Rabbi Nachman Breslover (1772–1811)

The whole world depends on the holiness of the union between man and woman, for the world was created for the sake of God’s glory and the essential revelation of His glory comes through the increase of mankind. Man must therefore sanctify himself in order to bring the world holy people through whom God’s glory will be increased….In truth all experiences of the Divine Unity and Holiness depend on the union between man and woman, for the ultimate meaning of this act is very lofty. Alas, darkness and falsehood tend to grow stronger and to spread so much blackness that we no longer see the truth at all. Union between man and woman becomes so tainted with imperfection that one can almost begin to believe the lie that there is no true holiness to this act.

— quoted in Judaism (ed. Arthur Hertzberg).

Rabbi Nachman Breslover (1772–1810) was a great grandson of the founder of Hasidism, Rabbi Israel Ball Shem Tov, and the founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement. He is recognized for rejuvenating Hasidism by combining the mystical elements of the Kabbalah and the scholarship of the Torah. His view of the faith was one based on a familiarity with God characterized by spontaneous and informal prayers to God.