Tell me more ×
Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 4 down vote favorite

I cannot find two famous saying attributed to Rebbi Nachman of Breslov.

  1. The whole world is a very narrow bridge...
  2. It is a great mitzvah to be happy constantly

Instead I have found

  1. A man must traverse a very narrow bridge... (I forget the exact location, I believe in likuteh morahan tinyana 8)
  2. A brief sicha extolling the value of relating to the shoresh of simcha (likuteh moharan tinyana 34)

Are these famous saying merely misquotes? Do they have other sources either in the works of Rebbi Nachman (or his students) or elsewhere?

share|improve this question
2  
Are you looking for a specific Hebrew wording? If so you should consider including what you are looking for in the question. – Double AA♦ Dec 28 '12 at 16:34
Other than the fact that the two attributed sayings have been famous songs for quite some time, is there a reason you tagged the question song-poetry? Or did you mean to also mention the songs in the question and forgot? – Seth J Dec 28 '12 at 17:43

2 Answers

up vote 13 down vote accepted

  1. Likutei Moharan II 48:

    וְדַע, שֶׁהָאָדָם צָרִיך לַעֲבר עַל גֶּשֶׁר צַר מְאד מְאד וְהַכְּלָל וְהָעִקָּר שֶׁלּא יִתְפַּחֵד כְּלָל‏

    According to Wikipedia, the song adaptation was composed by Boruch Chait of The Rabbi's Sons.

  2. Likutei Moharan II 24:

    מִצְוָה גְּדוֹלָה לִהְיוֹת בְּשִׂמְחָה תָּמִיד

share|improve this answer
1  
For #1, you can see a video of Yosef Karduner singing his version of the song with the full quotation here. – Seth J Dec 28 '12 at 17:41
up vote 4 down vote

Regarding the first quote "The whole world is a very narrow bridge..." I can only find "A man must traverse a very narrow bridge...". Perhaps the songwriter wrote the song based on those words which are attributed to Rabbi Nachman.

Regarding "It is a great mitzvah to be happy constantly". This is mentioned in Likuteh Morahan Tinyana 24

  • מצוה גדולה להיות בשמחה תמיד ליקו"מ תנינא סי' כ"ד
share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.