שיר ידידות

Composed and founded by his honor, the great Admor Rabbi Nathan z"l, for the honor of our master and Rebbe, the light of lights etc., the incomparable Nachman z"l

אשר חיבר ויסד כבוד אדמו"ר הר"ר נתן ז"ל לשם כבוד מורינו ורבינו אור האורות וכו' כמהו' נחמן ז"ל

"Who can recount the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all His praise heard?" (Psalms 106)

Who can recount, who can even imagine, all the greatness, the wonders, and the awesome deeds that our master, teacher, and guide has performed—the light of lights, the light in the darkness, the light of the hidden and the hidden within the hidden—for all the souls of Israel, upon whom all the worlds depend?

And above all, what he has done—and continues to do—for those close to him, those who have merited to dwell in his shadow, his holy shadow, and to hear from his mouth the things they heard—matters hidden by the Ancient of Days.

And especially, what he has done—and continues to do—for me, poor and needy as I am, whom he raised from the dust and the dunghill, and seated beside him. He drew me near with the greatest love, and placed his hands upon me to receive and record all the words of his Torah, his conversations, and his wondrous tales. All of it, in its entirety, I merited to write with my own hand. And he said with full conviction: “There is no one who knows me except you, a little.” And many other such expressions.

Truly, my soul knows very well what cannot be told at all. I have already written much, and I have told my friends and disciples many things orally. And, thank God, my words made a deep impression, with such power that the truth entered their hearts like a burning fire. Many were stirred to return to Hashem, blessed be He. Many have already departed this world in holiness and purity, with a good name, amidst Torah, prayer, and complete faith. And some are still alive.

And those who remain for long days and years—behold, they are strong, with the help of Hashem, blessed be He, in truth and in faith, like a mirror of cast brass. May they never be moved.

And with all this, I knew in my soul that they are still clamoring for knowledge, and still do not know the light of the truth of truths in its fullness, as it is revealed in my soul. As our Sages of blessed memory said (Sanhedrin 68a): “I have increased my disciples, and I have not diminished from them,” for just as a dog laps water, so too my disciples have not lacked from it, and so forth.

What can I say? For all these words of mine concern the knowledge of the sweetness and splendor of God. In the heart—that is, each person has his own thoughts, and those are his powers, those are his wonders. Whoever reaches and toils in his service will be blessed along this path, until he merits what he merits and ascends to the level he ascends. Who has drawn such deep wisdoms from the depths, “counsel in the heart of man is like deep water”—from the depths, from the depths—where shall he find it? Until he, in his wisdom, in his asceticism, and in his great strength, illuminated with his goodness the hearts of the lowly and the broken with the splendor of the Divine Presence. What can I possibly say to his companion?

And behold, this is a new thing, the likes of which have not been seen for generations, as hinted in the Torah of the “Bed of Knives” (Likutey Moharan I:30)—see there—that one needs a great Rabbi, a wondrous artisan, and a faithful healer who can implant Godliness into the hearts of people at such low levels, such sick souls, such distant ones.

And behold, if neither the tools of writing nor the tools of speech suffice to express even one part in a thousand of what is in my heart, and even to bring forth a portion is impossible—nonetheless, from the day I merited to draw near, the Blessed Name strengthened me. And He is the One destined to engage in the writing of the wonders of the revelation of His holy Torah, and of His Blessed Name.

I was strengthened to write down the topics and conversations that were in the shadow of the entire Torah, for I knew that every word and utterance was a complete Torah. However, in the beginning, I did not yet take care to write down all the holy conversations and sacred words that came forth from the mouth of the Holy One. For if there was anything in them, what was the measure of the revelation? A new Torah! But the rest of the conversations I did not trouble myself to record.

And truly, from the day I began to recognize the goodness of the truth of his asceticism, his virtue, and his awesome holiness, I would always say that one should stand and write down every word and utterance that came from his holy mouth, in holiness and purity, and with every kind of grace, truth, and awe—as a flaming fire. For even the ordinary words of his mouth, and all his deeds, were too much to write. Every word and utterance that came from his mouth was like burning coals of fire.

But I saw that this was something I could not do. And from this intensity, I was afraid, and I did not dare to write down even many true words of wisdom that I heard from his holy mouth. I did not write them, for whenever I heard any of his words, they were always connected to Torah, or belonged to a specific teaching.

Even after many years of closeness to him, Hashem stirred my heart to begin recording more of the conversations and matters that I heard from his holy mouth, and to summarize what was heard in detail. I also wrote down many stories and events that happened to him and his followers, and some of the stories of his journeys and the hardships he endured and overcame in the service of Hashem, through which he attained what he attained. I recorded the order of his journey to the Land of Israel, and many stories and deeds that corresponded to each Torah and each tale, and how and through whom his sufferings were brought about, until the Holy One opened his mouth and revealed what had been hidden.

And if we were to believe in all these things, it would be possible to understand and depict in writing the essence of the matter as it was at the time of its occurrence. Yet even so, I did not refrain from writing and recording everything that could be captured. And the wise will understand from their own knowledge a bit of the essence of the matter. All of this is so that future generations may know the greatness and wonders that Hashem has done for us—He who acts with mercy from generation to generation, who contemplates in His heart from age to age, who constantly brings forth new things, so that His Name may be proclaimed throughout the earth.

Thus, in every generation, people may be stirred to return to Him and be blessed. For He has paved a great path before us, a path prepared by His hand—may His memory be for a blessing—so that from now on, anyone who wishes to draw near to the Holy One may do so easily, according to the paths laid out in His holy books. Blessed is the one who grasps them, turns them over and over, and delves into them—for from them you will not depart, for there is no better portion than they.

Behold, all these things my eyes have seen, for it was His will that all be written in a book. Therefore, these are the days I have set in my heart to write and record every conversation, utterance, matter, and story that came to mind. And these are the things written in this book. And I called this book Chayei Moharan—“The Life of Moharan”—because most of it recounts his holy life: what he experienced during his days of holiness, and the life he lived eternally. For he was truly a living man, the likes of whom had never been seen. He always lived a true life, and at every moment lived a new life, as was heard from his holy mouth.

Once, he said: “Today I lived a life I have never lived before.” And then he began to reveal a few chapters from the Torah of Kartalita (Likutey Moharan I:18), as they are written in this book, to be preserved in their place. And so many times I heard from him—may his memory be a blessing—wondrous things about the nature of his life, and about the beauty of the life of the world, which cannot be fully grasped. For even in the life of the world, there are countless levels, as is evident from the contempt for the place of the end.

And the general principle is this: the essence of life is true life, which is true wisdom, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 7:12): “Wisdom gives life to those who possess it.” And the essence of wisdom is to seek, to attain knowledge, and to recognize Him—blessed is He, the Life of life. And each person is close to Him in proportion to the life within him—and the opposite is also true. Therefore (Berakhot 18a), the wicked, even in their lifetime, are called dead, while the righteous, even in their death, are called alive—because of the fire that constantly sustains them in true life, as it is written (Deuteronomy 4:4):"But you who keep your fast hold on the Lord your God are all alive today." And for this life we pray often at the beginning of the year and on the Day of Atonement, "We remember for life" and "it is written for life," because outside of this, all is vanity and there is no life at all. And about this life it is said: "That you may live," and so on, "That your days may be multiplied," and so on (Ibid. 5, and Ibid. 8) "That you may live," but a life whose memory is worthy of blessing is of a higher and most wonderful nature. Happy is he who is privileged to feel a little sparkle of the sweetness of his life, which was a long life, a truly good life, as is clear from the story of the seventh day of the week, about which King David, peace be upon him, prayed (Psalms 16): "Make me know that I may live long" and so on:

In this book are written all the deeds that we heard from the mouth of the Holy One, as well as many conversations and stories that we heard from the mouth of the Holy One. For his conversation is all Torah, as well as many deeds that were done and passed between him and his close ones. And from all their words the wise man understands the greatness of His greatness and the extent of His exceeding holiness, what the mouth cannot speak and the heart cannot think. And the wise man is like a moment of silence and silence,

1. ↑ http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2818.htm Prov. 28:18
2. ↑ https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0411.htm Num. 11:26
3. ↑ https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2617.htm Ps. 17:2