Seven Betlers and Two Refugee Children

By Orah

The Story of the Seven Betlers was originally conceived and narrated by a Teacher and Sage who lived in Easter Europe in the eighteen hundreds. His name was Nachman from Breslov. The story can be enjoyed on the literal level, or as an analogy, and also it can be read on an esoteric level. Therefore it lends itself to a wide readership. The intent of Rabbi Nachman, was to garment deep sublime concepts in simple story form. Their insightful simplicity and depth have the same charm and relevance today as they did then. Therein lies their greatness. Orah has illustrated the original text and added subtle comments which in some way lend interpretation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514433478

Orah

Orah is an Educator and Therapist. She uses art and narrative as tools in her Practice. Orah divides her time between Ireland, Israel and the United States.

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Copyright © 2015 by Orah. 727176

   ISBN:   eBook   978-1-5144-3347-8

      Softcover   978-1-5144-2575-6

      Hardcover   978-1-5144-3262-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 01/07/2016

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Contents

PROLOGUE

DAY ONE

DAY TWO

DAY THREE.

DAY FOUR

DAY FIVE

DAY SIX.

EPILOGUE

For MohariB

PROLOGUE

Betler in the Yiddish language means a beggar or seeker. What is a seeker? And how can a beggar and a seeker have the same name?

A seeker, my teacher told me, is humanity’s chance to grow. A seeker, she said, like a beggar, always looks for more and never seems to be satisfied. A seeker is on a quest, some kind of journey.

An heroic quest is not about searching for something new or unknown rather it is about retrieving something we have lost or that has been forgotten.

All the stories within this story are about heroic quests.

Stories remind us adults and children of our own quest.

When the great Teacher Israel Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening his community, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate.

There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted.

Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Maggid, had occasion for the same reason to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say,

Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer. Again the miracle would be accomplished.

Still later, the Sage Moshe-leib of Sasov, in order to save his community once more, would go into the forest and say,

I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient.

It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished.

Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he said,

I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient.

And it was sufficient.

One of the greatest blessings in my life have been my teachers.

I don’t mean classroom teachers but teachers with an uppercase T. They were quiet unassuming people who came into my life and rather than tell me what to do they showed me how to be. They spoke little and listened a lot, they