Translation:Tales of Rabbi Nachman
Title Page
[edit]Book of
STORIES
(Sipurei Ma`asiyoth)
Which we have been privileged to hear from the mouth of Rabbeinu Hakadosh, the Hidden and Concealed Light, Nachal Nove`a Mekor Chokhmah/ The Gushing Stream, The Source of Wisdom[1], HaRav Rebbe NACHMAN ztzuk"l of Breslev, great grandson of the Ba`al Shem Tov Hakadosh and composer of the books Likutei Moharan and several other compendia.
Go out and see the might of your Master[2] Who has illuminated heavenly Torah for us to enliven us as [sure as] it is this day[3], for the everlasting world[4]; and our God has not forsaken us in our servitude but has extended kindness to us[5] in each and every generation and has sent us deliverers and rabbis and tzadikei yesodei `olam/righteous ones, foundation of the world[6] to teach us the way. His first [mercies] have come to pass[7] and yet His mercies have not ceased[8] at any period or any time. And He has performed kindness for us, drawing water from the wellsprings of salvation[9], ancient things, words which are the secret of the world[10], under wonderful and awesome clothings. See and understand and look at His wonderful and awesome way, which is an inheritance to us from our holy forefathers who were during ancient times in Yisrael.
For such is the way of the upper holy ones[11], harvesters of the field[12], who raised their hands and hearts to God, to clothe and conceal the King's treasure houses in story tales according to the generation and according to the times, knowing the understanding of times, to know what Yisrael should do, until [Mashiach] arises and delivers Tziyon and returns to build the ruins of Ariel. “Now Ya`akov and Yisrael are told what God has done.”[13]
In the year 575 l"pk [Jewish year 5575]
Contents
[edit]- Introductions
- Tale 1: The Lost Princess
- Tale 2: The Emperor and the King
- Tale 3: The Son Who Could Not Walk
- Tale 4: The King Who Decreed Conversion
- Tale 5: The King's Son Who Was Made of Precious Stones
- Tale 6: The Humble King
- Tale 7: The Fly and the Spider
- Tale 8: The Rabbi and His Only Son
- Tale 9: The Clever Man and the Simple Man
- Tale 10: The Burgher and the Pauper
- Tale 11: The King's Son and the Maid's Son Who Were Exchanged
- Tale 12: The Prayer Leader
- Tale 13: The Seven Beggars
- Tale 14: The Flood
- Tale 15: The Deer
- Tale 16: Harvesting the Grain
- The Appendix of Parables in Sipurei Maasiyot
Other Online Editions
[edit]Chinese
- Chinese Wikisource -- to be done
English
- STORIES by Rebbe Nachman of Breslev (PDF), unabridged and with appendices, edited by Nissim Kaufmann. A PDF (and print) format of this Wikisource edition.
- Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav's Tales: A Critical Translation from the Yiddish with Annotations and Commentary (PDF), by Martin Irving Mantel, PhD dissertation, Princeton Univ., 1975.
- Story Tales from Ancient Years (PDF), published by Kulanu Chaverim and NaNach.org, Meron, Israel, 2011, a free softback and online PDF. Contains older versions of material published on this page.
Hebrew
- Hebrew Wikisource
- at JNUL Digitized Book Repository (Document Record Number 001124825), a scan of the original Hebrew/Yiddish 1815 version. Browse, or download PDF (180MB) or JPG's (300MB large, 50MB small)
- at Nanach.org (PDF)
- at Breslev.eip.co.il, TXT delimited by line breaks
- at Breslev.org, TXT
Hindi
Persian
Yiddish
- Yiddish Wikisource
- at JNUL Digitized Book Repository (Document Record Number 001124825), a scan of the original Hebrew/Yiddish 1815 version. Browse, or download PDF (180MB) or JPG's (300MB large, 50MB small)
Some Offline Print Editions
[edit],ספר סיפורי מעשיות Keren Hadfasah D’Chasidei Breslev, Jerusalem, 2002. A newly typeset edition of the original 1815 version, including the Second Introduction from the second printing and “many corrections."
Rabbi Nachman’s Stories, Translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Breslov Research Institute, Jerusalem, 1985.
See Also
[edit]- Sichot Haran #147-151: background and hints from the tales
- Chayei Moharan #25: "Today I have said three things contrary to what the world says..."
- Chayei Moharan #60-80 (Conversations Pertaining to Sipurei Ma`asiyot): more background and comments on the tales
- Chayei Moharan #123: Arguing with the Ba`al Davar, and Encounter with the Shpoler Zeide. Related to Tale #7.
- Chayei Moharan #151-162 (His Trip to Navritch, to Zaslav, to Dubna and to Brod, partial): more background of the tales
- Likutei Moharan #60 Patach Rabbi Shim`on
References
[edit]- ↑ An acrostic for NaChMaN found in Prov. 18:4; see Chayei Moharan #189
- ↑ פוק חזי גבורתא דמריך, puq chazi gevurta d'mareikh, Bava Batra 73a
- ↑ kayom hazeh, Deut. 2:30, 4:20; I Kings 3:6, 8:24; Jer. 32:20, and many others
- ↑ `olam shekulo arokh, "the day that is entirely (i.e. truly) long," Chullin 142a; Mishneh Torah: Teshuvah 8
- ↑ Ezra 9:9
- ↑ Prov. 10:25
- ↑ Isa 42:9
- ↑ Lam. 3:22
- ↑ Isa. 12:3
- ↑ דברים שהן כבשונו של עולם, Chagiga 13a
- ↑ qedoshei `elyon
- ↑ מחצדי חקלא, mechatzdei chaqla, Zohar
- ↑ Num. 23:23 and Rashi there
Click here for a page containing this entire book on one (LARGE) page!
Translation:Tales of Rabbi Nachman/All