The Voyage to the Holy Land
Rebbe Nachman left home for Eretz Yisroel almost without funds, survived war and storm at sea, and later said that he drew inspiration from having been there.
A story ofRebbe Nachman of Breslovרבי נחמן מברסלבProfile ›
Chassidim relate that on Lag BaOmer 5558 (1798) Rebbe Nachman left Medvedevka for Eretz Yisroel with one attendant, almost without money. He said that every step toward the Land would put his life at risk, and he went anyway. They sailed from Odessa, and on the eve of Rosh Hashanah the ship reached Haifa. He stepped onto the Land overflowing with joy.
He spent the winter in Teveria and Tzfas. He prayed in the cave of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai at Meron, and he visited the grave of his grandfather, Reb Nachman of Horodenka, in Teveria.
On the way home, in Adar 1799, the war reached Akko. When the pasha ordered the civilians out of the city within two hours, the Rebbe ran to the sea and boarded a small boat that took him to a Turkish warship. Cannon fire, a storm that tore the anchor and a leak in the hull left him and his attendant certain that they would not live. They came through, and reached Rhodes on the eve of Pesach, where the Jewish community ransomed them from the captain and hosted them for the festival.
By Shavuot they were in Galatz, and then they made their way home, arriving in the summer of 1799. Toward the end of his life the Rebbe said that he drew great inspiration from the fact that he had been in the Holy Land. His followers heard in this that no obstacle is too great when a Jew sets out to come close to Hashem.
Source: Shivchei HaRan, the Account of His Pilgrimage to the Holy Land; in English in Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom, tr. Aryeh Kaplan (Breslov Research Institute).
Most of us carry a goal we keep postponing because the road looks difficult, whether it is regular learning, a daily time of prayer or mending a relationship. Choose one such goal this week and name the first small action. Put it in your calendar and tell someone who will ask you about it. Rebbe Nachman was not stopped by sea, siege or storm once he knew where he had to go. You need not be fearless, only willing to begin.