אות - קיז

These add to the earlier ones. Blossoms of wisdom gleaned from the conversations of Rebbe Nachman, previously existing only in manuscript form. The Rebbe spent most of his youth in the village of Ossatin 190 Confused by many later writers with the city of Gusyatin (or Husyatin) in the western Ukraine. Ossatin was a small village near Medvedevka and Smela, as we see here and in “ His Praises ” #20. near Medvedevka, where his father-in-law lived. 191 Rebbe Nachman lived with his father-in-law, R' Ephraim, from the time he was married shortly after his thirteenth birthday, until he was around eighteen ( Tzaddik #2 ). This was near a large river 192 The Tiasman (or Tyasman) River, a tributary of the Dnieper. with many reeds and rushes growing on its banks.

The Rebbe’s holy way involved his taking at times a small boat which he rowed by himself along the river. He could not control the boat very well, but would still take it beyond the rushes where he could not be seen. It was here that he served God, secluding himself in meditation and prayer. The Rebbe himself writes that it was here that he attained what he did.

As he could not control his boat very well, when he came to the middle of the river, far from the shore, the boat would rock violently in the heavy current and seem ready to sink. The Rebbe had no idea how to remedy the situation and would lift his hands and cry out to God with true devotion.

The same thing happened later when he was in Tiberias. Attempting to escape the plague, he found himself on a narrow wall, hanging by his fingertips above the Sea of Galilee (see “ His Pilgrimage to the Holy Land ” #19) . When he felt that he would surely fall, he cried out in his heart to God.

The Rebbe constantly repeated these stories. They were a lesson that he wanted to impress on our hearts and minds. Imagine that you are in the middle of the sea, with a storm raging to the very heart of the heavens. You are hanging on by a hairsbreadth, not knowing what to do. You do not even have time to cry out. You can only lift your eyes and heart to God.

You should always lift your heart to God like this. Seclude yourself and cry out to God. The danger is more than imaginary. As you know deep down in your soul, every man is in great danger in this world.

Understand these words well.