[From 96]

People do not consider the ability to forget an advantage. But without it, it would be impossible to live in this world. Imagine that you would constantly recall all that we know about the future world.

There is an angel with a thousand heads.
Each head has a thousand tongues.
Each tongue has a thousand voices.
Each voice has a thousand melodies.
Imagine the indescribable beauty of this angel’s song.

If you could imagine such things without forgetting, you would constantly be comparing your own limited abilities to the immensity of such a being. It would be utterly impossible for you to endure life. You would be so disgusted with your worldly life, that you would die before your time.

191

The Rebbe once came inside and said, “What do you do when a great mountain of fire stands before you? A very great treasure lies on the other side. The treasure cannot be reached without passing through this fiery mountain. And you have no choice but to reach this precious treasure….”

After several days, the Rebbe spoke about this again. He said, “It has already been revealed to me what must be done in such a case.”

Rabbi Nakhman of Bratslev (1772-1810) remains the spiritual leader of the “Dead” Hasidim–a group of Jews who still consider his parables and stories his living words of wisdom. And what fantastic stories they are! He even had a theory concerning the correct telling of these stories, and how, once they were in place in the believer’s hearts and minds, they would help “mend the Vessels of Light” that had been broken when men and women fell from grace into sin. Whether you believe this or not, Nachman was a master of prose poetry, with an imaginative grasp of our impossible condition comparable to Chuang-Tzu and Yun-men. Nachman died of tuberculosis when he was 38. These translations are by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplin.

Well, in another hour, to bed.