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Pesach Customs of the Barsky Family
Rabbi Shimshon Barsky of Bnei Brak, depicted in the photo above, is a son of Rabbi Noson Barsky and grandson of Rabbi Shimshon Barsky of Uman. He remembered a number of Pesach customs and hanhagos of...
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Pesach
The Rebbe stated that on Pesach one should cry out in davenning.(Likkutei Moharan I, 201)*Like his saintly great-grandfather, the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe did not eat gebrokhts. However, in the Breslov...
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Reb Gedaliah’s Seder Customs
From “Breslov Eikh she-Hu: Breslov Customs and Practices, Past and Present,” compiled by Dovid Zeitlin and Dovid SearsBefore going to shul on Seder night, Reb Gedaliah selected the three matzos for the...
View ArticleTisha BeAv
Tisha be-Av is one of the five times during the year that Breslover Chassidim daven together ki-vasikin. The Kinnos are recited with kavannah until the late morning. The recitation of Kinnos is taken...
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Chanukah and Overcoming Avarice
Excerpt from "Chanukah with Rebbe Nachman of Breslov":Even someone who is supported by charity must beg or sell his clothing in order to buy Chanukah candles.AvariceThe history of mankind may be the...
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The Wheel of Transformation
Sichos HaRan # 40, slightly abridgedTranslation, commentary, and wild speculations by Dovid SearsIntroductionAfter the sin of the Golden Calf, God commands Moses, “Make a sanctuary for Me, and I will...
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Bringing Down the Light
Excerpt from "Bringing Down the Light":Rabbi Ephraim ben NaftoliTefilot HaBoker: Prayers of the Dawn, Tefilah 4No matter to what depths we have fallen, the tzaddikim can rescue us by "shining" down the...
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The Mysterious Guest
Painting by Francisco de GoyaThe Mysterious GuestChayey Moharan, Sippurim Chadashim (“New Stories”) 85Translation and Commentary by Dovid SearsOn the first day of Chanukah 5569/1808, in the evening...
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Prayer Before Lighting the Menorah
From "Entering the Light" Master of the Universe! Help us in Your great mercy to fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles in its proper time, in a perfect manner, in a spirit of holiness...
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Chanukah Customs
Compiled and annotated by Dovid Sears and Dovid ZeitlinThis list of customs especially reflects those of Reb Gedaliah Kenig and the Tzefat Breslov community, although it includes a number of general...
View ArticlePurim
The Rebbe taught: “Rejoicing and dancing on Purim makes us worthy of receiving the Torah anew, in both its revealed and hidden aspects.” He also discusses how clapping the hands and dancing mitigates...
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Breslov Teachings On Purim
From the anthology Oztar HaYirah (Likutei Eitzos HaMeshulosh), Purim.These selections are, in turn, from Reb Noson’s Likkutei Halakhos.Translated by Dovid SearsThe Sitra D’Mosa [“Side of Death,”...
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Purim Mysteries
Rabbi Dovid SearsBased on a discussion from asimplejew.blogspot.comQ. While I was reviewing books on the subject of Purim, I ran across this teaching from Likutey Moharan II, 74: “Purim is a...
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Rabbi Herschel Wasilski’s Pesach Customs
Photo by Rabbi Yakov HorowitzRabbi Herschel Wasilski’s Pesach CutomsFrom “Breslov Eikh she-Hu: Breslov Customs and Practices, Past and Present,” a work-in-progress compiled by Dovid Sears and Dovid...
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Reb Michel Dorfman’s Pesach Customs
Heard from Reb Gershon GinsburgOnce during the 1970s, Reb Gershon Ginsburg and his wife were visiting Yerushalayim, and asked their mentor, the prominent Breslov leader Rabbi Michel Dorfman, if they...
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Customs for Chodesh Nisan (Prior to Pesach)
Customs for Chodesh Nisan (Prior to Pesach)From “Breslov Eikh Shehu: Breslov the Way It Is”Customs and Practices, Past and PresentWork-in-progress by Dovid Zeitlin and Dovid SearsNisanThe Rebbe taught...
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Acharon shel Pesach / Last Day of Pesach
From “Breslov Eikh she-Hu: Breslov Customs and Practices, Past and Present” Like other Chassidim, Breslover Chassidim traditionally do not eat gebrokhts (matzah cooked or soaked in liquids containing...
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The Baal Shem Tov’s Nesia to Eretz Yisrael
Breslover Chassidim are accustomed to retell this story during the “Baal Shem Tov Se’udah,” which is the last meal of Acharon shel Pesach (AKA “ne’ilas ha-chag”). This was a common custom among many...
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Other Versions of the Baal Shem Tov’s Nesia
About ten years ago, Rabbi Yehoshua Yosef Kornblit of Yerushalayim published a “Baal Shem Tov Haggadah” with excerpts of various teachings relating to the text. I have often used this Haggadah, along...
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BRI: Participate in the Completion of Rebbe Nachman's Stories in Hebrew!
From Breslov. org:During these days, we grieve for the Beit HaMikdash that was destroyed, for the tzaddikim who have left this world, and for the fact that we lack clear knowledge how to serve Hashem...
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Rabbi Gedaliah Aharon Kenig's Yahrtzeit
The 23rd of Tammuz is the yahrtzeit of Rav Gedaliah Aharon Kenig (sometimes spelled "Koenig"). Reb Gedaliah was the foremost disciple of Rabbi Avraham Sternhartz and founder of the Breslov community in...
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Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bender
The yahrtzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bender, zal, the central figure in the Breslov Kehillah of Me'ah She'arim after WWII, will be on 22 Tammuz.For a brief biography of Reb Levi Yitzchok, see here.A...
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Three Weeks
From “Breslov Eikh she-Hu: Customs and Good Practices” compiled by Dovid Zeitlin and Dovid SearsMany Breslover Chassidim study Likutey Moharan II, 67, during the Three Weeks and recite the...
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A Prayer for Moshiach
By Rabbi Noson SternhartzLikutey Tefillos I, 142Translated by Dovid Sears, “Entering the Light” (Breslov Research Institute)Our God and God of our fathers: have mercy upon us, and confer merit upon us,...
View ArticleBreslov Center Archive
After more than twenty-five years, the Breslov Center of NY is no longer active, having been superseded by several other Breslov outreach and educational programs. However, we are leaving this website...
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