Rabbi Nachman's Stories Hardcover – April 1, 1985

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslva [The Bratslaver] was what we call an existentialist writer. See Nachman of Breslov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ahnd also Arthur Green's TORMENTED MASTER.Among his enduring comments:"All the world is a narrow bridge, but the essence is not to be afraid." [Famous Hebrew song]"It is forbidden to grow old."Students: "But Rabbi, everyone grows old."Rabbi: "It is forbidden to stop making plans."I have shared this with various friends who were retiring.

these stories are not something i can just sit down and read through. They are stories that take me sometime to digest the deeper meanings behind the stories. They are very good life lessons in each story. This is another great addition to my library. You are given much more than just a story, you are given the story behind the story, great for those who want to know more of how to please God and get along much better with our fellow man.

Rich commentary filled volume. Translator ‘s works all great

The title of this bookis is very modest.Compare with deep Torah-Kabbalah insights in it. The writings are definitely classified of the title Midrash or Haggadah. Beacause thats what it is. Torah secrets disguised as stories.

Wonderful book. This is the 16th copy I purchase ad give them away as lasting presents over the years to friends. Very inspiring!

IT DID NOT LIVE UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SHORT STORIES NOT SO MUCH EXPLANATION

The Hasidim (Chasidim) are, literally, "the Pious Ones" (or perhaps "the Faithful"). It is a very old term in Hebrew. In current Jewish usage the word refers mainly to a popular mystically-inspired movement which emerged in Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century, and which persists today, chiefly as communities around charismatic leaders, the heirs, or their appointed successors, of their original founders. (There are other Hasidic movements in Jewish history, the most notable being one in Second Temple times, and another, also with mystical leanings, but elitist, in medieval France, the Rhineland, and the German states.)The community founded by Nachman (Nahman) of Breslov, however, never recognized a successor to the original Rebbe (Rabbi), and continues to regard the writings and traditions of their founder as their truest guide. This has produced a body of commentary around Nachman's writings, and the recollections of his immediate disciples, and a major effort to translate portions into English. The late Aryeh Kaplan played a major part in this effort, which can be called "Pietist" in a more general sense of reverent deference to the past.Aryeh Kaplan's translation of, and commentary on, stories told by the Nachman of Breslov (late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries) is an example of Breslover Hasidic piety in two ways. One, in faithful adherence to the text, as it is understood by the Breslover Hasidim. Second, it is faithful in the pious endeavor to explain the text in an edifying, and doctrinally consistent, way. It includes a set of now-classic major "Tales," and some other stories told by Rebbe Nachman. for the thirteen "canonical" tales it gives full attention, in a line-by-line commentary, to both the Hebrew and Yiddish versions (see below), and offers identifications of allusions to Biblical, Rabbinic, and Kabbalistic texts, not all of them equally plausible or helpful.Aryeh Kaplan had earlier (1973) translated "Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom: Shevachay HaRan [&] Sichos HaRan," two pious memoirs by Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, Rabbi Nachman's leading disciple, as part of a project of making the Bratislaver literature available in English.In both senses, this is an improvement on Martin Buber's famous "Tales of Rabbi Nachman," which launched the tales into the larger world. These are often thought to be translations (first into German, and for English readers from German to English) of the series of allegorical or symbolic stories which "Rebbe Nachman" told his closest disciples, who took them down in both Hebrew and Yiddish versions. In fact, Buber retold the frequently enigmatic stories in this series in the interests of psychological insight and to make clear moral points, which is something the original teller didn't seem to have in mind. Rabbi Nachman's public discourses show that he was both interested in, and capable of, expressing such things, but apparently not in the "Tales," despite telling his listeners that the stories were filled with meaning. (Buber's rendering of the town's name as Bratzlav, however is not an error or innovation; Bratzlav, Bratslav, Breslov, Breslau, Breslow, and several other spellings can refer to the same place under different political and linguistic regimes, and competing spelling systems -- just as Wilno is also Vilna and Vilnius.)On the other hand, the Aryeh Kaplan translation is not always the most charming reading imaginable, although apparently faithful, and the received interpretations may strike the reader as rather forced (a common reaction outside the movement). The stories themselves are splendid fairytales, even if it is not always clear what, if anything, a particular passage was intended to represent -- beyond Rebbe Nachman's impressive storytelling ability when he let himself go.Jewish Lights Publishing has apparently re-issued this collection in two volumes, as "The Lost Princess & Other Kabbalistic Tales of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov" (December, 2004) and "The Seven Beggars & Other Kabbalistic Tales of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov" (April, 2005); I haven't seen either volume, and can't comment on whether any changes were made in the text or presentation. (The publisher lists them as 400 and 192 pages respectively, which suggests a complete reprinting, with some repeated material, rather than an abridged edition.)For those of a more secular turn of mind, or with less patience with exhaustive explications, "Nahman of Bratslav: The Tales," translated with commentaries by Arnold J. Band, is an alternative version, very literate, and both fully informed and very informative, without being smothered in details. It is restricted to the thirteen "major" tales. Band takes the stories very seriously as literature, and as possible expressions of Rebbe Nachman's personality, and is less impressed by their traditional interpretations, although he does show that recurring themes and images do reflect mystical teachings and concerns. (The book was published by the Paulist Press in the Classics of Western Spirituality series, in 1978, about five years before Kaplan's, and presumably is not well regarded by the Breslovers....)The "Tales" are, in any case, superb examples of storytelling, which seem to hint of some profound meaning at almost every turn -- even if that meaning remains elusive. Readers intrigued by either rendering, or that of Buber (which has its good points as literature, if not as a reliable source), might then turn to other publications of the Breslov movement for highly traditional raw materials, and, for modern views, to Arthur Green's biography, "Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav," and Ora Wiskind-Elper's rewarding, but sometimes difficult, "Tradition and Fantasy in the Tales of Reb Nahman of Bratslav."

This translation and copious commentary was officially commissioned by the Breslov Research Institute, and is considered definitive by most English-speaking Breslover Hasidim. (We should clarify here that "Breslov" is what the group calls itself, named after the town of Breslov in Ukraine. "Bratzlav" is a mistranslation by Martin Buber, who apparently confused the Ukrainian town with one in Germany. Both names refer to the same Rabbi Nachman, great-grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov.)In preparing this volume, Aryeh Kaplan (translator/compiler) drew upon authentic Breslov source materials, many of which existed only in manuscript form or oral tradition. Other sources were rare volumes that had never before appeared in English. (A detailed bibliography is included, with brief bios on the authors and info on the various editions cited.) Of special interest are the little histories of each tale, i.e., the exact circumstances which prompted Rabbi Nachman to tell it.In addition to the better-known tales such as "The Lost Princess" and "The Seven Beggars," this book includes many shorter tales and parables that, to my knowledge, have not appeared in any other English collection. My only complaint is that the asterisks and brackets within the text (referring to notes below) detract from readability, and the English is rather clumsy at times. For oral storytelling, I prefer Adin Steinsaltz's "Beggars and Prayers." But for good scholarship, Kaplan's book is unsurpassed.

excellent