How the ten psalms were revealed
Rabbi Natan tells the story in Sichot HaRan 141. Years are given in the Jewish calendar, with the regular year after.
What is the Tikkun HaKlali?
Ten psalms, one order, and a name that Rebbe Nachman gave it himself.
The Tikkun HaKlali is a set of ten chapters of Tehillim (the book of Psalms): 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137 and 150. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov chose these ten. Sichot HaRan says to say them in the order they appear in Tehillim.
וְאֵלּוּ הֵן הָעֲשָׂרָה קַפִּיטְל תְּהִלִּים: ט״ז, ל״ב, מ״א, מ״ב, נ״ט, ע״ז, צ׳, ק״ה, קל״ז, ק״נ.
"And these are the ten chapters of Tehillim: 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, 150."
Sichot HaRan ("the talks of Rabbi Nachman") is a book of Rebbe Nachman's talks, written down by his student, Rabbi Natan. Most of the story on this page comes from chapter 141 of that book.
What the name means
Tikkun means a repair: fixing something that is broken. Klali means general, covering everything. Rebbe Nachman explained the name himself:
וְאָמַר שֶׁהוּא: תִּקּוּן הַכְּלָלִי. כִּי כָּל עֲבֵרָה יֵשׁ לָהּ תִּקּוּן מְיֻחָד, אֲבָל תִּקּוּן הַנַּ״ל הוּא תִּקּוּן הַכְּלָלִי.
"He said that it is the Tikkun HaKlali, the general repair. Every sin has its own specific repair, but this repair is the general one."
What does it repair?
Rebbe Nachman taught the ten psalms as a repair in the area of personal holiness and purity. Chassidic books call this tikkun habrit: repairing the brit, the holy covenant, which here means a person's personal holiness. His student Rabbi Natan, in his own book Likutei Halakhot, ties it to song and joy:
וְעַל־כֵּן תִּקֵּן רַבֵּנוּ זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה, עֲשָׂרָה מִזְמוֹרֵי תְּהִלִּים לְתִקּוּן הַבְּרִית שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת עֲשָׂרָה מִינֵי נְגִינָה בְּחִינַת שִׂמְחָה
"That is why our Rebbe, of blessed memory, set up ten psalms for tikkun habrit. They stand for the ten kinds of song, which stand for joy."
Why a general repair? In another teaching, Rebbe Nachman explains that fixing every wrong one at a time is too much for a person to carry. So a person should repair the general thing, the brit, and then the details are repaired along with it. That is the sense in which this repair is "general."
וּלְתַקֵּן כָּל הָעֲבֵרוֹת בִּפְרָטִיּוּת הֵם רַבִּים מְאֹד, וְכָבֵד עַל הָאָדָם
"To repair all the sins one by one: they are very many, and it is heavy on a person."
Likutei Moharan is Rebbe Nachman's main book of Torah teachings. And he was very sure about this one. He told the two witnesses (their story is below):
וַאֲנִי חָזָק מְאֹד בְּכָל הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁלִּי, אַךְ בָּזֶה אֲנִי חָזָק בְּיוֹתֵר, שֶׁאֵלּוּ הָעֲשָׂרָה קַפִּיטְל מוֹעִילִים מְאֹד מְאֹד.
"I am very firm in everything I say. But about this I am firmest of all: these ten chapters help very, very much."
Who was Rebbe Nachman?
The facts here come from the books of his student, Rabbi Natan, and notes printed with them.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov was a Chassidic rebbe: a tzaddik (a righteous man and spiritual leader) whom a group of chassidim followed. Chassidut is the movement started by the Baal Shem Tov, and Rebbe Nachman came from the Baal Shem Tov's own family. Rebbe Nachman passed away in 5571 (1810). Rabbi Natan writes that he was only about 38 and a half.
Most of what we know about his life comes from Chayei Moharan ("the life of our teacher, Rabbi Nachman"), the book Rabbi Natan wrote about him.
שֶׁשְּׁנוֹתָיו לֹא הָיוּ כִּי אִם שְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁמוֹנֶה שָׁנָה וָחֵצִי
"His years were only thirty-eight and a half."
Why ten psalms?
Because the book of Tehillim was written with ten kinds of praise.
Rebbe Nachman's first teaching about the ten psalms explains the number:
וְעַל־כֵּן צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר עֲשָׂרָה קַפִּיטְל, כִּי יֵשׁ עֲשָׂרָה מִינֵי זִמְרָה, שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת הָעֲשָׂרָה לְשׁוֹנוֹת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר בָּהֶם סֵפֶר תְּהִלִּים
"That is why a person needs to say ten chapters: because there are ten kinds of song, which are the ten expressions with which the book of Tehillim was said."
He points to the Gemara (the Talmud, the main work of the Oral Torah). There, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi lists the ten expressions:
בַּעֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת שֶׁל שֶׁבַח נֶאֱמַר סֵפֶר תְּהִלִּים: בְּנִיצּוּחַ, בְּנִגּוּן, בְּמַשְׂכִּיל, בְּמִזְמוֹר, בְּשִׁיר, בְּאַשְׁרֵי, בִּתְהִלָּה, בִּתְפִלָּה, בְּהוֹדָאָה, בְּהַלְלוּיָהּ. גָּדוֹל מִכּוּלָּן הַלְלוּיָהּ, שֶׁכּוֹלֵל שֵׁם וָשֶׁבַח בְּבַת אַחַת.
"The book of Tehillim was said with ten expressions of praise: nitzuach, niggun, maskil, mizmor, shir, ashrei, tehillah, tefillah, hoda'ah, halleluyah. The greatest of them all is halleluyah, because it holds God's name and praise together at once."
Do the ten psalms of the Tikkun really carry these words? Pick a word and see where it is written in the psalms themselves. The lit numbers show which of the ten psalms have it. A psalm lights up if the word itself, a form of it with the same meaning, or a verb from it appears in the psalm.
Rebbe Nachman also dictated one verse for each of the ten kinds of song, and Rabbi Natan wrote them down (Sichot HaRan 141:8; Likutei Moharan II:92). Five of his ten verses come from these same psalms: 16:7, 32:1, 42:9, 59:1 and 77:7. At first, though, he said that any ten psalms would work, because any ten stand for the ten kinds of song.
The ten psalms
Tap a psalm to see who wrote it, one key verse, and what it is about.
How to say it
The order, as it is printed in the Tikkun HaKlali, and three notes from Rebbe Nachman.
The Torah Tech Siddur has the whole Tikkun HaKlali, with every word explained.
Say it in the siddurThree notes from Rebbe Nachman
Common questions
Short answers, with sources.
Which psalms are in the Tikkun HaKlali?
Tehillim 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137 and 150 (Sichot HaRan 141:26). Sichot HaRan says to say them in the order they appear in Tehillim (141:28). Before them the printed text has Hareini Mekasher and Tehillim 95:1-3, and after them Tehillim 14:7 and 37:39-40 and a closing prayer.
Why is it called "the general repair"?
Rebbe Nachman said that every sin has its own specific repair, but this one is the general repair (Sichot HaRan 141:29).
Why exactly ten psalms?
Because there are ten kinds of song, the ten expressions of praise with which the book of Tehillim was said (Likutei Moharan I:205, pointing to Pesachim 117a).
Do I have to go to the mikveh first?
Rebbe Nachman said it is very good to go to the mikveh first. But if a person cannot, for example because he is sick or traveling, he should still say them, and "happy is he" (Sichot HaRan 141:18).
What did Rebbe Nachman promise about his grave?
Before two witnesses, he said that whoever comes to his grave, says these ten psalms there and gives a perutah (a small coin) to tzedakah, he will do everything he can to help and repair that person, however many his sins (Sichot HaRan 141:24). A note in Chayei Moharan, by its copyist, who heard it from Rabbi Naftali, adds a condition: from then on, the person takes on himself not to go back to his old foolishness (Chayei Moharan 225). His grave is in Uman (Chayei Moharan 191).
Who were the two witnesses?
The rav of Breslov and Rabbi Naftali of Nemirov, a friend of Rabbi Natan (Sichot HaRan 141:12-13). Rabbi Natan does not name the rav; a note in Chayei Moharan, from the person who copied the book, names him as Rabbi Aharon (Chayei Moharan 225).
Sources
Every source used on this page. Each one opens on Sefaria.
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