Why Must We Travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah? -- Rabbi Eliezer Berland Shlit”a

WONDROUS WORDS OF AROUSAL FOR THE JOURNEY TO UMAN FOR ROSH HASHANAH FROM MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A

The Rebbe said, “My Rosh Hashanah surpasses everything.  I wondered, since my followers believe in me, why aren’t all the people who are close to me careful to be at Rosh Hashanah; no one should be missing.”  Why don’t they make an announcement, publicity, and a commotion in the world that everyone should travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah?  No one should be missing!  We need self-sacrifice for it!

THE EFFORT AND EXERTION MAKE THE VESSEL!

A person must travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah!  But there are obstacles!  One person doesn’t have money.  This one has opposition from his father and father-in-law, and another just doesn’t feel well.  And this one has all types of hurdles.  Regarding this, the Rebbe says that according to the efforts and exertion of each person, according to the difficulties of each person, so he has more vessels to receive the light of the Tzaddik.  The efforts and exertion make the vessel!!  Those who merit to obstacles and effort merit to such wondrous vessels, more than those for whom everything goes smoothly.  The more obstacles a person has, that they hold him back – [whether] he has obstacles from his father or from other people, he doesn’t have any money, he is confused, a bit sick, doesn’t feel well, and he overcomes and shatters the obstacles – the more he has vessels to attain Godliness.  This is how he will merit to holiness and purity!  From the exertion, the vessel is made!  A person who doesn’t have exertion and effort doesn’t have vessels.

FROM THE JOURNEY ALONE, WE RECEIVE GREAT LIGHT

When traveling to the Rebbe, we gain fear of Heaven! Rabbeinu said, "I am a treasury of fear of Heaven." From each step when travelling to Rabbeinu, an angel is created! From every step when travelling for the Tzaddik, we receive fear! From every movement for Rabbeinu, angels are created!   Just from the journey alone, we already merit to receive great light.  Because Rabbeinu is fire!  When we travel to Rabbeinu, we travel on paths of fire.  Rabbeinu is a pillar of fire.  Rabbeinu HaKadosh is a fire flaming for Hashem Yitbarach.

A TRUE TZADDIK

Everyone wants to travel to Rabbeinu!  People travel to Rabbeinu with self-sacrifice!  They abandon everything!  Everyone in this generation knows that Rabbeinu HaKadosh is a true Tzaddik!  Because Rabbeinu HaKadosh didn’t look at all at this world.  He never heard the world.  Nothing here in this world interested him.  He never saw this world.

SALVATIONS FOR A LIFETIME

The Rebbe said, “I don’t see!?  What do you think, that I’m blind?  Really, I have eyes!  I have eyes to see from one end of the world to the other!”  We are travelling to such a Tzaddik who sees from one end of the world to the other.  We are travelling to such a Tzaddik who can heal all the illnesses in the world.  There is no illness that he cannot cure.  On Rosh Hashanah, we draw down livelihood, we draw down the souls of our children, all the salvations for a lifetime.

THERE IS NO SALVATION THAT CANNOT BE WORKED

On Rosh Hashanah, it’s possible to work everything!  If a person believes in Rabbeinu, believes in Rosh Hashanah, then there is no salvation that cannot be worked for him, for his friends, for his wife, and for all generations.  There is nothing that a person cannot work on Rosh Hashanah, if one just stands at the grave and prays truthfully, seriously, and doesn’t walk around, doesn’t stroll around.  Then it’s possible to work everything.  There is no gate that is closed.  It’s possible to merit to all the salvations for him and for all the Jewish people.

I HAVE RECTIFIED EVERYTHING FOR YOU

The Rebbe says, “My Rosh Hashanah is a great novelty.  Hashem Yitbarach knows that this thing is not an inheritance from my forefathers.  He just gave me it as a gift that I know what Rosh Hashanah is!  Not only you are dependent on my Rosh Hashanah, but even the whole world is dependent on my Rosh Hashanah.”  The Rebbe called in a powerful voice from the depths of his heart:  What can I say to you?  There is nothing greater than it.  Whoever comes to me for Rosh Hashanah can receive rectifications that he could not receive all year in any way.  You have nothing to worry about.  Eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks, because the delight for Hashem is your strength.  I have rectified everything for you on Rosh Hashanah.  I’ve rectified everything for you.

MY MATTER IS A WONDER

Rabbeinu said: My matter is a wonder!  You, a father, believe in me!?  Travel to me!?  Then why don’t you bring your son if he wants to come?  I don’t understand!?  If you believe in me, that I can give you a tikkun (rectification), then believe that I can give also your son a tikkun!  What, does your son not need Tikkunim?  What, you think that your son is already holy and pure?!  A person needs to know that also his children need Tikkunim!  A person says: We’ll wait until he grows up, there’s time!  What’s this “there’s time”?  Your son has forbidden gazes every day!  Every day, he can stumble in immodest things!  What, do you follow after him 24 hours!?  You need to watch over the child all the time!  Who will watch over him if not the Rebbe?!  Who will protect him if not Rabbeinu HaKadosh!  You need to take the children to Uman!  You also need to watch over them there, you need to guard them also in Uman!  You need to take the children to Uman.  They need to see this sight!  The child will see what is Uman!  He will see what this entire event is!  He will come and receive the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence).

THE TRUE TZADDIK HAS THE POWER TO RECTIFY THE ENTIRE WORLD

This Tzaddik can return the entire world to righteousness!  If people would draw close to him and believe in him, they would leave all their evil and be totally purified, because the Tzaddik already has left the four elements, has purified the four elements and is cleansed of all desire.  He can remove everyone in the world from their evil, from their desires.  This is what the Gaon Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk [the “Or Sameach”] says on the Gemara in Tractate Sotah [13a], “They held a very great and imposing eulogy there” (Bereishit 50:10), “It was taught, even horses and donkeys.”  Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen says, “They held a great eulogy” – even horses eulogized Yaakov Avinu!  There was such a great eulogy, such a heavy eulogy that even the horses cried!  The donkeys cried!  Everyone cried over the Tzaddik!  The horses felt that the Tzaddik was missing!  The donkeys felt that the Tzaddik was gone!  “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s trough; but Israel does not know, My people does not comprehend.”  The horses recognize the true Tzaddik!!  The donkeys recognize the true Tzaddik!!  It’s mamash shameful how people don’t see the Tzaddik, how blind people are, going about the world without knowing who is the Tzaddik.

EVEN HORSES AND DONKEYS FELT LOST WITHOUT THE TZADDIK

A person with his pride, with his inclinations, does not want to believe in the Tzaddik!  He doesn’t want to know who is the Tzaddik.  However, the horses and donkeys felt that they were lost without the Tzaddik, because who will uphold the world?  Who will protect them?  Who protects the horses?  Who protects the donkeys?  Who protects the world?  They know in whose merit they are alive.  If the Tzaddik didn’t exist, there would be famine, there would be a holocaust in the world, there would be wars.  Rabbi Meir Simcha HaKohen says to start seeing the Tzaddikim, starting following the Tzaddikim.  Open your eyes and see who is the Tzaddik in whose merit you are alive!

ONE MAMASH NEEDS TO PERFORM A BLOOD TRANSFUSION

If a person wants to ascend from level to level, he must diminish himself.  He must be disparaged.  Because the blood -- the impure bloods, the pride -- needs to be spilled out.  Every time, one needs new blood.  One mamash needs to perform a blood transfusion!  And the only way to remove the blood is through humiliation.  A person is full of pride.  One needs to have disparagement every day.  If a person doesn’t have disparagement, then no mitzvah will ascend on high.  A person is full of blood, full of pride.  One can become so blown up from pride that he can’t pass through the doorway.  Hashem wants to taste his mitzvot, but He can’t, because a person is full of pride, full of blood.  A person does some mitzvah, then he immediately swells with pride because of the mitzvah.  I did a mitzvah!  I got up at night!  I learned Gemara!  I’m the biggest Tzaddik!  I’m the greatest scholar!  I’m the holiest!  He becomes so blown up with pride that Hashem cannot consume his mitzvot.  The Rebbe says that this is Ever Min HaChai [the prohibition of eating a limb from a living animal], that it requires slaughter in order to permit it.  The Rebbe says it needs slaughter.  One needs to experience shame, needs to be humiliated.  One needs to experience shame, so that the bloods will be spilled.  When the impure bloods of pride are spilled out, then Hashem can taste his mitzvot.

IN THIS WAY, ONE RECEIVES THE TRUE LIGHT

We travel to Uman in order to have our blood let.  When you travel to Uman, your blood is let.  It’s not just travelling to Uman like a tourist.  This isn’t a tikkun!  You need to let the blood.  If not, this isn’t a tikkun.  You need for someone to come and disparage you.  Why are you travelling to Uman?  Why with those people?  You’re such and such…you’re Breslov…your Rav is such and such…  Because whoever wants to ascend from level to level, whoever wants to ascend to a new level, needs to have his blood let!  That they’ll dispute him, disparage him.  In this way, one receives the true light!!  If a person receives all these insults with love, goes through it in peace, then he can bring the redemption.

TO SHED RIVERS OF TEARS

Whoever knows about Rabbeinu and believes in Rabbeinu will be able to mamash feel Rabbeinu.  A person arrives in Uman, and Rabbeinu raises him up to the highest worlds – “Atika Kadisha – the Holy Ancient One.”  In Uman, we are in the highest worlds.  By Rabbeinu, it’s possible to work everything.  If one comes to Rabbeinu and repents, confesses, regrets, and takes on [to oneself not to transgress in] the future, then it’s possible to merit to receiving a new Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida [the five levels of soul].

By Rabbeinu, on Rosh Hashanah eve, there were 600 people at the gathering, and Rabbeinu received each one of them from the hour of eight in the morning until six in the evening.  It comes out that each person was by Rabbeinu for only a minute!  When they would come in to Rabbeinu, they would immediately remember their sins from the day they were born and began confessing, and floods of tears would burst forth from their eyes like a river.  And when one would begin to say a few words, Rabbeinu would take him outside and tell him to continue the confession outside.  Therefore, we need to come to Rabbeinu and remember everything that we went through and to shed rivers of tear.  Then we will merit to receive a new Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida.

THE REBBE SPEAKS TO US

When we merit to come to the holy gravesite and prostrate ourselves on the grave, the Rebbe speaks to us, whispers in our ears, encourages us, and hears our cries.  People who have never cried, suddenly something enters into them and causes them to cry.  The soul of Moshe enters into them, the soul of Rabbeinu HaKadosh.

THE KING

When coming to the holy grave, people think: Will I [feel] arousal?  Will I feel something?  These thoughts are a mistake.  The matter of Rosh Hashanah is not feelings and not arousal.  Rather, the matter of Rosh Hashanah is only nullification, to attain total nullification, to stand at the grave, pray, to reach the ultimate nullification, to feel the Light of the Infinite, to know that there is none other besides Him.  There is only Hashem in the world!   There is nothing in the world other than Him.  Because our whole coming to the grave of Rabbeinu HaKadosh is in order to make Hashem king and to know that there is nothing besides Him.  Therefore, we say on Rosh Hashanah, “HaMelech (the King).”  We didn’t come in order to make requests.  We didn’t come to receive rewards.  Rather, the whole reason for our coming to the holy grave is to know that “there is none other besides Him.”

THE TZADDIK WHO IS A REVELATION OF MASHIACH

Rabbeinu said, “All the good that Mashiach will do for Israel, I can do, only that the difference is that Mashiach will decree, say, and it will be fulfilled, but I still…(he stopped and didn’t say any more – Chayei Moharan 266).  Rabbeinu said: I can do exactly what Mashiach will do, only that the generation still is not ready to listen.  The generation is still not ready to accept what I will say.  I say – do an hour of Hitbodedut, pray the Amidah with focused intention, slowly, word-for-word, learn Gemara in depth, to know that one is the least of all.  In the time of Rabbeinu, there already was the revelation of Mashiach, only that the generation still was not worthy.  In every generation, there is a Tzaddik who is the revelation of Mashiach, only that because the generation is not worthy, it is pushed off for another generation, for another generation, until the end of the sixth millennium.  It won’t be pushed off further than this.  People still don’t fully accept Rabbeinu’s advice.  If people would accept Rabbeinu’s advice, then today there would be the redemption!  Today, the Temple would have been built.

HOW COULD IT BE THAT BRESLOV HELD ONTO ONE TZADDIK FROM 200 YEARS AGO?

The Rebbe attained “Yechida at the ultimate level” (Chayei Moharan 267).  There is only one, only one, who is the aspect of yechida of yechida, who merited to see Hashem every second, to see the angel Mem-Tet every second, all the angels, all the serafim (fiery angels).  Rabbi Natan says that only the Tzaddik who completely purified himself of everything, who is clean of everything, who has no scent of a body [physicality], who already sees nothing except for Hashem, who sees nothing, who sees Hashem 24 hours in front of his eyes, this is only one and one alone, one and one alone who comes in several generations.  Everyone says, “How could it be that Breslov held onto one Tzaddik from 200 years ago?”  But really this is an explicit Rambam, simply an explicit Rambam.  The Rambam says in the introduction to Tractate Berachot that a true Tzaddik who despises this world and has no scent of this world is unique among many, and is not found except one in several generations.  The Rambam rules for all those who ask, “How could it be that you held onto the Rebbe, Rabbi Natan.  There are other awesome Tzaddikim, there are other pure Tzaddikim, there are other holy people.”  To them, the Rambam says: Know that a true Tzaddik who is clean of all desire and completely pure, who has no evil, no scent of desire, no scent of a body, this is not in every generation!  This is only one in several generations!  This is a halachic ruling that one shouldn’t have doubts about, that only one Tzaddik in several generations can reach such a level of purity, and he continues to purify all the generations that come after him as well.

HOLD YOURSELVES TOGETHER

The Rebbe left a will – I request of you: I am going to depart this world, hold yourselves together.  The Rebbe placed his hand on the mezuzah and said, “What I request of you is to gather together, to pray together.”  Everyone needs to see to pushing himself into the community, into the gathering, and to think that, “Really I am the least of everyone, and I have phenomenal merit to be here with everyone.”  And if you pray like this together, join yourselves together, pray with focused intention, then perhaps you will draw me to you.  And really if we will all be together, then we will draw the Rebbe to us, and then the King Messiah will come, and there will be the complete redemption.