Breslov Blog

Today I had an idea that put me in a very good mood. I'm not saying it's 100% true, but there might be something here. It's about the feminist movement. Logically, in every society this movement should concentrate on whatever is denied to women in that particular society. So whereas American feminists set their sights on the right to go out to work and earn money just like men, Jewish feminists (at least in the chareidi sector) should actually be fighting for the right to learn Torah and be supported by their husbands! Then I asked myself: how would this "Jewish Feminist Paradise" look in real life? Even though it would be populated by feminists, they would still be Jewish. So they should probably study at home or at each others' houses, to better conform with the laws of modesty, and stay away from the Talmud, which is still men's territory. But who said that Breslov Torah isn't Torah? Again, I'm not saying that this ideal should necessarily be p...

Torah 202 in "Likutei Moharan" starts with the words, "The more limited a person's intellect is, the more respect one needs to show him. This is because the more limited his intellect, the more he craves honor." As soon as I saw this idea, I realized that it pulls the rug from under the feet of many contemporary shalom bais specialists. They just love telling women that they must show respect to their husbands because men have a powerful need to be respected by their wives. I always had my doubts about that approach, but now it's perfectly clear to me that it can only work if the wife doesn't learn "Likutei Moharan" and so has no idea what her husband's deep need for respect really says about him. Then she might be able to give her husband proper respect even if he needs and demands it, and not just inspires it in her naturally with his personality and behavior. But Rabbeinu said that in the future, the whole world would become Breslovers...

  I was reading a Hebrew book on Halacha today and came upon the phrase ודע ("and know"). And I couldn't help thinking, "How fortunate we are!" When this phrase appears in any other book except for "Likutei Moharan", what follows is just information, however important or even vital it might be. But when Rabbeinu uses this phrase, we can be sure that he is now going to convey a revelation straight from the Olam HaAtzilus.

Everyone knows the famous phrase of Rabbeinu, "It's a great mitzvah to always be happy!" It's appears in Torah 24 in the second part of "Likutei Moharan". Yet there are two more "great mitzvahs" in "Likutei Moharan": developing the mind to the fullest (Torah 62) and making the Shabbos meals plentiful (Torah 277). Why did Rabbeinu choose these things? I think the answer is that he wanted every level of our being - intellectual, emotional, and physical - to have its own great mitzvah. And why is the phrase about being happy so much more famous than the other two? Perhaps this shows that the main challenge in our generation is being connected to Hashem not only in what we're doing and what we're thinking, but also in what we're feeling. And all we need to do to rise to this challenge is heed Rabbeinu's advice.

Torah 36 in "Likutei Moharan" begins with the words, "Now, the principle is that every Jewish soul is rooted in the seventy souls of the House of Yaakov. And the seventy souls of the House of Yaakov are rooted tin the seventy faces of the Torah." But we know that among those seventy souls of the House of Yaakov, there were three women: Dinah bas Yaakov, Serach bas Osher, and Yocheved bas Levi. I think this teaches us that there definitely are women who are rooted in the Torah and have their portion in the Torah. Of course, they are few in quantity - only 3 women for every 67 men, but they do exist. So every woman who feels a personal connection to the Torah and is driven to share this connection with others can hope and believe that she is one of those three.