal Hakodesh Breslov community – largely consisting of baalei teshuvah – in the Galilee town of Yavne'el, Israel, in 1985. As of 2015 that community had nearly 400 families, representing 30 percent of the town's population.[15]
Rabbi Eliezer Berland, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Shuvu Bonim in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, has also brought thousands of Jews from secular backgrounds closer to Orthodox Judaism and Breslov.[16] One of Berland's students, Rabbi Shalom Arush, went on to found the Chut Shel Chessed Institutions in Jerusalem. Arush leads a group including Sephardic followers of Breslov Hasidut, who mainly originated in the baal teshuva movement.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bender.
Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick
Rabbi Eliezer Berland and Rabbi Ofer Erez
See also
- History of the Jews in Ukraine
- List of Hasidic dynasties
- Breslov Research Institute
- Hasidic philosophy
- Elazar Mordechai Koenig
- Adi Ran
