"Bikha Rabbeinu Nagilah”

Sichos ha-Ran 177

Otzar Nachmani 143

Posted in honor of the holy Rebbe, Reb Nachman of Breslov zatzal’s birthday

Rosh Chodesh Nisan

Translated by Dovid Sears

Reb Noson writes in Sichos ha-Ran 177:

[The Rebbe] encouraged a certain person to be happy, and told him that it is fitting to rejoice in the Blessed One. “And even though you do not know of G-d’s greatness [i.e., through direct experience], you may rely upon me—because I know something of G-d’s greatness.” Then he quoted the verse, “For I know that G-d is great…” (Psalms 135:5; also cf. Sichos ha-Ran 1). [The Rebbe added,] “it is also proper that you should rejoice in me, in that you are worthy to have such a teacher.” [Cf. Likutey Moharan I, 30, re. how a teacher must be able to transmute lofty mystical perceptions to lower forms so that his students may grasp something of them.] He encouraged this individual to be happy even in his ordinary activities, and told him, “Surely this is correct. At first, it is necessary to gladden oneself in mundane things as much as possible, and afterward one can come to true simchah (joy).”

Rabbi Nachman Burstein reminisced:

When we used to learn Sichos ha-Ran on Thursday nights at the home of Reb Levi Yitzchok Bender, we came to Sichah 177, which states that the Rebbe once told his followers that they should be happy to have such a teacher. I asked [Reb Levi Yitzchok] if perhaps the song “Bikha Rabbeinu Nagilah (In you, our teacher, we rejoice]” flows forth from this teaching. He replied that he had the same thought, and that presumably in Reb Noson’s day they sang it. [Reb Levi Yitzchok] added that here in Eretz Yisrael, we dance only a little while to this niggun; however, in Uman they would sometimes dance to it for several hours without interruption, with simchah and exaltation (“hisorerus ha-mochin”). It is immeasurable how deeply they felt the preciousness of their bond to the Rebbe, who engages in the tikkun of the souls of his followers and all those connected to him. This should give us reason to rejoice in the Rebbe with endless joy.