Yisroel Ber Odesser

Rabbi Yisroel Dov Ber Odesser, (in Hebrew: ישראל דב בער אדסר) also known as Reb Odesser or Sabba (1888-1994) was a controversial figure in the Breslov movement. He is best known for revealing and teaching the Na Nach Nachma mantra in his old age in Jerusalem.

Introduction to Breslov

Odesser was born in Tiberias, Israel to a family which for generations were Karliner Hasidim. (His great-great-grandfather, Rabbi Yekutiel Zalman Leib, was a close disciple of Rabbi Abraham Kalisker, a major disciple of the Baal Shem Tov.) In his youth, Odesser also followed the Karliner way, but felt it was not fulfilling his soul.

Odesser first came into contact with the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov as a young yeshiva student in Tiberias. Someone had ripped the cover off a Hebrew language holy book and thrown it into the garbage. Orthodox Judaism forbids defacing a holy book in this way, so Odesser rescued it with the intention of burying it, as is proper for worn-out Jewish holy books. Before discarding it, however, he decided to read it. This book was "Hishtafchut HaNefesh" ("Outpouring of the Soul") by Alter Tepliker, which contains excerpts from Rebbe Nachman's writings about meditation and personal prayer. Because the cover was missing, Odesser did not know who the author was, but the teachings worked for him. Only later did he learn it was a Breslover book.

The first Breslover Hasid whom he met in person was Rabbi Yisroel Halpern (also known as Yisroel Karduner), who came one day to buy bread from Odesser's parents. The young Odesser knew immediately that he had found his teacher, but his parents were strongly opposed to the Breslover path. Eventually his father threw him out of the house and attempted to stop his upcoming wedding. This did not deter him, and he continued to study with Halpern. The wedding took place as planned. Odesser's wife, Esther, supported him through many sufferings and much ridicule from the local townsfolk.

In those days, it was commonly said among Jews that anyone who became a Breslover Hasid would eventually go insane. This is probably because Breslovers try to spend at least an hour per day in "hitbodedut", personal communion with God, which they often performed alone in the woods or fields, often at night, meditating and crying out to God. This was not a usual Jewish practice at the time, and was regarded with deep suspicion. Jews normally prayed indoors with a minyan, not alone in the woods. (The Breslov practice of "hitbodedut" is "in addition" to the liturgical prayers.) Moreover, when Odesser would pray in the synagogue, it was with such intense fervor that he often began to clap, dance, and spin ecstatically for hours. This behavior also may have led some congregants to dismiss him as "crazy."

During the time the British entered Tiberias in World War I, a plague broke out in the city. Halpern became very ill and eventually died, along with most of his family. After that, Odesser traveled to Jerusalem, where he studied with the elders of the Breslover community in that city.

Correspondence with Zalman Shazar

One winter's night in 1917, Zalman Shazar (who would become the third President of Israel) was with a friend in Meron (Israel) on a rainy night at midnight. There they saw a young Hasid reciting the "Tikkun Chatzot" ("Midnight Lament") with intense fervor. They were very moved by this, and, when the Hasid had finished, they asked who he was. Thus began a lifelong friendship between Zalman Shazar and Odesser. Over the years, Odesser wrote many letters to Shazar, explaining the Breslov way of personal prayer, devotion, etc., and urging him to return to God (Shazar was secular at the time). Shazar was greatly inspired by these letters and did become more religious. He later published the letters, along with a short biography of Odesser, in a Hebrew book entitled "Ibay Ha-Nachal" (in Hebrew: אבי הנחל). In 1995, this book was translated into English as "Young Buds of the Stream".

The word "ibey" (אבי), meaning "buds", in the Hebrew title of the book, is a reversal of the abbreviation of Rabbi Odesser's name (ישראל בער אדסר). The Hebrew title "Ibey Ha-Nachal" therefore has the double meanings "Isroel Odesser, the stream/river" and "Young Buds of the Stream".

Discovering the mantra

When he was 26 years old, Odesser came into possession of a document later known as "The Letter from Heaven." He had felt so ill during the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz that he was forced to eat and drink, and was distraught as a result. He went into his room to learn, chose a volume at random, and found a letter tucked inside the book. Besides its words of greeting and encouragement, this letter contained a mantra in the Hebrew language based on the four letters of the name "Nachman" (i.e., Rebbe Nachman of Breslov). Later Odesser claimed that this was a "Letter from Heaven," and immediately embraced this mantra as his own, becoming totally identified with it.

Another Hasid by the name of Yoel said later that he had been the one who wrote the letter to Odesser after seeing how distraught he was over having to break his fast. Odesser claimed in rebuttal that his room had been locked and only he had the key, and maintained that this document was miraculously communicated to him.

Odesser's revelation of the Na Nach Nachma mantra was rejected by mainstream Breslovers for many decades. In 1980, however, a group of baalei teshuva (returnees to the Jewish faith) discovered Odesser in an old-age home in Jerusalem and were attracted to his teachings. He eventually became their 'spiritual leader', or guru. The Na Nach Nachma mantra was adopted by this sub-group of Breslover Hasidim and has appeared on billboards, bumper stickers, and knitted yarmulkes, as well as in musical compositions of this group (colloquially known as the "Na Na Nachies") ever since.

Near the end of his life, Odesser declared, "I am "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman"." His detractors thought he had gone senile and was literally claiming to be Nachman of Breslov, who is buried in Uman, Ukraine. Others say he was speaking of his total identification with the mantra. Still others say he had become a "spiritual emanation" of the soul of Rebbe Nachman. When he died, the text of the mantra was engraved on his tombstone in Jerusalem.

External links

* [http://www.moharan.com/pages_angl/page_rabbi_israel_angl.htm Virtual Pilgrimage to the Grave of Reb Odesser] with a biography, quotes, anecdotes, and discussion of the "Letter from Heaven."

References

*"Young Buds of the Stream," letters to Zalman Shazar from Rabbi Odesser, English edition published by Netzach Yisroel Press, Israel 1995. Pages 5-7 contain material on Odesser's ancestry, etc. Pages 8-44 contain first-hand biographical material as told by Odesser to Shazar.
*"The Letter from Heaven: Rebbe Nachman's Song," an account of Rabbi Odesser's life and the story of the "Na Nach Nachma" mantra published by Netzach Yisroel Press, Israel, 1991, 1995.

ee also

*Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)
*Nachman of Breslov
*Na Nach Nachma
* [http://www.na-nah.info Na-Nah.info] A site about Rabbi Israel Ber Odesser
* [http://www.moharan.com/pages_album/texte_livres/ibe-entier1.pdf Blossoms of the Spring] Rabbi Israel Ber Odesser letters to the President of the State of Israel Mr. Zalman Shazar