02/20/2022
Breslov and the Sefer Dov (Bear's Book) ברסלב וספר דו"ב
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People sometimes ask why Rabbi Nachman of Breslov recommended the book Likutey Amarim - Maggid Devarav LeYa'akov - Sefer Dov לקוטי אמרים - מגיד דבריו ליעקב - ספר דו"ב but did not recommend the book Likutey Amarim - Tanya - Sefer shel Beinonim לקוטי אמרים - תניא - ספר של בינונים.
It is because the Sefer Dov (Bear's Book) is a book about the teachings of the Mezritsher Maggid דער מעזריטשער מגיד, who is also called the Maggid MiMezritsh המגיד ממעזריטש. It was written by his students, who compared and contrasted their classroom notebooks that they wrote down by hand while he delivered his oral sermons and moral lessons. One of his students at that time was the person who would later come to be known by the name Schneur Zalman MiLyadi -- author of the Book of Tanya. However, that was when he was still a boy. At that time he was harmless because he had not then formulated his own ideology. That would come later when he grew to full adulthood.
During this period of apprenticeship the Mezritsher Maggid oftentimes forced his student Schneur Zalman MiLyadi to accept his son, Rabbi Avraham the Mal'akh, as his substitute teacher. This he begrudgingly aceded to even though he sought to study under his father.
After the Mezritsher Maggid had died, Schneur Zalman MiLyadi sought out a new mentor. That was Rabbi Menachem Mendel MiVitebsk. He is also called the Vitebsker Rav. He is the founder of the modern-day ideology called Chassidus Beis Vitepsk-Kalisk Teverya חסידות בית וויטעפסק-קאליסק טבריא.
After some time under his tutelage in Europe the Vitebsker Rav left for Eretz Yisro'el ארץ-ישראל with his Boswell the esteemed Rabbi Avraham Kalisker. This left Schneur Zalman MiLyadi without a mentor once again.
This time, instead of seeking out a real live mentor, Schneur Zalman MiLyadi decided to content himself with books. He took to reading the Kozniter Maggid or Maggid MiKoznitz.
Finally, after two live mentors and one imaginary mentor he developed his own ideology. That was when he wrote the Book of Tanya. He supplemented it with the book Shulchan Aruch Harav and with others. This eventually came to be known by the name it is called today: Chabad Lubavitch חב"ד ליובאוויטש.
This homegrown ideology was something that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov could not endorse. Until this day Breslovers avoid anything pertaining to Chabad Lubavitch Tanya.
Rabbi Michael Sean Breier (Toviyahu Shemuel ben reb Z'ev Volf) הרב טוביה ש. ברייער
