His life
Rabbi Nachman was born in Medzhybizh, Ukraine, a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. As a boy he would slip away to the fields and forests to talk to God alone, in his own words. He fell, got up, and started over, again and again. Later he would teach others to do the same.
In 1798 he made a hard and dangerous journey to the Land of Israel and came home changed. He had few followers in his lifetime, but they were devoted, above all his student Reb Noson, who wrote down his lessons, his talks and his stories.
He passed away in Uman in 1810. Every Rosh Hashanah, tens of thousands of men travel there to pray at his resting place.
What he kept coming back to
“It is a great mitzvah to always be happy.” Not a mood you wait for, but something you fight for.
Hisbodedus: time alone every day to speak to God in your own words, like talking to a close friend.
“There is no despair in the world at all.” However far you feel, you can begin again.
“The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is not to be afraid at all.”
Why these films
Rabbi Nachman often taught through stories, because a story can carry a truth past our defences. These short films try to do the same.
Each one takes a single teaching of Rabbi Nachman and lets one young chassid live through it. He chases an empty fist through a crowded square. He dances, a little foolishly, until he can pray again. About a minute each, in English.
If one of them speaks to you, pass it on. That's how a teaching travels.