Vatimloch (And He Will Reign)
With only two hours left in Uman, Menachem hadn’t succeeded in finalizing anything for the group of 100 English-speakers. Then he remembered ViTimloch…
Editor’s note: Menachem Herman (photo, right) is one of the Jewish-music world’s most prominent lead guitarists and composers, and a Breslever Chassid
Rabbi Lazer Brody has his favorite Mantra that he taught us all in Uman last Rosh Hashanah – it really works.
Here’s my story, fresh out of the oven, or should I say, fresh out of Uman.
We have a group of English speakers that spends every Rosh Hashanah together in Uman. It’s in a place called InnUman, and it makes Rosh Hashanah so much more enjoyable and meaningful for everybody, since they don’t have the hassle of renting rooms from the locals or worrying about food. The Breslev Israel staff handles the arrangements for everyone. The group members arrive in Uman with everything completely organized.
Here we were in Uman, on a final preparatory pilot trip right before Tisha B’Av, with only seven weeks left until Rosh Hashanah.
We were, in an absolute quandary. After weeks of phone calls, emails and aggravations, we arrived hopeful to Uman for two days to accomplish a HUGE amount of work – securing great lodgings for our Rosh Hashanah group and a kitchen for our chef to cook in!
The first day of our search for suitable housing/dining facilities was wasted. We had seen many old Ukrainian houses for high prices but nothing was suitable for our group, which consists of westerners who need a decent atmosphere.
Before we left for Uman though, there was one Russian fellow we spoke to on the phone who guaranteed us that he had the most beautiful and most fought over estate in Uman; for us, it would be perfect, but we needed to come with a huge deposit, if not, the following day he could give it to someone else with a bigger deposit. We put out an SOS to the group and thanks to the immediate response we had the green backs, and with a Ukrainian contract in hand, we traveled to Uman.
However, once we arrived in Uman, this man didn’t answer his phone at all. So, I thought he wouldn’t come through for us. We called repeatedly all day long, with no answer!
At 8:00 p.m., with only a few hours left to be in Uman, I broke down because of worrying that we may have to return empty handed, or close on accommodations (again) that would be substandard.
Immediately, I went to do hitbodedut (meditate) on Rebbe Nachman’s grave site and cried out to Hashem: “Master of the world, I came here to be a shaliach (emissary) for a group of people who want to come closer to You and so they are all leaving their families to come here to Uman to spend Rosh Hashanah with the true tzaddik and pray to come closer to You and that You should give them and their families a sweet good new year. What is the real purpose of my present trip? To acquire lodgings for this special group of people. For what purpose?”
Then it hit me, “Rabbi Lazer’s Mantra!”
It was last year, in Uman on Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Lazer Brody told us all as a group that we should concentrate on the words “ViTimloch” ( from the Rosh Hashana prayer, where we ask that Hashem should bring the time when He will reveal Himself and RULE –ViTimloch– the entire world). His talk was based on one of Rebbe Natan’s teachings in Likutei Halachot, Tefillat Aravit, 4:5.
At that moment, I began to say “ViTimloch, ViTimloch, ViTimloch,” over and over with the thought that this whole Uman Experience is all about one thing: “ViTimloch” (You shall rule)!
My meditation was suddenly interrupted by a phone call. The voice on the other end said: “Come now! I have the best house in Uman for your group. Let’s close the deal now!”
This is house we will be staying in this Rosh Hashanah…
Unbelievable – the power of one word.
If you need Hashem’s help, just think of the Rosh Hashanah prayer. Yell out “ViTimloch” over and over – it doesn’t have to be an audible yell, just whisper it over and over and concentrate on how much you want to see Hashem’s reign become apparent.
Now sit back and enjoy the miracles.
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