Sefer HaMidot - The Book of Character

Sefer HaMidot - The Book of CharacterRabbi Nachman of Breslov

The Book of Character [Sefer Hamidos] was written by the holy and righteous Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. It is an alphabetical listing of character Characters, good and bad, with advice for their rectification and how they relate to one another, as well as the attributes of reality, their effects, and how they can be manipulated. Sefer Hamidos is composed of two parts; began when Rabbi Nachman was just six years old. This holy book was written to assist individuals seeking to honestly rectify and purify all of their character traits. Rabbi Nachman of Cherin and later Rabbi Tzaddik of Lublin created footnotes for Sefer Hamidot, sourcing the teachings to their origins in different Biblical verses and Rabbinical writings. Rabbi Nachman himself, greatly praised his book crediting it for having made him into a Kosher Jew.

Ethical work by Nachman of Breslov, edited and published by his disciple, Nathan. The book lists various character traits in alphabetical order and elaborates on them at length. The book is divided into two parts: The first section, written in the author's youth, contains simpler material that mainly draws on Talmudic and rabbinic literature, while the second part was written when the author was of an advanced age and contains more complex original ideas. The original manuscript contained much more material, but the author gave over only a portion of it for publishing.