Chizuk and Inspiration from the Conversations of Rebbe Nachman
BS”D
“And my custom is that when a day comes”
This refers to the beginning of the day soon after we wake up. By fulfilling this practice right away in the morning, we can set ourselves on the right track to be satisfied and happy with our avodas Hashem throughout the day.
“I hand over all my actions, and the actions of my children and those who are dependent on me, to Hashem – that everything should be according to His will.”
Does this mean that a person can say that he gives himself over to Hashem that he will eat kosher, but then he goes and eats tref? Certainly not. From the fact that Rebbe Nachman uses the term “tenuos” (“movements”) it is clear that he’s not referring using this practice regarding actual sins.
Rather, the simple understanding is that, even after we protect ourselves from sinning, we also want to be precise in doing mitzvos. We want to go to shul on time and fulfill all the mitzvos of tefillah properly. However, we often find ourselves in non-ideal situations. On the other hand, there are many things that are permitted bedieved. Thus, it is important to be moser moda’ah in order to be able to daven to Hashem with joy and chiyus, and not worry about all our imperfections.
In other words, the context of this sichah is the realm of avodas Hashem. If we’re sick or feeling weak, it could be that we’re exempt from certain things and we don’t need to be concerned about whether we’ve fulfilled our obligation or not.
We also see this point from the fact that Rebbe Nachman gave over this sichah regarding his own avodah. Certainly, Rebbe Nachman was an awesome tzaddik who never actually sinned. Nonetheless, in order for every movement to be 100% pleasing in Hashem’s eyes, Rebbe Nachman would fulfill the practice of mesiras moda’ah.
The intention of this advice is to help a person who gets into avodas Hashem and wants to do everything carefully and accurately. In reality, there are yichudim that happen with every movement a Jew makes. Thus, in the morning, we should wash our face, fix our peyos, and so on, purely for Hashem’s sake.
But what do we do when we make a movement without kavanah? This is awful – in front of the King of all kings! Therefore, Rebbe Nachman teaches us that we can maintain our yishuv hadaas and be calm and happy through the practice of mesiras moda’ah.
Children and those who are dependent on me
Rebbe Nachman reveals (Likutei Mohoran I, 56) that every Jew has a certain number of people that are under his influence. We have influence over the people in our homes, our friends, coworkers, colleagues, and so on. There are also great tzaddikim that influence the entire generation.
Certainly, each one of us must do our best to educate the people that are under his influence to serve Hashem. But there is only so much that we can teach them. At the end of the day, we can’t control their decisions, especially regarding the small movements that they make. Furthermore, the great tzaddikim don’t even have contact with all the people that are dependent on them. Thus, we have to know that the practice of mesiras moda’ah works for this obligation as well.
Once we come to this understanding, a question arises: what’s the connection between the mesiras moda’ah for our movements and the mesiras moda’ah for movements of the people under our influence? They appear to be two separate things—one that we can control, and another we can’t. If so, why does Rebbe Nachman include them in the same sentence?
