Translation:Tales of Rabbi Nachman/4

by Nachman of Breslov

— A story of miracles —

[The King Decrees Forced Conversion upon the Jews]

Once, there was a king who decreed religious exile over the country: that is, whoever wanted to remain in the country had to convert, otherwise be expelled from the country. There were some who abandoned all their goods and wealth, and they left in poverty, in order to remain in the faith and be able to be Jews. But some had pity on their wealth and remained there; they became anoosim [lit. forced, compelled]: discreetly (that is, in concealment), they practiced the religion of the Jews, but publicly (that is, in front of people) they were not allowed to conduct themselves as Jews.

[The King's Son Allows the Anoos to Be a Jew in Public]

Later the king died and his son became king. And he began to rule the country very sharply (that is, forcefully; heavy-handedly) and conquered many countries; and he was very wise. And because he held the royal ministers with a tight grip (lit. very sharply in his hand), they banded together to attack him and kill him off with all his offspring.

And among the ministers was one of the anoosim. He decided, "Why did I become an anoos? Because I had pity on my possessions and my wealth. Now if the king will be killed and the country be left without a king, everyone will swallow his fellow alive, for a country cannot exist without a king." Therefore he decided to go and inform the king, without them knowing. And he went and told the king that they had conspired against him, as mentioned. The king went and probed whether it was true, and he saw it was true, and he stationed guards. On the night they fell upon him they were caught and judged, each one according to his sentence.

The king spoke up and said to the minister who was an anoos (forced convert), "What honor shall I give you for having saved me and my offspring? Shall I make you a minister (that is, a herr)? You are already a minister! Give you money? You have money! Say what honor you want; I will surely do it for you." The anoos answered, "But will you really do what I say?" The king said, "Yes, I will certainly do what you wish." The anoos said, "Swear to me by your crown and your kingdom." The king swore to him. The anoos replied, "My main honor is to be permitted to be a Jew in public — to put on tallith and tefillin in public." The king was extremely disturbed, because in his entire country there were not allowed to be any Jews. But he had no choice because of the oath he had sworn, that whatever he wished he would do for him. In the morning the anoos went and put on tallith and tefillin in public.

[The King's Son and Grandson Become King]

Later that king died and his son became king. The son began to rule gently, because he saw they had wanted to eliminate his father, as mentioned. And he conquered many countries and was extremely wise. The new king ordered a convening of all astrologers to tell him what sort of thing could cause his offspring to be cut off, so that he could guard against it. The astrologers told him that his offspring would not be cut off if he just guards himself from a bull and a ram (that is, from an ox and a lamb); this was written down in the record book. The king ordered his children to also rule the country as he did, gently. Later he died.

His son became king, and he began to rule the country stringently, like his grandfather, and conquered many countries. And he fell upon a wisdom, and ordered to announce that no ox or sheep should be found in his country, so that his offspring could not be cut off. So he thought he now had no fear of anything, and he ruled the country very stringently. And he became extremely clever.

[The King's Great-Grandson Makes an Effigy, Conquers the World]

The king fell upon a wisdom that he could conquer the entire world without battle, for there are seven parts in the world, for the world consists of seven parts, and there are seven planets (that is, seven luminaries that circle [that is, make a progression through] the seven days of the week) and each planet shines on one of the seven parts of the world, and there are seven kinds of metals (that is, seven different metals, namely gold, silver, copper, tin, etc.) and each of the seven planets shines on a specific metal. The king went and gathered all the seven different metals and ordered to bring him all the golden portraits of all kings, which hang in their palaces, and he made a man from this. Its head was of gold, its body of silver, and likewise the rest of the limbs, of other metals; in this man were all seven kinds of metal.

And he stationed the man on a high mountain, and all the seven planets shined in the man. And when a man needed any advice, or any commerce and did not know whether to do it or not, he would stand facing the limb of the type of metal pertaining to the part of the world where the man was from. And the man would contemplate whether to do the thing he needed or not. And if he needed to do it, that limb would light and shine and if not it would darken. (All this did the king do.) And thereby he conquered the entire world and amassed a huge amount of money.

[The King's Great-Grandson Resuppresses the Anoos]

However, this effigy that he had made from the seven various metals was not able to perform unless the king cast down the haughty and raised the lowly (that is, throw down big people from their greatness and pick up little people). He went and sent orders to all generals and other ministers who held positions of authority and orders (merit badges and special privileges). They all came and he demoted them, removing their positions. Even those who had positions which they served since his great-grandfather — he took them all away. And lowly people did he raise, appointing them to their places (of the great people).

Among the ministers whom the king was casting down was the anoos. The king asked him, "What is your position?" He answered him, "My position is just to be permitted to be a Jew in public, for the favor that I did for your grandfather." The king took this from him, and he was again an anoos.

[The King's Great-Grandson's Dream; the Sage's Tradition]

Once, the king lay down to sleep, and he saw in a dream the clear sky and he saw all twelve mazaloth [constellations] (that is, the stars in the sky are partitioned into twelve parts, corresponding to the twelve months; a section of stars resembles a ram, which is the mazal of Nissan, and the mazal of Iyar is called shor/bull, that is, an ox; and so each month has its mazal). And he saw the bull and the ram (that is, the ox and the lamb) that are among the mazaloth laughing at him. He awoke with great fury and was very frightened. He ordered to bring the chronicles (that is, the book wherein everything is written down), and he saw it written there that by bull and ram his offspring would be cut off, and a great terror fell over him. And he told the queen, and a great terror also fell on her and her children. And his heart pounded hard and he called for all the dream interpreters. And each one interpreted individually, but nothing would enter in his ears. And an extremely great terror fell on him.

A sage came and told him that inasmuch as he had tradition from his father that the sun has three hundred sixty-five courses (paths) and there is a place upon which all the three hundred sixty-five of the sun's paths shine and an iron rod grows there, whoever has a fear, when he comes to the rod, will be saved from the fear.

[The King's Great-Grandson's Excursion and Demise]

This pleased the king very much, and he went with his wife, children and all his descendants to that place, and the sage also went with them. But in the middle of the way stands an angel who is in charge over anger. For, by anger one creates a destructive angel (that is, an angel that destroys and ruins), and this angel is appointed over all the destroyers. And he is asked the way, for there is a good (Heb. straight) path for a man, and there is a path full of mud, and there is a path full of pits, as well as other paths. And there is a path where there is fire that incinerates from four "miles" [Heb. parsa'oth] away. (They asked the angel the way, and he told them the path where the fire is.)

And the sage kept looking around to see if the fire was there, for he had a tradition from his father that the fire was there. Meanwhile he saw the fire, and he saw kings and Jews dressed in tallith and tefillin going around in the fire. (Heb. only: This was because by those kings there lived Jews in their countries, therefore they were able to pass through the fire.) The sage said to the king, "Since I have a tradition that four 'miles' from the fire one is incinerated, I will go no further. You, if you wish, go." And the king thought that since he saw other kings walking around there in the fire, he would also be able to go there. The sage replied, "I have a tradition from my father, so I do not want to go. You, if you wish, go yourself." The king went with his entire offspring. They caught the fire and he and his entire offspring were incinerated and all cut off.

[The Sage Comes Home and the Anoos Explains]

When the sage came home, it was a wonder to the ministers that the king and his offspring were cut off. Had he not guarded himself from a bull and a ram? How was it that his offspring and he were cut off? The anoos replied, "Through me has he been cut off. For, the astrologers saw (that by an ox and lamb his offspring would be cut off) but they did not know what they saw. For, an ox — from its hide they make tefillin; and a lamb — from its wool they make tzitzith for the tallith. And by them was the king and his offspring cut off.

For, the kings where Jews did live in their countries, wrapped in tallith and tefillin, were able to go in the fire completely unharmed. But this king, because no Jews dressed in tallith and tefillin were allowed to dwell in his country, was therefore cut off, with his offspring. And this was the bull and the ram of the mazaloth laughing at him. For, the astrologers saw that by bull and ram would his offspring be cut off; they did not, however, know what they saw, and the king was cut off with his offspring." Amen, so let all Your enemies be obliterated, Hashem!

[Notes Following the Story]

"Lamah rageshu goyim/ Why are the nations in an uproar? ...Tero`em beshevet barzel/ You will break them with a rod of iron" [Ps. 2] — the iron rod.

"...Pen-ye'enaf wetho'vedu darekh/ lest He be angry and you perish in the way," etc. And the words are extremely archaic and closed up... All this I [Rabbi Nathan] heard.

In addition I have found some more allusions from this story in this chapter:

"…Nenatekah eth-moserotheimo, wenashlikhah mimenu `avotheimo/ Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" — bands are made of hide, the aspect of tefillin. "`Avotheimo" — `avot are cords, aspect of tzitzith, as our Rabbis obm expounded this verse in tractate Avodah Zarah [3b] regarding tzitzith and tefillin.

"Yoshev bashamayim yischak/ He Who dwells on High will laugh" — for, the bull and the ram laughed at him.

"Az yedaber eleimo ve'apo, uv'charono yevahaleimo/ Then He speaks to them in His wrath; and He panics them with His sore displeasure" — the anger, the panic and the fear mentioned above.

"Wa'ani nasakhti malki `al-tziyon har qodshi/ But I have poured/ anointed My king on Tzion, My holy mountain" — perhaps the allusion here is to the effigy that the king erected on the high mountain; zeh le`umath zeh (everything in holiness has its counterpart in evil), and this is counterpart to the king on the holy Mount Tzion, for, all the parts of the world are included there, and so forth, and this is the "mountain" there. "Nasakh" is a term as in "nasakh wayitzok/ pouring and pouring-molding" [the statue] [Gen. 35:14].

"She'al mimeni/ Ask of me" — all the advices mentioned above. "Goyim nachalathekha, wa'achuzathekha afsei-aretz/ Nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession" — to grasp together all ends of the earth, namely all seven parts of the world, and all the kings and nations as inheritance under him.

"`Ivdu/ Serve" — is tzitzith, "be'yir'ah/ with awe" — is tefillin, and "wegilu bir`adah/ and rejoice upon the trembling" — the trembling [of the wicked; Rashi there, citing Isa. 33:14].

The entire story is hinted in this chapter, so well-off is he who will know something of these stories, which are great secrets of the Torah throughout.