Rabbi Maimon received smicha (rabbinic ordination) from the Central Yeshiva of Chassidei Breslov in Meah Shaarim, Jerusalem. Originally from New York City, he was a close student of Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Rosenfeld zal and eventually became his son-in-law. He was appointed Executive Director of the Breslov World Center in 1978 and has headed the Breslov Yeshiva’s English-speaking kollel since making aliyah to Jerusalem in 1987.
In 2008 he established www.BreslovTorah.com as an online resource center for students of Rebbe Nachman all over the world. Fluent in English, Yiddish and Hebrew, Rabbi Maimon translates and explains original texts in a practical, straightforward way. His knowledge is informed by decades of close apprenticeship to his teachers, Rabbi Rosenfeld and Rabbi Yechiel Michel Dorfman zal. After Rabbi Dorfman’s passing in 2006, Rabbi Maimon consulted Rabbis Moshe and Nachman Burstein zal.
Rabbi Maimon is recognized internationally as a dynamic teacher, compassionate listener, and experienced counselor who provides well-grounded application of the teachings of Rebbe Nachman to contemporary life.
Rabbi Zvi Aryeh b’Reb Yisrael Abba Rosenfeld (1922- 11th Kislev 5739/1978) was an accomplished and deeply respected Torah scholar who shared his knowledge with students in ways that uplifted and transformed their lives. With self-sacrifice and dedication, he introduced Breslov Chassidus to the English-speaking world.
In 1945 he received smicha (rabbinical ordination) from Rav Avraham Yaffon zal, Rosh of the Beis Yosef Navardak Yeshiva, and in 1949 he received additional ordination from Rav Avrohom Sternhartz zal, recognized leader of Breslover Chassidus in Ukraine and Yerushalayim.
Rabbi Rosenfeld is a direct descendant of Rav Aharon Goldstein zal, the Rav of Breslov during the lifetime of Rebbe Nachman and one of the Rebbe’s closest students. He is also a descendant of Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak zal, Rav of Tcherin. Rabbi Rosenfeld had the foresight to record hundreds of his shiurim, entrusting them to future generations as vital keys to the powerful wisdom of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.
“Reb Michel” (as Rabbi Dorfman was known) (Ukraine 1913-Yerushalayim 2006) was a devoted and much-beloved elder in the Breslov community worldwide. His father, HaRav Yehoshua Dovid HaLevi, may his blood be avenged, was a leading Rabbi in the city of Chemirovitz, Kaminetz-Podolsk until he was murdered by the Nazis in August, 1941.
Reb Michel was drawn to Breslov chassidus shortly after he became bar mitzvah and studied closely with the leaders of the previous generation. When Reb Michel turned 17, his teacher, Reb Avrohom Sternhartz zal, suggested his granddaughter, Rivkah bas R’ Nosson Sternhartz, as a wife. The couple married in Shevat, 1930, and lived in a room in Reb Avrohom’s home in Breslov while newlyweds.
Surviving extreme hardships in communist Russia, the Dorfmans raised a Torah-observant family and maintained unfailing trust in HaShem. Even when Reb Michel was imprisoned in Siberia he never lost hope. For 38 years he and his wife were forbidden to leave Russia until finally, in 1971, they were granted exit visas and flew straight to Eretz Yisrael.
In addition to heading the Breslov Kollel in Meah She’arim from 1979, in 1989 Reb Levi Yitzchok Bender zal appointed Rabbi Dorfman as one of the heads of the Central Breslov Yeshiva in Meah She’arim.
Tirelessly, Reb Michel taught, counseled, raised funds for the community, organized the yearly Rosh Hashanah kibbutz (gathering) in Uman, built the Breslov synagogue and 5 mikvaos in Uman, and faithfully led the daily Netz (daybreak) Minyan, 7 days a week, until his passing on the 5th of Av (Yahrzeit of the ARIzal) at the age of 93.
Through Tefilos, tears, and monumental self-sacrifice, Reb Michel Dorfman paved the way for the Rosh Hashanah gathering in Uman to reach its present dimensions. His Kever is on Har HaZeisim among the elders of Breslov.
With gratitude to Hashem, through support of donors and students, Rabbi Nasan Maimon and his team are:
In 1979 the Soviets planned to destroy Rabbi Nachman’s grave in Uman to make way for a housing project. The leaders of the international Breslov community appointed Rabbi Michel Dorfman ז”ל as their spokesman to avert this threat. Reb Michel first went straight to the kosel where he begged, with heartfelt tears and prayers, for Divine intervention.
Then, although he spoke no English, Reb Michel immediately traveled to the U.S. where he enlisted Rabbi Nasan Maimon as his translator and close assistant. Together they solicited and received endorsements from HaRav Moshe Feinstein זצ”ל and other gedolei Torah.
The Satmar Rebbe, Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sherer, Rav Pinchas Teitz, and Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan all supported and contributed their wisdom and guidance to the mission. With their help, Rabbi Maimon was able to present the Jewish community’s petition to officials from the U.S. State Department and the Kremlin.
B”H the petition succeeded and the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman was preserved. This miracle also protected the nearby mass grave of some 30,000 Jewish martyrs of the Chmielnitsky massacres. As a direct result of these efforts blessed with success by Hashem, hundreds of thousands have been able to visit this holy site since that time. In 2011, Rabbi Nasan Maimon presented a five-part lecture series to document these events.
You can hear more about this topic via the media link below:
Rescue of Rabbi Nachman’s Gravesite
