A Palace of Pearls: The Stories of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav

457 Pages·2018·29.805 MB·English

by  Howard Schwartz

A Palace of Pearls
ALSO BY HOWARD SCHWARTZ
POETRY
Vessels
Gathering the Sparks
Sleepwalking Beneath the Stars
Breathing in the Dark
The Library of Dreams
FICTION
A Blessing Over Ashes
Midrashim
The Captive Soul of the Messiah
Rooms of the Soul
Adam’s Soul
The Four Who Entered Paradise
EDITOR
Imperial Messages: One Hundred Modern Parables
Voices Within the Ark: The Modern Jewish Poets
Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales
The Dream Assembly: Tales of Rabbi Zalman Schachter- Shalomi
Elijah’s Violin & Other Jewish Fairy Tales
Miriam’s Tambourine: Jewish Tales from Around the World
Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural
Gabriel’s Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales
Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism
Leaves from the Garden of Eden: One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales
A Palace of Pearls: The Stories of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav
ESSAYS
Reimagining the Bible: The Storytelling of the Rabbis
FOR CHILDREN
The Diamond Tree
The Sabbath Lion
Next Year in Jerusalem
The Wonder Child
A Coat for the Moon
Ask the Bones
A Journey to Paradise
The Day the Rabbi Disappeared
Invisible Kingdoms
Before You Were Born
More Bones
Gathering Sparks
A Palace of Pearls
The Stories of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav
RETOLD BY HOWARD SCHWARTZ
FOREWORD BY RABBI RAMI SHAPIRO
ILLUSTRATED BY ZANN JACOBROWN
1
1
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Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© 2018 Howard Schwartz
Illustrations © Zann Jacobrown
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nachman, of Bratslav, 1772–1811, author. | Schwartz, Howard, 1945– author, translator.
Title: A palace of pearls : the stories of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav / retold
by Howard Schwartz ; foreword by Rami Shapiro.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018] |
Some of these stories previously appeared in other works by the same translator. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017033700 (print) | LCCN 2017035517 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190243579 (updf) | ISBN 9780190243586 (epub) |
ISBN 9780190243562 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Hasidic parables. | Nachman, of Bratslav, 1772–1811.
Classification: LCC BM198 (ebook) | LCC BM198 .N24213 2018 (print) |
DDC 296.1/9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017033700
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
Some of these stories previously appeared in Elijah’s Violin & Other Jewish Fairy Tales,
Miriam’s Tambourine: Jewish Folktales from Around the World, Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales
of the Supernatural, Gabriel’s Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales, Leaves from the Garden of Eden:
One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales, Reimagining the Bible: The Storytelling of the Rabbis,
Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales, and
Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism.
The Diagram of the Ten Sefirot on page 373 is by Tsila Schwartz.
For Tsila,
Shira,
Nati,
Miriam,
Babak,
Ari,
Ava,
Ariyah,
and in memory
of my parents,
Nathan,
and Bluma
Schwartz
I tried to bring you back to God through my talks and Torah
teachings, but they haven’t worked. So now I must tell you
stories. People say stories help you fall asleep. But I say that
telling stories wakes people up.
Reb Nachman of Bratslav
Siach Sarfey Kodesh 2 p. 124, #476
and Hayey Moharan 8b #25
Every story has something hidden. What is concealed is
the hidden light. God created light on the first day, the
sun, the moon, and the stars on the fourth. What was the light
that existed before that of the sun? It was a sacred, primordial
light, and God hid it for future use. Where was it hidden?
In the stories of the Torah.
Reb Nachman of Bratslav
Likutey Moharan 1, #234
CONTENTS
Foreword: “People of the Stories” by Rabbi Rami Shapiro xiii
Preface xix
Acknowledgments xxiii
Introduction 1
PART ONE THE MAJOR STORIES
The Lost Princess 25
The Pirate Princess 35
The Enchanted Tree 43
The Bull and the Ram 48
The Prince Who Was Made of Precious Gems 52
The Missing Portrait 58
The Spider and the Fly 61
The Rabbi and His Son 64
The Clever Man and the Simple Man 66
The Merchant and the Pauper 75
The Prince and the Slave 88
The Master of Prayer 95
The Seven Beggars 117
vii
viii Contents
PART TWO ADDITIONAL STORIES
The Tale of the Bread 149
The Hanukkah Guest 154
The Tzaddik of Sadness 157
Destined to Be a Thief 159
The Rich Man and the Thief 163
The Tale of the Pact 164
The Tale of the Diamond 167
The Palace Beneath the Sea 169
A Tale of Delusion 173
The Perfect Saint 175
The Mysterious Painting 177
Hungarian Wine 179
PART THREE THE PARABLES
The Angel of Losses 183
The Menorah of Defects 184
The Prince Who Thought He Was a Rooster 186
The Synagogue in Jerusalem 188
The Soul of the World 190
The Coming of the Messiah 192
A Parable of Father and Son 193
The Fable of the Rose and the Thistle 194
Harvest of Madness 195
The Tale of the Millstone 196
The Princess of the Torah 197
The Fable of the Spider Web 199
What Am I Holding? 200
The Parable of the Eggs 201
The Tale of the Wolf 201
The Map of Time and Space 202
The Heart of the World 204
Contents ix
The Fable of the Two Birds 206
The Last Resort 209
The Tale of the Candles 210
When a Candle Is Blown Out 211
The Wise Son and the Foolish Son 212
The King and the Peasant 213
The Condemned Prince 214
The Tale of the Letter 215
The Three Messengers 216
The Royal Messenger 217
The Wheel of Creation 219
PART FOUR DREAMS AND VISIONS
The Endless Forest 223
The Dream of the Shofar 224
The Dream of the Brides 225
The Tzaddik Who Was Shunned 226
The Vision of the Man in the Circle 227
The Sea of Wisdom 229
Unable to Teach 230
The Dream of the Birds 231
The Dream of a Throne 232
The Sacrifice 233
A Dream of Disgrace 234
The Accusation 235
The Man Who Had Died 237
The Dream of a Wedding 238
PART FIVE FOLKTALES TOLD BY REB NACHMAN
The Treasure 243
The Fixer 245