אֶחָד שָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ בְּעִנְיַן הַנְהָגַת הִתְקָרְבוּת לְהַשֵּׁם
Through Prayer, Everything
A man asked Rebbe Nachman how to draw close to Hashem and was told to learn; when he said he could not learn, the Rebbe answered that through prayer one can come to everything: Torah, divine service, all holiness and all good. Once he also said that a dead person allowed back to pray would surely pray beautifully, with all his strength.
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1-minute recap
Explainer
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הַמָּקוֹר · Original text
אֶחָד שָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ בְּעִנְיַן הַנְהָגַת הִתְקָרְבוּת לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְצִוָּה לוֹ לִלְמֹד וְכוּ'.
וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ: הֲלֹא אֵינִי יָכוֹל לִלְמֹד.
הֵשִׁיב לוֹ: עַל־יְדֵי תְּפִלָּה יְכוֹלִין לָבוֹא לַכֹּל, לְכָל טוּב, לְתוֹרָה וַעֲבוֹדָה וּלְכָל הַקְּדֻשּׁוֹת וּלְכָל הָעֲבוֹדוֹת וּלְכָל הַטּוֹבוֹת שֶׁבְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת:
פַּעַם אֶחָד אָמַר: אִם הָיוּ מַנִּיחִין מֵת לָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה לְהִתְפַּלֵּל, בְּוַדַּאי הָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל יָפֶה יָפֶה בְכָל כֹּחוֹ:
Hebrew text: Likutei Moharan Tinyana - rabenubook.com via Sefaria (Public Domain) · Sefaria. Names of Hashem are written in the customary form.
Transcripts
1-minute recap
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and eleven: through prayer you can reach everything.
Someone once asked Rebbe Nachman how to come close to Hashem. The Rebbe told him to learn.
The man answered: but I can't learn.
The Rebbe replied: through prayer you can come to everything, to Torah, to divine service, to every good thing in all the worlds.
And once he said: if a dead man were let back into this world to pray, he would surely pray with all his strength.
Our own reflection: when one door seems closed, prayer is the door that is always open.
Explainer
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and eleven. A short teaching about the power of prayer.
A man asked Rebbe Nachman how to draw close to Hashem. The Rebbe's first answer was simple: learn Torah.
But the man said honestly: I am not able to learn.
The Rebbe answered: through prayer one can come to everything. To Torah, to divine service, to all holiness and all good. Prayer is the doorway to all of them.
Another time he said: if a dead person were allowed back into this world just to pray, he would pray beautifully, with all his strength.
Our own reflection, not a quotation. No one is shut out. Whoever feels unable to learn can still pray, and through prayer come to everything.
Full shiur
— Part 1: Through Prayer, Everything —
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and eleven. A short shiur in one part: through prayer, everything.
Gold is Rebbe Nachman's own words, from Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and eleven. Grey is a verse or teaching he quotes. Green is our own explanation. The Hebrew is the public-domain text from Sefaria; the English is our own paraphrase.
Someone asked him about the way to draw close to Hashem, may He be blessed, and he instructed him to learn, and so on.
The man replied: And he asked him: but I am not able to learn.
He answered him: through prayer one can come to everything, to every good: to Torah and divine service, to all holiness, to all forms of service, and to all the good there is in all the worlds.
Our explanation. The Rebbe's first advice was to learn. But when a person cannot, he is not left without a path. Prayer reaches even where his learning cannot yet go, and through prayer every good can come to him, even the Torah itself.
And another saying: Once he said: if they let a dead person come back to this world to pray, he would certainly pray beautifully, beautifully, with all his strength.
Our explanation. One who has left this world sees clearly how precious a single prayer is, and he can no longer pray. We are still here, and we still can.
Some reflections of our own, not a quotation. No one is shut out. Whoever feels he cannot learn, or cannot do much, can still pray, and through prayer he can come to everything. So let us pray the way the Rebbe describes: beautifully, with all our strength, as one who knows what it is worth.
This has been Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah one hundred and eleven.
Sources for this Torah
Texts used
Hebrew: Likutei Moharan Tinyana (Part II), Torah 111, edition 'Likutei Moharan Tinyana – rabenubook.com', public domain, via Sefaria — https://www.sefaria.org/Likutei_Moharan%2C_Part_II.111
English: our own paraphrase of the Hebrew, written for these videos. It is not copied from any published translation.
Verses and teachings of the Sages appear only as Rebbe Nachman quotes them inside this Torah.
How the text is shown
The Divine Name is shown as ה' and voiced as Hashem. Other Names are written in the customary form (אֱלֹקִים, קֵ-ל, קָהּ, שַׁ-דַּ-י, אֲדֹ-נָ-י, אֶקְיֶ-ה, צְבָקוֹת). No full Name is written or voiced.
Parenthetical source references inside the printed Hebrew are left off the screen to save space; the citation line names the source instead.
Long paragraphs are shown in consecutive pieces. Every Hebrew word on screen is from the edition above; nothing is reworded.
Cards labelled EXPLANATION (green), and every line marked 'our own reflection — not a quote', are our own words, not quotations.
Every on-screen quotation in the full shiur, by part
Part 1 — Through Prayer, Everything
Scene 3 · LM II:111 §1 · paragraph §1.1
אֶחָד שָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ בְּעִנְיַן הַנְהָגַת הִתְקָרְבוּת לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְצִוָּה לוֹ לִלְמֹד וְכוּ'.
EN (our paraphrase): Someone asked him about the way to draw close to Hashem, may He be blessed, and he instructed him to learn, and so on.
Scene 4 · LM II:111 §1 · paragraph §1.2
וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ: הֲלֹא אֵינִי יָכוֹל לִלְמֹד.
EN (our paraphrase): And he asked him: but I am not able to learn.
Scene 5 · LM II:111 §1 · paragraph §1.3
הֵשִׁיב לוֹ: עַל־יְדֵי תְּפִלָּה יְכוֹלִין לָבוֹא לַכֹּל, לְכָל טוּב, לְתוֹרָה וַעֲבוֹדָה וּלְכָל הַקְּדֻשּׁוֹת וּלְכָל הָעֲבוֹדוֹת וּלְכָל הַטּוֹבוֹת שֶׁבְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת:
EN (our paraphrase): He answered him: through prayer one can come to everything, to every good: to Torah and divine service, to all holiness, to all forms of service, and to all the good there is in all the worlds.
Scene 7 · LM II:111 §1 · paragraph §1.4
פַּעַם אֶחָד אָמַר: אִם הָיוּ מַנִּיחִין מֵת לָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה לְהִתְפַּלֵּל, בְּוַדַּאי הָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל יָפֶה יָפֶה בְכָל כֹּחוֹ:
EN (our paraphrase): Once he said: if they let a dead person come back to this world to pray, he would certainly pray beautifully, beautifully, with all his strength.
Hebrew phrases in the Explainer
Scene 2 · §1.1: אֶחָד שָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ בְּעִנְיַן הַנְהָגַת הִתְקָרְבוּת לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְצִוָּה לוֹ לִלְמֹד
Scene 3 · §1.2: וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ: הֲלֹא אֵינִי יָכוֹל לִלְמֹד.
Scene 4 · §1.3: עַל־יְדֵי תְּפִלָּה יְכוֹלִין לָבוֹא לַכֹּל, לְכָל טוּב, לְתוֹרָה וַעֲבוֹדָה
Scene 5 · §1.4: אִם הָיוּ מַנִּיחִין מֵת לָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה לְהִתְפַּלֵּל, בְּוַדַּאי הָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל יָפֶה יָפֶה בְכָל כֹּחוֹ:
Hebrew phrases in the 1-minute recap
Scene 2 · §1.1: אֶחָד שָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ בְּעִנְיַן הַנְהָגַת הִתְקָרְבוּת לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְצִוָּה לוֹ לִלְמֹד
Scene 3 · §1.2: וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ: הֲלֹא אֵינִי יָכוֹל לִלְמֹד.
Scene 4 · §1.3: עַל־יְדֵי תְּפִלָּה יְכוֹלִין לָבוֹא לַכֹּל, לְכָל טוּב,
Scene 5 · §1.4: אִם הָיוּ מַנִּיחִין מֵת לָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה לְהִתְפַּלֵּל, בְּוַדַּאי הָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל יָפֶה יָפֶה בְכָל כֹּחוֹ: