# קמה
קמה
Source: https://ajew.org/reader/alim-litrufa/2/145
## Segment 1
קמה
Overview: Written on the fortieth day of the Omer — noted explicitly in biblical language. The letter opens with loving exasperation: he has spoken thousands of times that every person is full of suffering — and Yitzchok still writes in black melancholy. The response is two-part. First: snatch and eat — the Talmudic idiom of urgent seizure applied to Torah, prayer, and good deeds. Second: cultivate the quality of forgetting — midas hashicha — as a positive spiritual faculty. At the time of prayer especially, let the past and future dissolve entirely. Only this hour exists. The closing verse from Aicha — the chassodai Hashem ki lo somnu — is the ground of everything: not that bad times end, but that the source of good cannot be exhausted.
## Segment 2
בְּעֶזְרַת הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, יוֹם ו' עֶרֶב שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ פָּרָשַׁת פִּנְחָס תקצ"ד לפ"ק.
Today I received your letter — and it was a great comfort to me that you merited to receive my letter. For I had great longing and much toil from Sunday until yesterday — until I found a way to send you my aforementioned letter. May Hashem Yisborach grant that my words make an impression on your hearts — for it is not an empty thing — for they flow from a most great and awesome and mighty and exalted source.
## Segment 3
אֲהוּבִי בְּנִי חֲבִיבִי.
My beloved son, my dear one.
## Segment 4
מִכְתָּבְךָ קִבַּלְתִּי מֵרַבִּי פִּנְחָס הֶענְיֶס. וּכְבָר יָדַעְתִּי מִקֹּדֶם מֵרַבִּי טוֹבִיָּה מִטֶּעפְּלִיק שֶׁנִּכְנַסְתָּ לְבֵיתְךָ נָאֲוָה קֹדֶשׁ. יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לְחַיִּים טוֹבִים אֲרֻכִּים וּלְשָׁלוֹם לְךָ וּלְכָל בֵּיתְךָ. וְתִזְכּוּ לַעֲסֹק שָׁם בַּעֲבוֹדַת ה' בֶּאֱמֶת. וְיִהְיֶה בֵּיתְךָ בֵּית וַעַד לַחֲכָמִים בַּיִת פָּתוּחַ לִרְוָחָה, בַּיִת שֶׁמְּגַדְּלִין בּוֹ תּוֹרָה וּתְפִלָּה. וְכָעֵת כְּבָר עָבַר חֲצוֹת הַיּוֹם וּקְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ מְמַשְׁמֵשׁ וּבָא, וְאֵין פְּנַאי לְהַאֲרִיךְ כְּלָל. וּכְפִי הַנִּרְאֶה לֹא אֶסַּע עוֹד שׁוּם נְסִיעָה בְּעֶזְרַת הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ עַד אַחַר שַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה.
To: My beloved son, my dear one. [Yitzchok]
Your letter I received through Rabbi Pinchas Henyes. And I already knew
beforehand — from Rabbi Toviyah from Teplyk — that
you have entered your home — the dwelling of holiness
[נִכְנַסְתָּ לְבֵיתְךָ נָאֲוָה קֹדֶשׁ — naveh
kodesh: "the dwelling of holiness" — the same phrase used in Shemos
## Segment 5
דִּבְרֵי אָבִיךָ הַמְצַפֶּה לִרְאוֹתְךָ בְּשַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה. מִי יִתֵּן שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְהָכִין עַצְמֵנוּ מֵעַתָּה עַל שַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְנֶחָמָה שְׁלֵמָה עַל כָּל צָרוֹת נַפְשֵׁנוּ שֶׁלֹּא נִסֹּג עוֹד מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרַךְ שֶׁזֶּה עִקַּר הַנֶּחָמָה וְהַיְשׁוּעָה עַל הַכֹּל.
15:13 (*naveh kodshecha*) in the Song of the Sea: "You will lead them in
Your kindness to Your holy dwelling." Applied to Yitzchok's new home: the
home of a Torah-observant Jew is a *naveh kodesh* — a sacred dwelling —
from the moment of its sanctification through Torah and prayer].
May it be His will that it be for good and long life and peace — for you and
all your household. And may you all merit to engage there in the service of
Hashem in truth. And may your home be
a gathering place for the wise — a house open wide —
a house in which Torah and prayer are cultivated
[בֵּית וַעַד לַחֲכָמִים — בַּיִת פָּתוּחַ לִרְוָחָה
— בַּיִת שֶׁמְּגַדְּלִין בּוֹ תּוֹרָה וּתְפִלָּה — echoing Mishnah Avos
1:4: yehi beischa beis va'ad lachachamim — "let your home be a
gathering place for the wise." And 1:5: yehi beischa pasuach
lirvachah — "let your home be open wide." Together with the third
formulation — a house in which Torah and prayer are cultivated — these three
characterizations express the triple ideal of the Breslov home: a place
of Torah learning, of hospitality, and of sacred practice]
[Avos 1:4–5].
And for now — midday has already passed — and the holiness of the holy
Shabbos is drawing close and arriving — and there is no time to extend at
all. And according to what appears — I will not travel on any journey — with
the help of Hashem Yisborach — until after
Shabbas Nachamu
[שַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ — Shabbas Nachamu: the Shabbos of
Consolation — the Shabbos following Tisha B'Av, when the Haftarah begins
*nachamu nachamu ami* (Yeshayahu 40:1) — "comfort, comfort My people." The
first of the seven *Shabbosos d'nechamah* — the seven Shabboses of consolation
between Tisha B'Av and Rosh Hashana.
A gathering-point for the Breslov
community: Reb Nussun expects Yitzchok to come for this Shabbos]
that comes upon us for good.
The words of your father — who awaits seeing you at the coming Shabbas
Nachamu. Would that we merit to prepare ourselves from now for Shabbas
Nachamu — that we merit to complete consolation for all the sorrows of
our soul — that we no longer draw back from Him, Yisborach — for this
is the essential consolation and salvation for everything.
Nussun of Breslov. [Translator's Note: Overview: Friday, Erev Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Pinchas.
Very brief — Shabbos approaching, no time. Yitzchok has entered his new
home — *naveh kodesh*. Three blessings: *beis va'ad lachachamim* — *bayis
pasuach l'r'vachah* — *beis shemgadlin bo Torah u'tefilla* (Avos 1:4–5).
No travel until after *Shabbas Nachamu*. Closing: may we merit to prepare
from now for *Shabbas Nachamu* — may the consolation be complete — may we
no longer draw back from Hashem — for this is the essential consolation and
salvation for everything.
Key Themes
Beis Va'ad Lachachamim / Bayis Pasuach / Torah U'tefilla — Avos 1:4–5
Three formulations of the ideal home from the Mishnah of Avos: a gathering
place for the wise; a house open wide; a house in which Torah and prayer
are cultivated. Applied to Yitzchok's new home as a triple blessing and
aspiration at the threshold of entry.]
## Segment 6
נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב
Nussun of Breslov.