Guest Posting By Rabbi Ozer Bergman - How To Learn Likutey Moharan
(Picture courtesy of breslovkollelonline.com)How do I learn thee? Let me count the ways.
Reb Shlomo Freifeld z"l once told me, "You have to learn Likutey Moharan [amplify voice here] like a Tosfos!"
You can learn it as a musar sefer (the musar of Likutey Moharan would make you cry, said Rebbe Nachman zal; that's why you have to turn the lessons into prayers; Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom #196 [end]). This can also be called a Likutey Tefilot-style, turning the lesson into a prayer..
You can learn it as a kabbalah sefer: kvetch my sefer any way you will, but don't budge [in your behavior] from even the smallest paragraph of Shulchan Arukh! (The compiler of Ein Yaakov, the collected aggadatot of Talmud Bavli, writes something similar in his introduction, namely [I'm paraphrasing here], any interpretation is valid so long as one's intention is to improve his yirat Shemaym and this borne out by his subsequent behavior.)
You can learn it segulah*-style, just reading the words, without even knowing what they mean, just knowing that its words are holy and having a positive impact on you, and on the entire world.
You can learn it in any of Reb Noson's styles: Kitzur Likutey Moharan summary-style; Likutey Eitzot (Advice) i.e., by topic-style; Likutey Halakhot, in-depth, inter-laden with all you know from every and any area of Torah-style.
You can learn it as if Rebbe Nachman z”l himself was there teaching it, whether as your rebbe or as “one of the great tzaddikim of all-time.”
You can learn it with the intention: This contains not just information and ideas. This sefer is a fountain of emunah, yirat Shamayim, kedushah and taharah. I want all of those, in as full a measure as I can now receive them.
But whatever you do—learn it!
*A segulah is a thing or practice that in some mysterious way helps us, even though we may be clueless as to how it works.
© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute
10 Comments:
How do you start? Let's say you want to learn it in ivrit, but do not have the resources to buy all the volumes at once. What should you purchase, and what you start with? Assume a reasonable familiarity with R Nachman and some of his other works
Thanks
In lashon hakodesh it's usually printed in just one volume, unless it's printed with certain modern commentaries.
i started to learn Likutey Moharan by listening to the shuiurim by Rav Nosson Miamon online and they are great. I can not explain how wonderful they really are. the problem i am having is since most of the torah's are long each one is made up of 5 or 6 shuiurim. i find that by the time i get to the later parts of the torah's i am burnt out and want to start a new one. any advise as how to keep my excitement and attentiveness throughout a very long torah. or maybe another way to successfully learn this sefer. it is a sefer i don't want to give up. any advise is helpful .
thanks
Join me Thursday night for Rabbi Avraham Bloomenstiel's Likutey Moharan shiur here.
are the shiurim available afterwards for download?
Not to my knowledge. We are now up to Likutey Moharan #4
Rabbi Bergman: Great post!
if memory serves me correctly there is a introduction in the translated series by the breslov institute (R Kramer) that gives some advise as to a style of learning LM. i try to follow it, and i find it works well for me. if im off the mark, from the advice they give, please forgive me, but this still works for me.
rush through the lesson, try to go over it very fast, and dont worry about the gritties. then go back over it. repeat! but each time, go through it more slowly and in depth. the annotations that R Kramer adds are INCREDIBLE, and they unlock the work. i will only start looking at the annotations and going in more depth after maybe my 4th or 5th run, depending on the length of the lesson. this way you get the general string off thought, all the concepts, and the equation on a macro level. after which you fill in the detail.
i find nothing as gratifying as getting a lesson (sort of) under the belt. a bit like swallowing a beach ball.
The Breslov Reseach Institute has a section of their website devoted to this question, visit:
http://www.breslov.org/bookshelf/study/
I like to learn a piece, and then look at the meforshim, then the likutei halachos that it connects to, then the tefillos,
then tcherner rav's seforim...
on a certain level, I'm still learning the first torah. the Tcherner Rav's Nachas Hashulchan- showing how torah 1 connects to every siman in shulchan aruch- makes that happen.
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