Rabbi Natan of Breslov—Rabbi Natan Sternhartz רבי נתן שטרנהרץ מברסלב
the disciple and scribe of Rabbi Nachman; the man without whom there would be no Breslov
Of a family of mitnagdim, a rabbi’s son-in-law; he came to Rabbi Nachman in 1802, at twenty-two, and stayed. For eight years he was with the teacher and wrote—the teachings, the tales, the conversations. The Likutei Moharan as it is read is his record.
Not a rebbe. Rabbi Nachman died in 1810 and left no successor; the Breslov chasidim have been since then the "dead chasidim", as the mockers called them: a court without a living rebbe. Rabbi Natan did not take his place and let no one take it. He gathered the chasidim around the books and around the grave in Uman: he built the synagogue there and established the gathering on Rosh Hashanah—the one that goes on to this day in tens of thousands.
Persecution. The neighbouring courts came out against the Breslovers, and in 1835 he was banished from Breslov on a denunciation; he returned after several years.
Books. The Likutei Halakhos, eight volumes in which the law of the Shulchan Aruch is read through Rabbi Nachman’s teaching; the Likutei Tefilos, prayers composed out of the teacher’s discourses.
He died on 10 Tevet 1844 in Breslov.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- The Likutei Halakhos and the Likutei Tefilos — his own books
- Chayei Moharan—his records of the teacher’s life — whence everything about Rabbi Nachman is known
Basis: documents and evidence.