Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'uman is a Hebrew language name and song used by a subgroup of Breslover Hasidim colloquially known as the Na Nachs. It is a kabbalistic formula based on the four Hebrew letters of the name Nachman, referring to the founder of the Breslov movement, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, along with a reference to his burial place in Uman, Ukraine. In 1922, Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser, a Breslover Hasid, claimed to have received a petek (note) addressed to him from Rebbe Nachman, although the latter had died in 1810. The seventh line of this petek is signed Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman, which became Rabbi Odesser's personal meditation and song. Before he died, he taught this phrase to a group of devotees who formed the Na Nach movement.

History of the phrase

The Na Nach Nachma phrase was revealed to and taught by Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser, the authentic Breslov figure who was born in 1888 in Tiberias. Rabbi Israel was among the first Breslover Hasidim in Israel, having learned about the movement from Rabbi Yisroel Halpern when he was a young yeshiva student. When he was 33 years old, Rabbi Israël was overcome with weakness and hunger on the Fast of Tammuz. He decided or rather felt that he had to eat, in connection to the great hunger that befell on him then. But immediately after eating, he felt great sorrow at having succumbed to his own physical temptations. After six continuous days of prayer, a powerful thought came to him: "Go into your room!" He did as the inner voice said, went to the bookcase, that was locked and only himself had the key of the locker, and randomly opened a book. In the book was a piece of paper that he would later call "The Letter from Heaven." (Another version of the story is that Odesser was sitting in a synagogue with a second tier serving as its Womens section, when the synagogues sexton decided to play a joke and throw the paper down at Odesser.) The paper, written in Hebrew, with one line in Yiddish, is translated as follows: "It was very difficult for me to come down to you - מאוד היה קשה לי לרדת אליך my precious student to tell you that I had pleasure - תלמידי היקר, להגיד לך כי נהנתי very much from your devotion and upon you I said - מאוד מעבודתך, ועליך אמרתי my fire will burn until - מיין פייערל וועט טליען ביז the Messiah will come, strong and courageous - משיח וועט קומען חזק ואמץ in your devotion - בעבודתך Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman - נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן And with this I will reveal to you a secret and it is: - :ובזה אגלה לך סוד והוא Full and heaped up from one extreme to another extreme (PTzPTzYH) - מלא וגדיש מקו לקו (פצפציה) And with the strengthening of your devotion you will understand it and a sign - ובחיזוק עבודה תבינהו וסמן The 17th of Tammuz they will say that you don't fast - יז בתמוז יאמרו שאינך מתענה" R. I. Odesser the understood the letter to be a message of consolation, above other marvellous things inside, directly from Rebbe Nachman's spirit to himself here on earth. Since his name did not appear in the petek as the recipient, Odesser said that this was reason for every person to consider the petek addressed to himself or herself personally. Odesser adopted Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman as his personal meditation and song, and became so totally identified with it that he later said, "I am Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman!" (This quote appears on Odesser's tombstone in Jerusalem.)

Pronunciation and meaning of the phrase

During his lifetime, Rebbe Nachman spoke of a "Song of Redemption" that would be revealed before the coming of the Jewish Messiah. This song would be in a "single, double, triple, quadruple" form. (Likutei Moharan II, #8). Another possible explanation for this phrase is that the Talmud states in Tractate Pesachim that if one wants to rid himself of a certain demon that inflicts water he should say שברירי ברירי רירי ירי רי thereby diminishing the effects of the demon. Just as we see that saying phrases with diminishing letters can diminish the effects of something impure, so to saying and adding to the name of a righteous person can exemplify him to the greatest high. Na Nach Nachma phrase has such a structure (keeping in mind that Hebrew often omits the vowels) and is based on the Rebbe's name, "Nachman": The phrase is pronounced with a soft A sound as in "ah" and a guttural KH sound as in German "ach." It is usually accented as follows: Nah-nakh-nakhmah-nakhman-meh-oo-mahn. Speakers of Yiddish have also noted that na nach can mean "now to," which would loosely translate the phrase as "Now to Nachman from Uman," that is, traveling to the Rebbe on pilgrimage to his gravesite or in one's heart.

Popularity of the phrase today

Whatever the origins of this phrase, it is now very popular among a subgroup group of Breslover Hasidim who follow Rabbi Odesser, who are colloquially known as the Na Nachs. The name has been incorporated into both traditional and contemporary Jewish music, appeared on bumper stickers, billboards and public graffiti throughout Israel, and is used on jewellery and amulets. Among some groups of Sephardic Jewish youth in Israel, it has become a sort of rallying cry for returning to traditional Judaism, although not necessarily to mainstream Breslov. More recently, some people have begun to wear the words of the phrase crocheted on large, white yarmulkes with a little tassel on top. (These hats are a modification of a traditional white yarmulke that has been worn in Jerusalem for centuries. That style, in turn, apparently evolved from the medieval Jewish hat with the ball on top—hence the tassel.) When Rabbi Odesser was still alive, some of his followers were already wearing large white yarmulkes, but without the phrase on them. Today, the Na Nachs make this crocheted yarmulke part of their uniform attire. Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman yarmulkes in other colors are also appearing on the market and are a popular item for Purim.

Sources