One day, looking out of the window at the market square, Nachman saw one of his followers, a certain Haykel. He was in a hurry somewhere. He called him and invited him into the house.
“Tell me, Haykel,” he asked, “have you seen the sky today?”
- No, Rabbi.
- And the street, Haykel, did you see the street this morning?
- Yes, Rabbi.
- Tell me what you saw.
- Well... people... horses... carts... carriages. Traders - they are waving their arms. The peasants are making noise and swearing. Men and women run back and forth... That's what I saw.
“Eh, Haykel, Haykel,” Rabbi Nachman shook his head, “and in fifty or a hundred years there will be a street like this here.” And another market like this. Other carriages will carry other merchants, and they will trade other horses. But neither you nor I will be there anymore. So I ask you, Haykel, what is the use of your running around if you don’t have time to look at the sky.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru