Siach Sarfei Kodesh Sunday: A Segulah For Pregnancy

שיח שרפי קודש ד-קעו

(Painting by Paulo Zubato)

The Breslover chassidim in Poland had a custom to place a copy of Likutei Moharan under the pillows of women who had difficulty giving birth, and they witnessed many miracles by doing this.  It was also known that many barren women were able to conceive with the help of Heaven after reading Rebbe Nachman's stories.

This segulah is mentioned in Chayei Moharan 25:
After giving the lesson "Rabbi Shimon began," in Likutei Moharan I 60 the Rebbe said humorously, "Today I have said three things contrary to what people usually say.  People say stories help you go to sleep.  But, I said that through stories it is possible to rouse men from their sleep.  People say talk will not make someone pregnant.  But, I said that the conversations of the Tzaddik and his stories, which rouse men from their sleep, lead to God's remembering barren women.  People say the truly great Tzaddik does not need much money. What does he need it for?  But, I said there is a certain kind of contemplation, which requires all the riches in the world.

The Four Species, Alef, Hashem, Man, and The Tzaddik

הלכות שבת ז:נה

("The Power of Aleph" by David Friedman)

The arba minim (four species) correspond to the letter א.  The myrtle and willow hint to the letters י and  ה (of Hashem's 4 lettered name), which are the "higher point", and the esrog parallels the final ה, which relates to both the "lower point" and to malchus.  The lulav parallels the letter  ו, which is the ו inside the א that binds the two points (the higher and lower).  Through the completeness of the letter א, the concept of "man (אדם)" is then achieved, for "there is no man without an alef."  Thus, the secret of man is included in the four species.
What one hopes to achieve through his service of Hashem is to draw down the splendor and beauty of the esrog, which corresponds to the final ה.  However, when it comes to the "higher point," which corresponds to Moshe and the true tzaddik, it is impossible to see such splendor and beauty , for we have no concept of what it could possibly be.  This is because the "face of Moshe is like the face of the sun," and at this time it is impossible to look at it.

Torah from the Tzaddik

קל"ה - הלכות ברכת התורה א:ב

A person must travel to the Tzaddik to hear words of Torah directly from his lips, because then one is able to receive the light of the Torah, which is a blessing and an elixir.  But even if one does hear words of Torah from the true Tzaddik, he is unable to fully receive these words except through guarding his bris.

Sleep and the Desire for Money

קל"ה - הלכות שבועות א:א

When a person is able to stay awake the entire night and break his desire to sleep he is then able to break his desire for money.  As a result he is able to rely solely on Divine Providence, which is a concept of open eyes that are not threatened.  


Most of the holy sparks and sunken souls are contained within money, because the essence of the scattering of one's soul happens through the desire for money. The tzaddik who is able to completely break the desire for money is able to draw all of the sunken souls that had fallen because of money.  He is able to protect, gather, and uplift them to the highest holiness.  By doing this, the tzaddik makes a tremendous unification in Heaven, and is thereby able to draw down Torah. Through this complete Divine Providence is drawn into the world.