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To: My beloved son, my dear one. [Yitzchok] Your letters I received on Sunday and today — and my sorrow is very great over

your pain. May Hashem Yisborach heal you speedily. And behold — I too suffer from my teeth at these times periodically. May Hashem Yisborach remove from us and from all Israel all pains and ailments in body and in spirit — and may we merit to return to Him through all the proclamations and hints that He hints to us at every time — whether through His goodness or through His affliction — may the Merciful One protect. For the time storms and surges — it goes and thunders — and the breakers and waves of the sea thunder and shake and rise up upon every person each day [וּמִשְׁבְּרֵי וְגַלֵּי הַיָּם הוֹמִים וּמַרְעִישִׁים וּמִתְנַשְּׂאִים — drawing on Tehillim 93:3-4: "the rivers have lifted up their voice — the rivers lift up their pounding — Hashem on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea." The image of roaring sea-waves as the turbulence of earthly existence. Also resonant with the Song of the Sea (Sh'mos 15)]. And there is no one among us who knows what to do. Were it not for Hashem's help [וְאֵין אִתָּנוּ יוֹדֵעַ מַה לַּעֲשׂוֹת / לוּלֵא ה' עֶזְרָתָה לָנוּ — a direct quotation of Tehillim 124:1-2: lulei Hashem she'hayah lanu... azratah lanu — "were it not that Hashem was for us — let Israel now say — were it not that Hashem was for us when men rose against us." The Psalm of the existential lulei — the contemplation of what would have been without Hashem. Reb Nussun applies it to the generation's spiritual peril: without the Rebbe's teachings, there would be nothing with which to survive the roaring sea-waves of the time] — that we heard what we heard — that one can revive oneself through them always. Be strong and strengthen yourself, my beloved son — as you wrote in your first letter — that you braced yourself against Hashem Yisborach through the sufferings [אַז דִּיא הָאסְט זִיךְ צוּ גִישְׁפַּארְט לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ דוּרְך דִּי יִסּוּרִים — Yiddish: "that you braced yourself against Hashem Yisborach through the sufferings." The Yiddish verb tzugeshpard — from shpirn/sparren: to brace oneself, to plant one's feet firmly, to press against a support — conveys a distinctly physical, embodied image. A person under the pressure of suffering physically braces himself against Hashem — leaning into the divine as one leans against a wall for support when a wave threatens to knock one over. This is the embodied, experiential reality that the Vayomer Boaz el Rus Torah describes in abstract terms: the very pressure of suffering becomes the mechanism by which one's weight is thrown against Hashem] . And you already know from the Torah and Boaz said to Ruth [Likutay Moharan 65] [וַיֹּאמֶר בֹּעַז אֶל רוּת — Likutay Moharan I:65: the Rebbe's teaching that through suffering one nullifies oneself to Hashem — the sufferings break open the hardness of the heart and allow it to attach to the divine. The abstract principle that the Yiddish tzugeshpard embodies: the weight of the one who braces is thrown against the support of the One who receives] — that through suffering one nullifies oneself to Hashem Yisborach — and as you have heard from me orally about this matter. And may Hashem Yisborach have mercy upon you — and from now on remove from you all illness and all disease and all pain in the world. And you should merit to draw near to Hashem Yisborach through the hints of goodness and success. And may there be fulfilled: and El Shaddai give you mercy — you specifically [וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יִתֵּן לָכֶם רַחֲמִים, לָכֶם דַּיְקָא — B'reishis 43:14: Yaakov's blessing to his sons before their descent to Egypt — "and El Shaddai give you mercy before the man." Lachem dayka — "you specifically" — mercy directed precisely and particularly to you. El Shaddai: the divine name that says "enough" to suffering. Yaakov's blessing before the paradigmatic descent before redemption, applied to Yitzchok's current trial] and so forth. And write me further about the welfare of Rabbi Mordechai — may his light shine — whether he no longer has any concern about his business. Also inform him that — according to what I heard — that he knew of this himself — I was greatly angered on his behalf — and he must accept upon himself not to allow it to

arise in his mind again to engage in such things — for this is the essential corruption of the desire for money. And in this world too there is no good end for those who are so inflamed after gain. And there is no need to extend on this — and prayer and supplication is needed — that he merit to receive salt to sweeten the bitterness [מֶלַח לְהַמְתִּיק מְרִירוּתָא — a kabbalistic image from the Zohar: salt sweetens bitterness and draws out impurity. Spiritually: through prayer and honest teshuvah one draws down the divine salt that transforms the bitter taste of corrupted desire into sweetness] and so forth — and may he merit to luminous countenance [אַנְפִּין נְהוֹרִין — Aramaic from the Zohar: "luminous face" — the state of genuine faith and inner illumination, the face of a person who is at peace with Hashem, whose inner light shines outward. Contrasted with the darkened face of estrangement] — faith and so forth. The words of your father — who seeks your welfare with love. Nussun of Breslov. And peace to all our anshei sh'lomaynu with great love. And inform me of the welfare of Rabbi Yaakov — may his light shine. The words of your father — who seeks your welfare with love. Nussun of Breslov. [Translator's Note: Overview: Parshas Bo, Wednesday. Both Reb Nussun and Yitzchok have toothaches. *Lulei Hashem ezratah lanu*: now identified as Tehillim 124 — the Psalm of the existential *lulei* — applied to the generation's spiritual peril. *Tzugeshpard*: the Yiddish verb of physical bracing — a person under pressure plants his weight against Hashem as against a wall; the embodied, physical reality behind the *Vayomer Boaz el Rus* Torah (Likutay Moharan I:65). *V'El Shaddai yiten lachem rachamim, lachem dayka* — Yaakov's blessing before

Egypt. *Melach l'hamtik m'rirusa* and *anpin n'horin* from the Zohar. Key Themes Lulei Hashem Ezratah Lanu — Tehillim 124 "Were it not for Hashem's help" — the Psalm of the existential *lulei*, the

Nussun of Breslov.

contemplation of what would have been without Hashem. Applied to the generation's spiritual peril: without the Rebbe's teachings, there would be nothing with which to survive the roaring sea-waves of the time.]