"May my soul be like dirt to everyone"

During the nine minutes of the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth Jewish month, a time which according to Kabalah is auspicious for bringing down spiritual sustenance to the world, the Judges in Amsterdam issued their decision regarding Israel's extradition request of the Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains the meaning of our three time daily prayer "May my soul be like dirt to everyone", that just as the dirt on the ground everyone tramples on it yet it provides for the world all sources of sustenance and good things, all food and livelihood, gold and precious stones come from the ground, so too the Tzaddik who has fully integrated this prayer becomes the stamping ground for all to trample on and in that way he is able to provide sustenance both spiritual and physical for the entire world. For a Tzaddik pays no attention at all to his own needs or his own honor only to the needs and honor of the world around him, and he is willing to lower himself for all to step on in order to accomplish this.

Rebbe Nachman goes on and explains "May my soul be like dirt to everyone", that just like the earth has a gravitational force and everyone is naturally pulled towards it, so too the Tzaddik has a gravitational force and all are pulled towards him. Some understand that it is in order to recieve teaching and guidance from him, while others don't understand and are convinced that there must be something strangely wrong here and therefore make it thier business to speak evil about him, cause him harm and constantly chase him for nothing. Either way there is a gravitational force and it is up to each individual to use it for good or for bad.