"And Moses took (Gematria 344) – Our Teacher Nachman son of Simcha son of Feiga (Gematria 784), Moses our Teacher and the daughter of Jethro"

"For on Chanukah, two Messiahs descend; therefore, we read Miketz on Chanukah, usually Ephraim and Menashe, because on Chanukah one merits the level of Yechida (the highest level of the soul), to the 'crown of the head of the one set apart from his brothers'"

"It is written: 'And he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses' [Exodus Chapter 2]. Moses never ate; you would never see food laid out before him. It is written in the 'Ten Utterances' (on the verse) 'And Moses consented'—why suddenly 'And Moses consented to dwell'? It doesn't say to eat. Regarding Jacob, it is written 'And they ate bread' [Genesis 31:54]. Regarding Abraham, it is written concerning the angels, 'Come, take a morsel of bread and sustain your hearts' [Genesis 18:5]. Here, it does not say a morsel of bread; there is no morsel of bread. Jethro said, 'Call him that he may eat bread' [Exodus Chapter 2], but Moses did not eat. Moses does not eat; the Tzaddik does not eat. Jethro asked him to stay, and he stayed. Well, for ten years he was in the pit, and Jethro threw him a slice of bread every day, and for another ten years after that until the age of sixty. Only at age sixty did he arrive in Midian, because he had been the king in Kush (Ethiopia). He was there at age sixty, and as soon as the king died, they made him king. When the king went out to war, Balaam seized the government, just as Trump seized the government—now, even now, he says he is going with the Arabs to the end, he is not afraid of them."

"So Balaam, who was king over all the Arabs, was king over all of Kush. When the king went out to war, Moses arrived exactly then, while the king was away. It was impossible to enter the city because it was surrounded by snakes and wild beasts. The king asked, 'How can we enter the city?' Moses said, 'Take storks (birds of kindness), starve them for three days.' In this way, they ate all the snakes, and then the king entered the city. Afterward, the king passed away, and they gave the king's daughter to Moses. After forty years, his wife asked him, 'After forty years, why do you not relate to me? Are you like Shuvu Banim who do not relate to women?' He said, 'I am a Jew and you are a gentile; what can I do?' She said, 'I am willing to convert.' Moses said to her, 'It won't help you to convert; you cannot convert.'"

"She said to him, 'Fine, then send me back,' and she released him. He went to Midian, and he arrived exactly when Jethro had just declared that all idolatry was a lie. There were 1,550 types of idolatry. Every day Jethro would say which one to go to; a specific idolatry was effective for only one day. He knew all the segulos (spiritual remedies). If you wanted to get married, go to this one today, that one tomorrow. People saw he could heal them. He knew it was all a lie, but he didn't know the Truth yet; he only knew everything else was false. Then all the gentiles boycotted him. Suddenly Moses arrives, and they are throwing Jethro's daughters into the Nile, the spring, the river—they threw all seven of them. If Jethro had accepted this with love, then she would have immediately given birth to the Mashiach (Messiah), Mashiach ben Yosef. For on Chanukah, two Messiahs descend; therefore, we read Miketz on Chanukah, usually Ephraim and Menashe, because on Chanukah one merits the level of Yechida (the highest level of the soul), to the 'crown of the head of the one set apart from his brothers'."

"Only Joseph merited the 'Kodkod' (crown of the head). It is written in Torah 85 that only Joseph merited the 'Kodkod.' Benjamin merited the shoulders, as it is written, 'He dwells between his shoulders' [Deuteronomy 33:12]. The brothers merited nothing; the brothers are not worth even the dust of Joseph's sole. They only opposed him, they only shot arrows, so they merited nothing. Joseph stops them for three days and three nights, trying to get them to realize their mistake so they could return to their spiritual levels, but they don't realize the mistake. They only say, 'Yes, it wasn't nice, we did something not nice.' You sold my father! For 22 years Jacob sits and cries and cries, with 'tears in thirds,' with sackcloth and ashes spread for the masses. He sits in sackcloth and ashes. Because he went out with sackcloth and ashes, Mordechai also had to go out with sackcloth and ashes. This is a terrible thing, because the moment Jacob went out with sackcloth and mourning, it was decreed upon the Jewish people to always be with sackcloth and ashes."

"Start dancing even if a son is killed! Hashem (God) only does good; Hashem does no more evil, there is no such thing as more evil. Why is it written 'Why have I dealt ill' (Lama Hare'osi)? Now here in prison, I saw the Maharit (Rabbi Yosef di Trani) for ten seconds, and he says: What is this 'Why have I dealt ill'? Would a Tzaddik say 'Why have I dealt ill'? He already received a punishment for those two words 'Lama Hare'osi' (Note: Perhaps referring to Jacob's words to Pharaoh in Genesis 47:9 'Few and evil have been the days of my life,' or Genesis 43:6 where Jacob says to the brothers 'Why did you deal ill with me to tell the man...'). Your son became a king! Now you are going to be a king in Egypt, you will rule all of Egypt, 'all the good of the land is yours,' they are sending you wagons, golden carriages, four horses for every carriage—what are you lacking? Why do you say 'Why have I dealt ill'? Go out and dance! They tell Eliezer (Abraham's servant) 'you are a donkey of donkeys,' and he goes out and dances—a donkey of donkeys!"

"Goliath does not forgive; Goliath does not forgive, even though he is in the grave, he does not forgive. For forty years, even in the grave, he does not forgive David. David came to him with a staff, and Goliath said to David, 'Am I a dog?' David replied, 'You are a dog, the son of a dog.' So until today, he doesn't forgive him for that. But Eliezer goes out dancing until morning because Abraham called him a donkey. He told me the truth! What joy it is, what joy when they tell me the truth, what joy when my Rav (tells me the truth). Because they don't say anything to Reuben. The Da'at Zekenim Ba'alei HaTosafot (commentary) asks: Why was Asher under a cherem (excommunication)? There are sixty billion explanations for why Asher was under a ban."

"People don't even know that Asher was under a ban; you don't study. You placed a ban on the Ba'al HaTurim (Rabbi Jacob ben Asher). I heard that Shuvu Banim placed a ban on the Ba'al HaTurim, so I am removing the ban for you. I permit you, start studying Ba'al HaTurim [Ba'al HaTurim on Deuteronomy 33:24]. So why was Asher under a ban? There are sixty billion explanations. Moses removed the ban from him after 250 years. They went down to Egypt for 210 years plus 40 years in the desert—that's 250 years he was under the ban. You don't study; you placed a ban on the weekly Torah portion as well. You don't study the Parsha, you Shuvu Banim, so I permit the ban for you. It is permitted to you, permitted to you, permitted to you to study the weekly Parsha, permitted to you to study Ba'al HaTurim. I tell you it is permitted, permitted, permitted, permitted."

"True, one needs a 'Yachid Mumche' (an expert individual) to annul a ban; I am not a Yachid Mumche, but I tell you it is permitted. Asher being under a ban involved terrible things. The brothers made many mistakes; it wasn't just selling Joseph. They also put Asher under a ban and all sorts of things, and they struck Benjamin the Tzaddik. If he had received the blows with joy, he would have received the entire Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple). If they hit you on the shoulders, be happy! Joseph merited the Yechida because they shot endless arrows at him. Asher was also boycotted by his brothers. His daughter (Serach daughter of Asher) entered Gan Eden (Paradise) alive with her body. Because they put him under a ban, she enters with her body. Anyone who is put under a ban merits the 248 (RaMaCh). What is 248? It is when there is a 'Tzelem' (Divine Image); the Tzelem is received through the ban. I just saw this in the Etz Chaim (Tree of Life), written in the section on the Holiness of the Tzelem, Chapter 9. It says there is a 'Tzelem Ish' (Image of a Man); gentiles have a Tzelem Ish. 'Tzelem Adam' (Image of Adam) is not for terrorists. 'In the image of God He created man' refers to the Tzaddikim, to Joseph the Tzaddik, who merits 'mercy, double mercy' [Judges 5:30]. There are three images: internal, surrounding, and middle. The Tzaddik is the outer, the 'Lamed' is the middle, and the 'Mem' is the true internal one. There are three images; Deborah merited all the images."

"Shuvu Banim does not speak about anyone, does not oppose anyone, does not argue with anyone, and does not answer anyone. Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 20, Part II, regarding the 'falling of miscarriages,' that everyone should kick us, everyone should mock us. What is our business? Our business is only to pray and study Torah. Let them say we are heretics, let them say we are not Breslovers, let them say we are the worst criminals, the worst thieves—let them say everything. The more they say, the more we will reach the Takhlist (ultimate purpose). May these people have long lives and years in goodness and pleasantness, and may their bones be enriched with every pleasure in the world. May they only be healthy and whole so they can continue to speak. May Hashem give them a long tongue so they can speak in health, with strength and vigor. 'He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might He increases strength' [Isaiah 40:29]. May He give them might, strength, and power to speak day and night without a split-second pause. The more they speak, the more we will be refined, the more we will be sanctified, the more we will be elevated."

"And the fact that people have such suspicions about the Tzaddik comes from the Sin of the Serpent. The moment Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, every person became a 'Serpent-Man.' Everyone is composed of a Serpent and a Man, and the Serpent speaks from within him. When they speak against the Tzaddik, it is the Serpent speaking. For man is composed of two parts: one part Man, one part Serpent. When he speaks against the Tzaddik, the Serpent is speaking. And when the Serpent speaks, woe to him—at that moment they go to Gehennom (Hell). When one speaks against the Tzaddik, the Serpent speaks from within him. And the woman must save (her husband and children). Just as in the Sin of the Calf, the Calf cried out 'I am Hashem your God.' The men said, 'If the Calf says I am Hashem your God, then he is God and he took us out of Egypt.' In the end, the women remained widows because they did not oppose their husbands. The husbands wanted to bow to the Calf, and their wives should have hit them over the head with a plate! 'Why are you running to bow to the Calf?' They should have broken their bones."

"A person is a Serpent-Man. A person is a Man riding on a Serpent, which is entirely Lashon Hara (evil speech), entirely murder. He is constantly murdering someone else with his Yetzer Hara (evil inclination), like the brothers who murdered their father. They didn't even know they were murdering their father; they didn't even do teshuvah (repentance) for it. A person thinks he can manage the world without the Tzaddik. There is no such thing! Only the Tzaddik influences all the intellects; even for the most wicked person, he transforms his mind. If a person believes in the Tzaddik, nothing stings him; everything is smooth, everything goes by 'still waters'."

"(But) when he opposes the Tzaddik, then everything stings. The Tzaddik is the Even Shesiya (Foundation Stone) [Torah 61]. The Tzaddik purifies from everything [Chayei Moharan 332 and 189]. The True Tzaddik feels the pain of every single Jew. The True Tzaddik feels the pain of every single Jew; he cannot sleep, he cannot eat, he feels the pain of every single Jew. Anyone who opposes the Tzaddik is a reincarnation of the people of Sodom. A person who has a difficulty (Kushia) always runs to some wicked person to solve his problem; he doesn't go to the Tzaddik to solve it. He has a question about the Tzaddik, so he runs to some wicked person to explain it to him, and the wicked person explains it in a logical, convincing way. If he had run to the Tzaddik—to Moses our Teacher—to explain, he would have seen everything clearly. This is what Rebbe Nathan explains here: when Hashem wanted to give the Torah to all creatures, He spoke to every creature, to every person. Every person heard some Bat Kol (Heavenly Voice), but each one gave it their own interpretation instead of flying to Moses our Teacher so he could interpret it for them, or 'seeing the voices,' seeing them literally in the heavens how they illuminate 'Lo Tirtzach' (Do not murder), 'Lo Tignov' (Do not steal)."

"So whoever merits, whoever was by the Tzaddik for Rosh Hashanah and wants to listen to the voice of the Tzaddik—because one can come to the Tzaddik and, may Hashem have mercy on what happens, he doesn't even know he's coming to the Tzaddik—but if he wants to listen to the voice of the Tzaddik, the Tzaddik says: First thing, know Shas (the Talmud), and know Shas with intellect. The Rebbe says with intellect, to know it with depth, not just superficial saying, but with intellect and study. Take a good Chavrusa (study partner), sit patiently and learn, and then you will leave all your bad traits and begin to hear the Bat Kol that exists every second. Every moment a person must search for the True Tzaddik, and he must become 'Ayin' (nothingness). The moment he finds the True Tzaddik, the True Tzaddik will erase all the judgments from upon every single person. If a person follows the Tzaddik, he will always win. A person's entire work is to follow the Tzaddik at any cost. A person must follow the Tzaddik at any cost. And if a person follows the Tzaddik at any cost, he always wins; no one can stand against him, he always wins."

"Rebbe Nachman says a person learns, and the whole point of learning is to break one's pride. All learning is for a person to break his pride. Usually, when a person learns, he gains pride from the learning. Through the Tzaddik, it is the opposite; since a person connects everything to the Tzaddik, everything he does he wants to be for the honor of the Tzaddik, to be a state of 'Neshikin' (kissing/spiritual attachment) with the Tzaddik. As it is written in Torah 12, this is the aspect of Neshikin with the Tzaddik. There is a prayer in Likutey Tefillos, Prayer 12, that what I learn with the Tannaim (Mishnaic Sages) is to 'kiss' the Tzaddik. If I learn for pride, to be a scholar, to be a Rosh Yeshiva, then one disparages the other. This is the test of whether Torah is 'L'shma' (for its own sake) or 'Shelo L'shma' (not for its own sake): that a person will not disparage any person in the world. If a person learns Torah L'shma, he does not disparage any person in the world, no matter what. Let them speak about him, let them do everything to him, he will not speak. Never in the world will he speak. Even if they cut him into pieces, he will not speak against another. 'This is from Hashem, Hashem is cutting me.' This is the sign that a person learns Torah L'shma. But if a person learns Torah not for its own sake, then he disparages others and speaks about them, and he vomits up all the Torah. The Rebbe says the one who is spoken about must be clever; he can now learn for a whole week without sleeping. So much Torah was poured upon him, he doesn't need to sleep at all. Now he understands, and now that they poured a sea of Torah on him, tons of Torah—when people speak about a person, that person (the speaker) is pouring out the Torah he learned onto that person."

                     The Book of Mishlei Yaakov – Parshas Va'era

(87) A parable of one who kept a servant for many years. Every time he needed to borrow money from his wealthy friend, he sent this servant, and through his word and hand, the money was sent. When the time came for this servant to marry, the master took a new servant into his home. After some days, he sent this new servant to his friend to borrow a certain sum. The lender said to him, 'I will not give you money until you bring a promissory note from your master.' The servant went home and told his master these things. The master was greatly surprised; he set out and went himself to his friend and asked him, 'What makes this day different from others?' The friend answered and said, 'Know, my brother, that you have always been a faithful man to me. However, the first servant, whom I already knew to be faithful to your house—from him I did not require a promissory note. Not so this youth, for I do not yet know who he is or who his master is. Therefore, it was proper that I asked him for proof.'

The moral of the story: So it was with Pharaoh. For it is explained in the Midrash (Exodus Rabbah 5) that when Moses came to Pharaoh and said to him, 'Thus says Hashem...' Pharaoh became angry and said, 'Who is Hashem... I do not know...' but wait for me until I search in my book. Immediately he entered his palace and looked at every nation and its gods. He began reading: the gods of Moab, the gods of Ammon, the gods of Sidon. But the God of Israel he did not find. Moses said, 'To what is this comparable? To a priest who had a foolish slave. The priest went abroad, and the slave went to look for his master in the cemetery. The people of the city said to him, "Fool! What would a priest be doing in a cemetery?"' So Moses said, 'Those gods you mention are dead. But our God is a living God, and what would He be doing in a cemetery (among the dead idols)?' Therefore, it was proper for Pharaoh to ask for a sign, for he did not yet know Him.