AFRAID OF DEATH · Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach

Rabbi Nachman teaches,

When I was a boy I was very afraid of death. Exactly when I was most frightened of dying, I would ask God that I should die sanctifying His name. This lasted a long time – I don’t remember how long – but I know it was a long time, maybe a year. I would constantly make the same request. There was not a prayer or conversation with God in which I did not ask to leave this world sanctifying His name. I was so afraid of death that it was like a self-sacrifice for me just to pray for what I was so afraid of.

In order to serve God, you must overcome precisely the thing that preoccupies you the most.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) . The Talmud ( Berachot 61b) says that “with all your soul ” teaches that one should give one ‘ s very life for God. “With all your might ” means that the same applies to one’s money – because some people value their wealth more than their lives!

Sichot Haran #57

With permission taken over from: Daily Dose Of Rabbi Nachman