Nachman of Breslov

Hearing of my plans to return and teach in the Ukraine again, this is the story of how over a decade ago, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi asked if I would travel to the grave of Reb Nachman of Breslov. Now, visiting dead rebbes was not the sort of work I had in mind at that phase of my life.

Upon arriving at the baggage claim in Philadelphia's airport, the man beside me noticed I was holding a Jewish paper open to an article about the arrest of a woman wearing a tallis (prayer shawl) at the Kotel, (the “Wall”) in Jerusalem. The title of this article is the comment he made to me: “A woman in a tallis at the Kotel is like blowing out the Hanukkah candles.” Hoisting my suitcase off onto the baggage cart, I quoted the Iggeret HaKodesh (a Hassidic text) to him: "Whenever ahavat yisrael (love of all Jews) is in the hearts of the Jewish people, the heart of God, the Shechinah is, also healthy." [Epsitle 31] His family was waving and coming towards us, so he simply bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, and we parted ways blessing each other to have a happy Hanukkah.