“Please fill me with holy boldness and determination, and let me use sacred sounds and voices to strengthen my connection to you…” Reb Noson.
We find a supreme example of azut d’kedushah in the life of Reb Noson, the prime disciple of Rabbi Nachman. His struggles with brazen antagonistic people over many years is beautifully described in his biography, Through Fire and Water: The Life of Reb Noson of Breslov (written by Chaim Kramer, edited by Avraham Greenbaum, and published by Breslov Research Institute). It’s a fantastic book that sheds light on the mind of Reb Noson.
His mission: saving Yiddishkeit, saving us from secularism, materialism, pseudoscience, sadness, and depression!
Reb Noson endured so much persecution, issues with shalom bayit, and illnesses. Yet, he never veered from his path because he had an incredible sense of mission, which he single-mindedly pursued until his dying day. His mission: saving Yiddishkeit, saving us from secularism, materialism, pseudoscience, sadness, and depression, all of which are interrelated. He sought to protect us from the great atheism that he and Rabbenu saw coming.
Through Fire and Water – It’s a fantastic book that sheds light on the mind of Reb Noson!
To quote from Reb Noson’s sefer directly (Likutey Tefilot, Prayer 22), “Please fill me with holy boldness and determination, and let me use sacred sounds and voices to strengthen my connection to you. Let me be bold as a leopard in serving you to learn your Torah and deepen my fear of heaven. Enable my soul to have pity on my body and draw close and illuminate my body with the light of her constant spiritual insights and perceptions.”