Straight to the Rebbe!

The 10th of Teves is the day of the hilula of Reb Nosson of Breslev, the 163rd yartzeit of his passing to the world of truth.

Reb Nosson's passing was directly connected to the three tragedies that took place in Teves. Ezra was a scribe, he spread Torah among the Jews. Reb Nosson was Rebbe Nachman's scribe, he was the only of the Rebbe followers who worked constantly to spread his teachings as widely as possible. Even people who never met the Rebbe are aroused to serve Hashem through his writings, all because of Reb Nosson.

With the passing of the scribe there is a slackening in the spreading of Torah, as manifested in the translation of Torah into Greek - which obscured the deeper meaning of the Hebrew text. This corresponds to the imposition of secular studies and atheism on the Jews of our times. This heresy led to the siege of Jerusalem and exile, and corresponding to the infamous Russian Pale of settlement and the mass migration of eastern European Jewry, which began around the time of Reb Nosson's passing. It was not for nothing that Reb Nosson mentioned these three tragedies and to exhort his followers to "be strong with money, willpower and effort," and make sure to spread the teachings of the Rebbe (Parparaos leChokhmah 61:8).

Reb Nosson passed away on that Friday afternoon, 10th of Teves, 5605 (December 20, 1844), just moments after the Shabbos candles were lit. He was 64 years and 11 months old. Reb Nosson was totally attached to Hashem until the very end. His whole mission was to show that a man can always return to Hashem, regardless of anything he may have done, no matter how much he may have sinned. This was the mission Rebbe Nachman held out to him a few days after their frist meeting: to become the lower point of the aleph, to bring life, vitality and faith to all the lower levels. Even as he left this world, Reb Nosson was mindful of his mission, repeating again and again, "Chanun Hamarbeh lislo'ach" There is hope for all; Hashem will forgive! always!

Repentance and forgiveness for all of Israel were the very essence of Reb Nosson. The letters of the words "Chanun hamarbeh lislo'ach have the the numerical value of 500, the same as the letters of NoSSoN.
Reb Nosson Passed away just before Shabbos. those were the days before the invention of the telegraph, and it was impossible to transmit the news of his passing anywhere until after Shabbos. Even so, that Friday night Reb Naftali, who was in Uman, already knew that Reb Nosson was no longer. When asked how he knew, Reb Naftali answered: "I had a dream in which I saw Reb Nosson running quickly. I said,'Reb Nosson where are you running?' 'Me?' he said. 'Straight to the Rebbe'" may we merit to run also straight to our Rebbe Amen!

Shalom Reb Nati