Shownotes
Shiur 14 in R' Nachman Fried's heart-share on Rebbe Nachman's tale of the Lost Princess (Aveidas Bas Melech). This one turns on the avodah of the viceroy's year of yearning — and what it asks of us. It opens with viduy: not "confession" but admission — ashamnu, bagadnu — saying it plainly and starting brand new, because teshuvah is never about what will be; its whole power is right now. From there: the astonishing reach of a single hirhur teshuvah, one fleeting thought of return that you think did nothing, while far away it moves worlds; and how to meet failure not as proof to despair over but as the very place teshuvah begins — to fall and not collapse into yiush. At its heart is the Bas Melech's instruction to the viceroy: choose a place, sit for a year, and do nothing but yearn, long, and want her back. Because the end and the beginning are one — and the only real foolishness, the Rebbe teaches, is that we stop yearning, stop longing, stop wanting the very things our soul once wanted with its whole strength. Woven through with personal story and the tale itself, it closes on a single word: Ashreinu. In this shiur: Viduy as admission — and why teshuvah is only ever "now," a new hatchala The far-reaching power of one hirhur teshuvah Meeting failure without falling into yiush — not running from the fall The viceroy's year of yearning: choosing a place and longing to free her "The end and the beginning are together" The foolishness of letting the yearning die — and how to want again #LostPrincess #AveidasBasMelech #RebbeNachman #Breslov #Teshuvah #HirhurTeshuvah #Yearning #Yiush #Uman #JewishWisdom #Chassidus #NachmanFried