חדש באתר: עוזר בינה מלאכותית המבוסס על כתביו ושיעוריו של הרב מיכאל אברהם

Q&A: Uman and Rabbi Nachman

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This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

Uman and Rabbi Nachman

Question

Hello and blessings, honored Rabbi,
Is there any value in it (not whether it is permitted) for an unmarried man to fly to Uman for Rosh Hashanah, or generally at any point during the year?
The great Breslov rabbis say:
1. That during the evening prayer of Rosh Hashanah night, at the first “Barkhu,” Rabbi Nachman passes in judgment everyone who is in Uman.
2. That Rosh Hashanah with Rabbi Nachman surpasses everything; there is nothing greater than being with him on Rosh Hashanah, and also that then [on Rosh Hashanah] one can receive spiritual rectifications that during the rest of the year would have been impossible to receive in any way. They say that Rabbi Nachman promised the Hasidim that whoever merits to be with him on Rosh Hashanah will immediately merit to be inscribed in the Book of Life.
3. That the greatest possible rectification for a person’s soul is to be with Rabbi Nachman on Rosh Hashanah, and there is nothing greater than that.
Please, the Rabbi’s opinion is very important to me.

Answer

I didn’t understand the connection between the two parts of your question. Why would it be forbidden? What does being unmarried have to do with it? And what do any of these have to do with the three pieces of nonsense you quoted from the “great Breslov rabbis”?

Discussion on Answer

Asaf (2024-10-22)

So there’s no value at all in going to Uman? And what they say, that Rabbi Nachman rectifies souls, isn’t true?

Michi (2024-10-22)

I thought this was trolling.
Obviously this is plain nonsense bordering on pagan idol worship. People travel because they’re looking for spiritual experiences, which is legitimate in itself, so long as they don’t fill people’s heads with theories like these.

Asaf (2024-10-22)

Thank you very much. Your opinion is very important to me. I listen to the Rabbi a lot, thank you very much.

Yoni (2024-10-27)

Hey, hey… slow your pen when you come to answer matters like these, which touch on the spiritual rectifications of the righteous people of the generations.

The questioner brought a mixed bag of several quotations, some of them just catchphrases,
some of the others drawn from the writings themselves (see Chayei Moharan 403–406, and more).
So if you dismiss these explicit statements with a stroke of the pen, your view is that Rabbi Nachman is not a righteous man and that his opinion carries no weight. You are invited to grapple with that fact through the lens of how one relates to the great sages of Israel in every generation.

As for the additional citations that the questioner attributes to the “great Breslov rabbis”—do you think differently from them? You’re welcome to argue with them.
In any case, what you call “plain nonsense bordering on pagan idol worship” may, with all your rich knowledge and understanding on which you rely, be applied to many accepted Jewish rituals as well.
It’s a shame that you treat lightly matters that touch on faith, faith in the righteous, and prostration at their graves.

Attached is a link to Rabbi Erez Doron’s response to one of the rabbis who entered this controversy (and it should be noted, he wrote with reverence and humility, unlike the writer here):

אין דבר גדול מזה

Yaakov Rafaeli (2024-10-28)

With the Rabbi’s permission, I would like to respond.

Three statements are brought in the question:

1. During the evening prayer of Rosh Hashanah night (at the first recitation of “Barkhu”), Rabbi Nachman passes in judgment everyone who is with him.
2. That our Rebbe’s Rosh Hashanah surpasses everything, and there is nothing greater than that, and more.
3. That the greatest rectification for a person is to be with our Rebbe on Rosh Hashanah.

The Rabbi’s response was that these are “nonsensical ramblings” and “theories.”
I do not know the Rabbi, and I assume (based on the number of followers, etc.) that he is a Torah scholar, and would not answer in this way without a basis. So I allow myself to assume that the Rabbi has not studied the books of Rabbi Nachman and his disciples, and indeed these Breslov ideas sound very wondrous and very unconventional.
I also allow myself to assume that the Rabbi does not, Heaven forbid, mean to disagree with one of the greatest righteous figures, a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov and a great righteous man in his own merit, who to this very day leads thousands upon thousands of Jews toward the path of Torah, prayer, and the service of God.

Based on these assumptions, and on one basic assumption—that the Rabbi seeks to teach truth and uprightness to the public that listens to him—I will quote here for him the following passages directly from Breslov books, with sources attached. What has no source, I will be transparent and say so, of course.

1. The statement that at the first “Barkhu” of Rosh Hashanah our Rebbe passes everyone in judgment has its root in one statement that our Rebbe himself said:
“What other righteous men accomplish in their service from Rosh Hashanah until Hoshana Rabbah, I accomplish on the first night of Rosh Hashanah.” (Siach Sarfei Kodesh 2:75)
From this, our Rebbe’s disciples inferred this matter—that everyone passes in judgment at the first “Barkhu.”
True, I have not seen this written anywhere explicitly—but one should not rely on me; I’m not some outstanding Torah scholar or anything, and ‘the fact that we have not seen it is no proof,’ because it may well be written elsewhere.
What is true is that this saying took root among Breslov Hasidim, and great and worthy rabbis say it too, so either there is another source for it, or the source is what I brought. Either way, there is certainly no “nonsensical rambling” here, Heaven forbid, as the Rabbi wrote; and leave Israel alone—for if they are not prophets, they are the children of prophets.

2. Our Rebbe’s Rosh Hashanah surpasses everything:

He said: My Rosh Hashanah surpasses everything.

And I was amazed that since those close to me believe in me, why are not all the people close to me careful that they should all be with me on Rosh Hashanah, not a single person missing? For my entire thing is only Rosh Hashanah. And he ordered that a proclamation be made, that everyone who follows his teaching and draws close to him should be with him on Rosh Hashanah; not one person should be missing.

And whoever merits to be on Rosh Hashanah ought to rejoice very, very much. “Eat rich foods and drink sweet beverages, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”—and this was said about Rosh Hashanah.

(Chayei Moharan, “The Great Preciousness of His Rosh Hashanah,” 403)

A story told by his great disciple Rabbi Natan:
On the eve of the final Rosh Hashanah in Uman, we stood before him when we gave him our notes and money for redemption. Then he asked about a certain man from Nemirov who had not come for Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Naftali began to justify him, but he did not accept the explanation and was very upset with him.

Afterward he spoke of another person who had not come for Rosh Hashanah because of many obstacles, and because of this he had traveled to our Rebbe, of blessed memory, before Rosh Hashanah and told him of the obstacles. Our Rebbe, of blessed memory, himself instructed him to return home and not be with him on Rosh Hashanah. This man was one of the most important people, and he was very distressed that he would not merit to be counted among us on Rosh Hashanah. He began to insist before him, of blessed memory, that he should not return home but remain with him for Rosh Hashanah.

But he, of blessed memory, was not appeased by his words and sent him home. And then our Rebbe, of blessed memory, said to him: I cannot picture to myself this pain—that you will not be with me on Rosh Hashanah. And that man said: If so, then I will stay here. But he did not agree, and he returned home.

Afterward, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, he spoke with us about this and said that one should have great compassion on him, because he truly wanted to be here on Rosh Hashanah, but was prevented because of the above. Then he, of blessed memory, cried out in a strong voice from the depths of his heart: What can I tell you? There is nothing greater than this—that is, than being with him on Rosh Hashanah. And he said it in these words with a trembling voice: What can I tell you? There is nothing greater than this. And if other righteous men do not say so, then that is another difficulty. [That is, besides all the many questions people already ask about him, there will be this further question as well: why he insisted so much that people be with him specifically on Rosh Hashanah.]

And from the holy words that he spoke with us then, we learned several things. We learned once again the immense greatness of the obligation to be with him on Rosh Hashanah. For although we had already known this, still, from the abundance of his holy words then on this matter, and from his awe-inspiring movements at that time, we understood the magnitude of the obligation more and more—something impossible to explain in writing.
(Chayei Moharan 220)

3. The matter of the great rectification accomplished on Rosh Hashanah:
Regarding Rosh Hashanah—that one needs to be with him specifically on Rosh Hashanah—he said that at that time people can receive rectifications such that throughout the entire year it would have been impossible for them to receive any rectification whatsoever; nevertheless on Rosh Hashanah even they can receive rectification. Even though throughout the rest of the year even he himself, of blessed memory, would not have been able to rectify them, on Rosh Hashanah even they can receive rectifications. For he said that on Rosh Hashanah he performs matters and rectifications that throughout the year even he cannot do.

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah he spoke with us about the rabbi of Breslov [Rabbi Aharon, rabbi of the city of Breslov], who was not in Uman that Rosh Hashanah, and said to us: What can I tell you? There is nothing greater than this—that is, to be with me on Rosh Hashanah. Even though other righteous men do not say this, because for them it is not such a great obligation to be with them on Rosh Hashanah, this is just one more difficulty.

[That is: besides this, people already constantly ask many questions about him, and now there will be this additional question too—why he warns so strongly that one must be with him specifically on Rosh Hashanah, more than with the other great ones.]
(ibid.)

To conclude my words, I wanted to add and say something. As far as I’m concerned, this can be taken as constructive criticism, and if I erred in my wording—He is compassionate and will atone.
The Holy One, blessed be He, had mercy on the Jewish people and gave us rabbis, halakhic teachers, and righteous people so that they would teach us the path we should walk and the deed we should do.
In my neighborhood there is a Torah scholar rabbi with whom I consult from time to time on matters of Jewish law. One Sabbath there was a pregnancy-related medical issue that required asking a rabbi. I went to him, and he said to me, “In this I’m less expert; turn to Rabbi So-and-so.”
My father, may he live long, has also told me several times of things like this.
That is, sometimes a question comes to a rabbi, and the rabbi knows inwardly that he is not one hundred percent proficient in it, and so he says to the questioner: go to Rabbi So-and-so; he knows this topic better than I do.
Of course, among the giants of the world this was not the case, and one could ask them about every treasure of Torah and they would answer on the spot. But most rabbis and halakhic teachers today are not like that, and each one has his own “area,” in which he specializes.
Therefore, with respect: if a questioner comes to the Rabbi and asks a question from the world of Hasidism, and specifically from the world of Breslov Hasidism, and the rabbi being asked has not studied this particular Hasidic school, he cannot say “this is nonsense,” Heaven forbid, Heaven forbid; rather he should say, “Go to Rabbi So-and-so and he will answer your question in detail.”
And there is no need to fear that the questioner will then leave the Rabbi; on the contrary, this will show humility and faith on the part of the rabbi being asked, and it will strengthen the questioner’s trust—that in all the other questions the Rabbi did answer him, they were answered מתוך a deep understanding.

And I will conclude with the blessing of an ordinary person: may the Rabbi merit many more years to learn and to teach, to observe and to act and to fulfill, with health of body and soul, happiness, prosperity, and great light, until the coming of the righteous redeemer, amen, may it be His will.

Yitzhak Cohen (2025-10-23)

May the “Rabbi” return in complete repentance… as the Baal Shem Tov said, I saw that in the days of the Messiah there will be “rabbis” as numerous as the stars of the heavens who will delay the redemption.

Michi (2025-10-23)

Amen. We’re working on it. I also think there are many rabbis who delay the redemption, but I’m not sure my list is the same as yours.

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