{"id":4782,"date":"2024-04-18T08:37:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T08:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kars4kids.org\/hub\/?p=4782"},"modified":"2024-04-18T09:30:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T09:30:19","slug":"a-flame-painted-car-with-a-mystical-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kars4kids.org\/hub\/a-flame-painted-car-with-a-mystical-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"A Flame-Painted Car with a Mystical Meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"

A flame-painted car is always a cool\u2014or should we say hot\u2014thing to see. And of course being that we are a car donation program<\/a>, we do receive donations adorned with fiery artwork from time to time. One such donation, auctioned only yesterday, made us laugh out loud. The flames on this 2005 Toyota Sienna mini-van spell out \u201cNa Nach,\u201d which, for the uninitiated, is part of a chant with a special history particular to a subsector of Breslover Hassidim.<\/p>\n

\"Na<\/p>\n

\"Na<\/p>\n

\"Na<\/p>\n

Breslov tradition has it that the chant is actually the text of a mysterious message sent to Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser (called the “Saba,” or “grandfather” by Breslovers) by the long-deceased Rabbi Nachman of Uman. The note said, \u201cNa nach nachma nachman.” Believed to have spiritual meaning by many Breslover Hasidim, these syllables drawn from Rebbe Nachman\u2019s name, are sung and chanted with fervor wherever you find this colorful group. In fact, the \u201cNa Nach\u201d chant is so intertwined with this group that outsiders call its adherents \u201cNa Nachs,\u201d or \u201cNachnakim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dancing on Moving Vans<\/h2>\n

More from Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Devotees of the group, colloquially called\u00a0Na Nachs, make themselves quite visible in the streets of\u00a0Tel Aviv,\u00a0Jerusalem,\u00a0Safed,\u00a0Tiberias, and other Israeli cities as they dance atop and around moving vans to techno-Hasidic musical compositions, with the goal of spreading joy to passersby.\u00a0They distribute their literature from sidewalk tables on the downtown streets and near bus stations, often accompanied by blaring music. They are identifiable by their large, white, crocheted\u00a0yarmulkes\u00a0bearing the name and song from the petek that Rabbi Odesser revealed:\u00a0Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman. Besides publicizing this phrase on billboards and\u00a0bumper stickers,\u00a0Na Nachs\u00a0and their admirers have made it a common\u00a0graffito\u00a0throughout Israel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which is part of the reason we were surprised and delighted to receive this unusual flame-painted donation. You generally don\u2019t see such vans outside of Israel, let alone people singing and dancing on top of them. Perhaps the residents of Brookhaven, New York, from whence the van was donated, have actually seen this fun phenomenon and can tell us otherwise.<\/p>\n