Chodesh Tov! Happy Birthday Rabbeinu HaKadosh!

A Gut Choidesh.

Rabbeinu Nachman MiBreslov, Rebbe of Rebbes whose fire will burn until Mashiach.
I would be so lost in all aspects of Avodas Hashem without his advice. Where would we be without him? Would we know how to get through a yerida? Would we know how to daven at all? Would we be Jewish?

There is a lot to say about Rabbeinu for his birthday which falls out on on rosh hodesh Nissan which is the rosh hashana for kings (when else would he be born?). I will focus on a simple aspect of his thought but which is so sorely needed these days. Hopefully we all know Likutey Moharan Reish Pey Bet. The Rebbe explains that we must judge everyone favorably including ourselves, finding the good points and through this process do we turn all evil into good.

I see a lot of people, including myself, complaining about evil sometimes. It can happen if someone isn't as "frum" as the next or part of his religious world view etc. In fact, I know some people who think they bolster their own spirituality by bringing down other people. Rabbeinu teaches us the only way to break evil and make it holy is by focusing on the good. The Rebbe says, even if the person is completely evil, one must find the good within him and that will make him holy. We have to stop worrying about all problems we face today and start focusing on the positive things that this world that Hashem has put us in has to offer. We won't bring Mashiach by bringing people down, but by raising them up and showing that even the biggest sinner is close to the One above.

This leads to another extremely important Torah of Rabbeinu. The Rebbe said "a little is also good." We usually think that if our davening or learning wasn't so great then it was worthless. The Rebbe is teaching that every small good we do is extremely important and powerful. I read a maysa that about a ball tshuva who was having a yerida and drove to the beach on Shabbos. He bought a coke and slowly said a bracha on it. His friends made fun of him and said "You're on a beach on Shabbos and saying a bracha!? The baal tshuva's Breslov teacher told him later that he was totally right and one should never allow anything to stop him from doing any ounce of good, especially aveiras.

We should be zocheh to follow in the path of Rabbeinu, in finding the good in others and ourselves.