People make teshuva in a moment.

Army commanders, and everyone. Everyone wants to go to synagogue, just they are embarassed by each other. They are simply ashamed!

And now, it’s possible to bring everyone back in teshuva.

Everyone should take it upon themselves to bring fifty [people]. There are 70 men here – 50 [each]. Each person should speak, they should travel on the buses, and then it’s possible to bring people back in teshuva.

R’ Ber Hager[1] – this was on a bus.

We travelled on a bus. We should go back to that now. This was in the month of Cheshvan, perhaps it was the [week of the] Parshat Lech-Lecha.

I used to like to sit behind the driver. Today, they don’t let you do this anymore. Today, they already don’t allow you to travel on buses[2]. This is a scandal.

We need to do something here, some sort of revolution.

So, we travelled on the bus, and we got off at the Kotel [after coming back from Meron]. For L’ag B’omer.

This was Parshat Lech Lecha. And he [R Ber Hager] was sitting after the driver, and I sat down next to him, and we started to talk.

I started to tell him such chiddushim! He said, I never heard such chiddushim like these!

He said, Come to my home, come and eat breakfast. Where do you eat, where do you live?

He said, I live in Bnei Brak.

So, come to me, to my home! It was Friday, we sat together until noon, and from then, he didn’t leave me, already.

For 20 years, we sat together by him.

I ate by him. His wife would prepare food, and also his daughters. The mother of Yehuda Schwartz used to prepare food for me.

I used to eat three meals by him, sleep by him. The Rabbanit wasn’t by him, but Nachman [Berland, the Rav’s son] was by him. Nachman Berland.

And perhaps Tzvia [the Rav’s daughter] was also by him. For 20 years, we used to live by him. Until we moved to Jerusalem, in 5742.

This was a journey on an autobus.

The Rebbe said:

Ich vill ir zalt zine oyus gamisht mit der velt.[3]

Rabbi Natan got dressed in his coat – this was on Rosh Hashana.

He said, we need to pray with everyone.

So the next year, there was already no space. But Rabbi Natan put his coat on, and left the minyan. It was a reduced minyan – [just] 100 men. He said no! Gamisht mit der velt!

It’s possible to bring the whole world back [to God] in a second!

Rabbenu is the whole of the Gemara – this is Rabbenu.

It’s how to pray. Before, we sing, we sing something, some niggun. After this, we pray.

And everything, it’s written in the Megillat Amukot, in the Ba’al HaTurim. All of Likutey Moharan, it’s written in all of the commentaries, of the Ba’al HaTurim, of the Megillat Amukot.

There is no saying of the Rebbe that wasn’t mentioned already hundreds of years beforehand.

The Rebbe said:

I am saying something that is totally ‘old’, but [putting it] in a new vessel.[4]

People don’t pay attention – they don’t know this Ba’al HaTurim. If I wasn’t Breslov, I also wouldn’t have recognised it. Now, I learn, so I understand what this ‘song’ is, that we need to play niggunim before the prayers, and to also sing niggunim after the prayers.

And we used to sing!

In Uman, they used to sing for 45 [minutes]. And after the ma’ariv prayers of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak, we used to wait for 45 minutes, until the time that he died in 5749 (1989).

He used to grasp my hand, and all the time urge me on, that I shouldn’t stop dancing. And like this, Shuvu Banim is the only place that continues [the practices] of Rabbi Levy Yitzhak – the only place!

[In the early hours that] they used to shout, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak didn’t know what they were yelling about. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak was just [about] learning Gemara – and that’s all. He learned Gemara and Shulchan Aruch.

Whoever still remembers him, this is what he did every day. He was the only person in Uman who learned Gemara. The only one.

There was Rabbi Matis, and Rabbi Levi Yitzhak had 3-4 people next to him.

R’ Shimon Barski used to learn Tanach, he didn’t learn Gemara. R Shimon Barski, he had a group. And Rabbi Levi Yitzhak didn’t know who to go to – or after Yisrael Cohen.

He – Yisrael Cohen – he came, he came along with R Shimon Barski. There, they used to do this [i.e. Teach their shiurim] until chatzot (halachic midnight)

And Rabbi [Avraham ben R’] Nachman used to go to sleep [until chatzot, when he would wake up to do the tikkun chatzot prayers.] So, he didn’t know who to go to.

So then, he had a dream where he saw R Nachman Tultchiner eating. [In the dream, R Nachman Tultchiner said] If you have no idea about my son, do you think you can grasp me?!

So he decided that he was also going to go to sleep, and then to wake up for chatzot [with the habura of R Avraham ben R Nachman].

But people didn’t know about studying the Gemara at all! There was only R’ Matis and Rabbi Levi Yitzhak, this is who there was, of the people who learned [Gemara].

So, we need to know that now, it’s the sin of Amalek.

We will fight with the chilonim. [But the truth is that] we don’t need to fight with them – they will make teshuva, all of them, in a second!

Each person [here] should travel on a bus and sit next to someone, or ask them who are you voting for?… Come, let’s vote for the Torah! Vote for Hashem!

We are fighting on behalf of Agudah, [because] they are the only ones who will fight for Hashem, that there shouldn’t be the light rail on Shabbat. And that there shouldn’t be public transportation on Shabbat.

[Because if there is public transportation on Shabbat] so all the children will start to travel.

A boy hangs around the street, he doesn’t have anything to do. He’ll see the tram, and he’ll get on it. Anyway, they don’t teach him this in cheder, that Shabbat is a day of ‘holiday’. But he’ll get on the tram on Shabbat, if there will be public transportation on Shabbat. He’ll get on without a ticket, without anything.

Kids cheat the system. They get on buses on Shabbat. There is transportation, I don’t know, maybe it’s private. So, they get on the buses. There are a lot of children walking around the streets, and they don’t have what to do.

So, we need to know that we will fight on behalf of Agudah, and there is no question about this.

And not Yud Alef, and no other party!

And it doesn’t interest us if they are for Shuvu Banim, or against Shuvu Banim. This is not our concern!

First, we need to worry about Am Yisrael, that the city will be a chareidi city. Jerusalem, the majority are chareidi. In Jerusalem, most are chareidi.

There could easily be a chareidi mayor. And everything will be – in a second, the whole situation in Eretz Yisrael will be changed.

There is a story about the Imrei Emet – from the tales about all the Admorim.

The Imrei Emet wanted to bring 500 people here. Because whoever got to the aretz, he automatically became chiloni. So, [the rabbis in Europe] forbid people to come to the aretz.

When my mother came to the aretz, they argued with her father, why is your daughter going to the aretz?!

But in the merit of this, she stayed alive. I don’t know how…

She said here, I am not going to have any shidduchim. I want to get married, so I am going to go to the aretz.

I asked her, what was going on, that you immigrated to the aretz?

They were Satmar, everything was Satmar. In Sighet, everything was Satmar.

She said, my father didn’t have money for a dowry. We were ten girls, two boys, Chaim and Yehezkel. And I saw that here, I was never going to get married. So I said to myself, I am going to join ‘Bnei Akiva’, and I will go up to the aretz.

She was the only one who kept Shabbat in the whole of Haifa.

All of the kids here had already become chilonim. We were the only family who still remained religious. She fought for every single bit of religion.

They said to me if they see you in the street with a kippa, they are going to break your bones! Tov.

Up until today, they are still waiting to break my bones. But already, none of them are still alive.

So, [I asked mother]:

What was going on, that you made aliya?!

She made aliyah in 5696 (1935), and got married 5697 (1937). In 5698, I was already [born] – four years before the Shoah.

If she had stayed another year, they already wouldn’t have let her leave.

She’d already managed to arrange a visa – a certificate – for her father. But they told him now in a little while, the war is going to start. You can’t leave now.

Hitler announced all day long that he was going to kill the Jews. He proclaimed this all day long.

People used to poke fun at it.

So, when my mother [made aliya], we were the only dati family in the whole of Haifa. That’s to say, that were still a few parents who kept Shabbat, but when it come to dati children – we were the only ones.

All the children dropped everything. Whoever got to the aretz then threw everything away in a second. Because everyone has a yetzer hara.

He saw that everyone threw it away, so he also threw it away.

The Imrei Emet said I want to bring 500 families here.

I have the book from the Imrei Emet [which says] I will bring 500 families here.

He was here five times. The last time he already wasn’t keeping the second day of Yom Tov – Pesach. This was taf resh tzadi tet, because in tzadi het, the war started. And then he said now, I wim going to bring some families – but he got stuck there [in Europe].

He said I will bring 500 from Lodz.

In Lodz, everyone was a millionaire, wealthy, billionaires. I am going to transform the whole of the aretz! All that’s required is 500 families, with children, each person with ten [children]. And then there will be yeshivot here, there will be chareidim here. There will be everything here!

There were no chederim here [in Eretz Yisrael], there was nothing. There was nothing, here.

He wanted to transform the aretz.

But the war started already. This was 5699 (1939) [Shvi’i] shel Pesach.

In any case, we need to know that in a single second, it’s possible to transform the whole aretz.

Each person needs to, while travelling on a bus, in the super market, wherever he’s going, he will be standing next to someone….

There was one Breslover who was standing in a queue waiting to be seen, to do a teudat zehut, in the Misrad HaPanim (Interior Ministry) here.

He wanted to do a teudat zehut, one Breslover. And 3-4 people were standing behind him, chilonim. They said to him, why do you need to do a teudat zehut? He said, I want a passport.

Why do you need a passport?

I want to go to Uman.

Ah, to Uman?! Wow, you are going to Uman? We also want to go… You know what, we are going to pay for your ticket!

This is a true story.

But, who is your Rav?

My Rav is Eliezer Berland.

Come, show us where he lives. Come!

So, they came here to see the house, and paid for his ticket to Uman. Three chilonim who stood behind him, without him saying anything to them. Stam, they just saw someone with payot.

What do you need a teudat zehut for? What do you have to do with this medina (State)?… And with a teudat zehut?…

I want to go to Uman.

So, the chilonim will wake up in a second.

This is the spark [i.e. The pintele yid] that ignites in a second! Each person has a spark, each person has a ‘Jewish spark’, every person has a share in some mitzvah.

In one second….

There is no end of stories about how chilonim helped so many Breslovers to travel to Uman.

I’m not going, so at least I should partner with you to pay for your ticket.

In one second, it’s possible to bring thousands and thousands of people closer [to God] here.

Each person can bring more than fifty, he just needs to talk in the supermarket, or in the Misrad HaPanim.

He is standing next to someone, he just asks him, who are you? What are you? What do you do? Come and visit the yeshiva, just come! Come and visit some time on Shabbat, you’ll see singing, you’ll see something, you’ll have an experience!

They travelled to the party [the Nova party on October 7th].

And what came out from that whole party? The work of the Satan. It’s true, ‘ve semachta be’hagecha’.[5] I understand, a positive commandment. But dance with the Sifrei Torah!

We danced with the Sifrei Torah until 12.30am [at the Kotel, on the night of Simchat Torah]. We needed to have danced until the morning, and then we would have nullified the decree!

But the soldiers said they wanted to go to sleep. They were scared that we would go back by ourselves [through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem], that they wouldn’t smash all the shops for them on the way.

In the end, they didn’t allow us to go up the stairs. We had to do a detour.

So, at the last second, we got permission [to hold the Shuvu Banim Simchat Torah celebrations at the Kotel.]

Because Shuvu Banim is ‘the most dangerous place’, today. We got the permission to do it at the Kotel.

With a good will, we did it, [hakafot] with 40 Sifrei Torahs. We danced.

They say there are 300 [Sifrei Torah] there [at the Kotel]. I asked, and someone told me 300. The Rav Rabinowitz said that there are 300 Sifrei Torah there. He said, I will only give you 40, so that the Reform don’t come and also ask me for them. The Reform will come, and see [that he gave Shuvu Banim and also ask for them].

They also want Sifrei Torah. Everyone does.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] This is Rebbi Yissachar Dov Ber Hager, the previous Admor of Savran, who was brought closer to Breslov by the Rav.

[2] The Rav could be alluding to the fact that on some bus lines in Israel, already the only way of paying for a ticket is via a smartphone application.

[3] SIACH SARFEI KODESH 1, 680:

One time, I heard from my father, zichrono le’vracha, a story about the building of the synagogue that was in Uman, that he heard from the mouth of Moharanat, zichrono le’vracha.

Because in the first year after Rabbenu’s departure, zichrono le’vracha, there weren’t more than 60 people who came to prostrate themselves on the holy kever on erev Rosh Hashana.

And also this number greatly increased the assurance in Moharanat’s heart, zichrono le’vracha, that the gathering would be ‘fixed’ for future generations, as it the minhag still today.

Because at the beginning, this didn’t enter his mind at all, that such a number would be aroused to travel to Rabbenu, zichrono le’vracha, on Rosh Hashana, after his departure, as happened during the days of his life.

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And on Erev Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Yudel and Rabbi Shmuel, and others of the great talmidim of Rabbenu, agreed in their hearts to pray in that place, that Rabbenu used to pray in, zichrono le’vracha, himself, on his last Rosh Hashana, before his departure, which is called by the name ‘Ha Ambar’, as is brought down in the book ‘Chayei Moharan’, resh caf alef.

But Moharanat, zichrono le’vracha, insisted upon [Rabbenu’s kever in Uman], and stood against them, as he heard from the mouth of Rabbenu, zichrono le’vracha, who said one time to him, and to his friend R Naftali, zichrono le’vracha:

“I want you that you will be involved with the world.”

And in the regular language [yiddish], this was his words:

Ich vill ir zalt zine oyus gamisht mit der velt.

And he wanted this gathering, that the whole community would pray in a beit knesset that would be called ‘Shomrim LeBoker’, that would be built next to him, by one person, who wanted to, and had the determination [to do this], that Anshei Shelomenu would pray there.

And also all the people of the regular community in this beit knesset would agree to this.

[Because the machloket that was during the lifetime of Rabbenu, zichrono le’vracha, quietened down and was settled after Rabbenu’s passing, zichrono le’vracha, from the hearts of the masses, and all of the people of the city.

And this quiet continued until the beginning of the year big kaf tzaddi heh, when the person arose who arose, as was told …

And until this year, the people of the city were used to ask anshei shelomenu to be their guests, to dine with them, for the Rosh Hashana meal.]

[4] Chayei Moharan, 289.

[5] Devarim 16:14.