From
“Breslov Eikh She-hu: Breslov the Way It Is”
Customs
and Practices, Past and Present
By
Dovid Zeitlin and Dovid Sears (work-in-progress)
Bris
Milah
The
Tcheriner Rov darshans on many aspects of bris milah and its
related minhagim from a kabbalistic point of view.
(Nachas
ha-Shulchan, Yoreh De’ah 260)
*
It
is a common custom for the father to remain awake on the night prior to his
son’s bris. If possible, he should study the portion of the Zohar
related to this mitzvah, which may be found in the Siddur ha-Ya’avetz
(Rav Yaakov Emden). It is also a Breslover custom for the father to read the
entire Sippurey Ma’asiyos, or at least “The Seven Beggars” if there is
not enough time.
(Heard
from Rabbi Elazar Kenig)
*
Reb Gedaliah said in the name of Reb Avraham Sternhartz that the
father, sandek, and mohel should immerse in a mikveh prior
to Shacharis and the bris. The father should recite Tikkun
ha-Klalli before the bris. He should also meditate on the name of
the child when the mohel performs the circumcision.
*
Rabbi Beirach Rubenson remembered that in Poland, Breslover
Chassidim used to recite Tikkun ha-Klalli during a bris, due to
the presence of Eliyahu ha-Navi.
(Heard
from Rabbi Dovid Shapiro)
*
However,
Reb Levi Yitzchok Bender stated that this was not the minhag in Uman. (Si’ach
Sarfey Kodesh VI, 501)
*
Reb
Elazar Kenig has instructed his talmidim to give tzedakah prior
to the bris in the amount of the gematria of the infant’s name
(or names). Thus, for example, if the boy’s name is “Yisrael,” the father
should give 541 coins—whether pennies, dimes, or dollars, etc., depending on
the father’s income and the currency of the country in which he lives. In
addition, one should add 18 coins (gematria “chai”) of any denomination
to this amount. (This need not be actual coins, but an equivalent amount, such
as $5.41, or even a check for an equivalent amount, such as $54.10.)
(Heard
from Rabbi Dovid Zeitlin)
*
However, Rabbi Dovid Shapiro recalled that when his twin boys
were born, Rabbi Yidel Lichter told him in the name of Reb Gedaliah about the
custom of giving the gematria of the names for a “Pidyon Nefesh.” He said nothing about
adding 18 coins. So he sent Reb Gedaliah the exact amount for a pidyon. Reb
Meir Savitzky was with Reb Gedaliah when the check arrived, and he heard Reb
Gedaliah say that it was the exactly right amount.
*
When
the father names his child, it is good for him to have in mind that in addition
to any departed relative, he is naming the child after all of the tzaddikim
who had the same name.
(Heard
from Rabbi Elazar Kenig)
*
Reb Gedaliah felt that there was no impropriety
in naming a child after a non-religious relative in order to perpetuate the
name in the family. Indeed, if one were to object to this, many holy names
would have been lost. Names uniquely associated with the wicked, such as
“Avsholom (Absalom)” are not used, but names that are also associated with tzaddikim are not open to any objection
whatever.
(Heard from Rabbi Dovid Shapiro)
*
The
Rebbe stated that one should be careful to choose a mohel who is a tzaddik
and yirei Shomayim.
(Sefer
ha-Midos, “Banim” I, 10)
*
It
is uncertain if one should wear Tefillin when attending a bris. Reb
Elazar remembers that his father did so at the bris of his youngest
brother. However, when Reb Elazar asked his father about this a few years
later, Reb Gedaliah did not give him a clear answer. (There are conflicting
views about this inyan among the kabbalists.)
*
Rabbi
Levi Yitzchak Bender remembered that in Uman the Chassidim used to dance after
the conclusion of the bris, before the olam sat down to the se’udas
mitzvah.
(Si’ach
Sarfey Kodesh IV, 157)
Naming
a Daughter
According
to a tradition that Reb Levi Yitzchok Bender heard from Rabbi Eizik Eisenstein,
the Rebbe once asked rhetorically, “Why do we wait eight days to name a son,
and to name a daughter, we do not?” This suggests that one should wait eight
days. Nevertheless, the custom of Breslover Chassidim is to announce the name
of a daughter on the first Shabbos after her birth.
(Si’ach
Sarfey Kodesh IV, 533)
*
Reb
Gedaliah Kenig heard from his teacher Reb Avraham Sternhartz that we name a
daughter only on Shabbos, not during a weekday Torah reading; and if the baby
was born on Erev Shabbos, she could be named the next day. In one of his
letters, Reb Noson mentions that his daughter Chanah Tzirel had given birth on
Erev Shabbos, and the baby was named the next day.
(Heard from Rabbi
Yitzchak Kenig. Reb Noson’s letter may be found in Alim le-Terufah
[Toras Ha-Netzach ed. 2000] 148 [dated: Motza’ei Shabbos Shoftim 5594 /
1834]. The Manistritcher Chassidim in Uman also had the custom of naming a
daughter only on Shabbos; see Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Rabinowitz, Ehrkei
Yehoshua 283.)
*
Rabbi
Shmuel Moshe Kramer of Yerushalayim also has stated that one should name a
daughter only on Shabbos.
(Heard from Rabbi Nachman Bergstein)
*
An
exception to this rule is when Rosh Hashanah (or Yom Tov in chutz la-aretz)
falls on Erev Shabbos. In this case, one should name the baby on the first day
of Yom Tov and not wait for Shabbos.
(Heard from Rabbi Elazar Kenig)
*
Rabbi
Nachman Bergstein’s wife once gave birth to a daughter when her husband was
already in Uman prior to Rosh Hashanah. That year, the first day of Rosh
Hashanah fell on Thursday. Reb Nachman asked Rabbi Ephraim Anshin, one of the gabba’im
in Me’ah She’arim and in Uman, what to do. Rabbi Anshin referred him to Reb
Elazar Kenig, who told him to name the baby on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.
Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Kramer also agreed with this.
(Heard from Rabbi Nachman Bergstein)
*
Reb
Elazar has told his talmidim to give tzedakah before naming a
daughter in the amount of the gematria of her name (or names). Thus, for
example, if the baby’s name is “Miriam,” the father should give 290
coins—whether pennies, dimes, or dollars, etc., depending on one’s income and
the currency of the country in which one lives. One should also add 23 coins (gematria
“Chayah”) of any denomination to this amount. (As stated previously, this
amount need not be in the form of actual coins, but an equivalent amount.)
(Heard from Rabbi Shmuel
Rosenberg)
Upsheren/First Haircut
It
is a common custom, particularly among Chassidim, not to cut a boy’s hair until
his third birthday. This reflects the concept of “Adam eitz ha-sadeh/A
man is like a tree of the field” (Devorim 20:19). Just as a tree is
considered orlah for the first three years and its fruit may not be
harvested, so a boy’s hair should not be cut until his third birthday. In
Yiddish, the first haircut is called an “upsheren” or “upsherenish”;
in Hebrew, it is called a “chalakah.”
Each guest snips off a small lock of hair, being careful not to cut the peyos.
The family and friends then share a se’udas mitzvah.
(This custom is mentioned
by Rabbi Chaim Vital, Sha’ar ha-Kavannos, Inyan Sefiras ha-Omer, Drush
12; Pri Eitz Chaim, Sefiras ha-Omer, 7; et al. Also cf. Midrash
Tanchuma, Kedoshim, 14.)
*
In
Eretz Yisrael, many celebrate the upsheren on Lag ba-Omer near the
gravesite of the holy Tanna, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron. However, Reb
Gedaliah instructed his talmidim to give the child his first haircut
only on the day of Lag ba-Omer, even if they could not come to Meron. He said
that if a child already could speak well, his hair could be cut on Lag ba-Omer
even a little earlier than his third birthday—but if not, the parents should
wait until the next Lag ba-Omer. This seems to reflect the kabbalistic
principle that there is a spiritual connection between hair and the power of
speech.
*
Reb
Gedaliah cautioned that one should not cut the child’s hair so closely that he
appears to be bald.
(Heard from Rabbi Binyamin Rosenberg
in the name of Rabbi Chaim Man)
*
Reb
Gedaliah encouraged his talmidim to weigh the shorn hair and give the equivalent
value in gold to tzedakah. (This is an old minhag, which is not
unique to Breslov.)
(Heard
from Rabbi Dovid Shapiro)
Bar Mitzvah
The Rebbe encouraged his
followers to have their sons begin wearing both the Tefillin of Rashi and Rabbenu
Tam on their thirteenth birthday. However, due to the great poverty in the
Ukraine and later in Eretz Yisrael, many Breslover families could not afford to
buy their bochurim a second pair of Tefillin. Borukh Hashem,
things have greatly improved, and today virtually all Breslovers do so.
(Si’ach
Sarfey Kodesh II, 29.
Rabbi Pinchos of Koretz stated that wearing the Tefillin of Rabbenu Tam is a segulah for cheshek to study pnimiyus
ha-Torah; see Imrei Pinchos [Bnei Brak 2003] vol. I, Sha’ar Seder
ha-Yom 38.)
*
The Rebbe
wanted the Bar Mitzvah bochur to put on Tefillin for the first time on the morning of
his thirteenth birthday, and not earlier. (If the birthday falls on Shabbos, he
should don Tefillin on Sunday, not on Erev Shabbos.)
(Si’ach Sarfey Kodesh II, 30)
*
Upon
reaching the age of Bar Mitzvah, it is customary for a Chassidisher bochur to
start wearing a hat, jacket, and gartel when davenning. This is
the minhag in Breslov, too.
*
Rabbi
Levi Yitzchak Bender stated that in Uman, it was customary for the Bar Mitzvah
bochur to deliver a Torah lesson from Likutey Moharan at the se’udas
bar mitzvah, together with explanations from a related portion of Likutey
Halakhos.
(Si’ach
Sarfey Kodesh IV, 173)
*
However, this minhag seems to
have fallen into disuse today. In most Breslover communities in Eretz Yisrael,
the bar mitzvah bochur says a d’var Torah on a subject in nigleh,
and if his teacher is a Breslover, the teacher may quote the Rebbe or Reb Noson
in the course of his speech. (This may be because until recent years, most
Breslover bochurim learned in non-Breslov yeshivos.)
(Heard from Rabbi Yitzchak Kenig)
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