{
  "bookId": "alim-litrufa",
  "part": "2",
  "torah": "39",
  "title": "לט",
  "hebrewTitle": "לט",
  "sourceUrl": "/reader/alim-litrufa/2/39",
  "plainUrl": "/reader-plain/alim-litrufa/2/39/",
  "segments": [
    {
      "index": 1,
      "he": "בָּרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם, יוֹם ד' וַיְחִי [י\"ג טבת] תקצ\"א.",
      "en": "Peace — to my beloved son, the veteran scholar,\n our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may he live."
    },
    {
      "index": 2,
      "he": "אֲהוּבִי בְּנִי חֲבִיבִי, הָיִיתִי עוֹמֵד וּמְצַפֶּה לִרְאוֹת מִכְתָּבְךָ, כָּלוּ עֵינַי כָּל הַיּוֹם מֵחֲמַת שֶׁלֹּא רָאִיתִי מִכְתָּבְךָ זֶה כַּמָּה יָמִים. וְהִנֵּה בְּיוֹם אֶתְמוֹל בִּשְּׂרוּנִי בְּבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ שֶׁיֵּשׁ מִכְתָּב מֵאִתְּךָ, וְשַׂשְׂתִּי כְּעַל כָּל הוֹן. וּבָאתִי לְבֵיתִי וּפָתַחְתִּי אוֹתוֹ וְעָמַדְתִּי מַרְעִיד, כִּי לֹא שָׁמַעְתִּי מִקֹּדֶם כְּלָל שְׁמוּעָה לֹא טוֹבָה כָּזֹאת מֵחֲמוֹתְךָ זִכְרוֹנָהּ לִבְרָכָה, \"צַדִּיק ה' בְּכָל דְּרָכָיו\" וְכוּ'. וּבְוַדַּאי אֲנִי מֵבִין מֵרָחוֹק עֹצֶם צַעַרְךָ וּבִלְבּוּל דַּעְתְּךָ, אַךְ גַּם אַתָּה רָאוּי לְךָ לְהָבִין צַעֲרֵנוּ וּבִלְבּוּל דַּעְתֵּנוּ, כִּי כְּבָר הוֹדַעְתִּיךָ מַה שֶּׁהָיָה בְּבֵיתִי בְּעֵת שֶׁנִּפְטַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל זַ\"ל הַמָּקוֹם יַצִּילֵנוּ מֵעַתָּה. וְהִנֵּה זֶה יוֹתֵר מִשְּׁנֵי שָׁבוּעוֹת אֲשֶׁר בָּעֲרָה אֵשׁ ה' בְּכַמָּה וְכַמָּה נְפָשׁוֹת הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת שֶׁנֶּעְדְּרוּ הַרְבֵּה בְּאֵלּוּ הַיָּמִים הַמְעֻטִּים, הַמָּקוֹם יְרַחֵם וְיֹאמַר לַמַּלְאָךְ הֶרֶף יָדְךָ,",
      "en": "Your letter I received last week. And now I fear lest my friend Rabbi Chaim\n precede [depart as messenger] and leave at once — therefore I am writing in haste\n in the middle of prayer, before\n Ashrai and\n U'va L'Tzion\n [i.e., mid-Shacharis, between\n the Psukay D'Zimrah and the final prayers — Reb Nussun\n interrupts his own davening to write] — and I do not know at all what to\n write to you. And behold — no doubt you have already heard that\n the light of our eyes, the beloved — Rabbi Avraham\n Beer, son of Adl — may he live — has been ill for more than a week. And blessed\n be Hashem he has had a turn for the better. May Hashem support him so that he\n returns to his full strength in completeness speedily. And from yourself you can\n understand the greatness of the anguish we had — therefore I was unable to seek\n out a passerby last week to write you anything. The nekretin\n [הַנֶּעקְרֶעטִין — from the Russian rekrut/recruiter:\n the agents of the Czarist government charged with conscripting Jewish boys into\n the Imperial Army, often for terms of twenty-five years beginning in childhood.\n This was the Cantonist decree — one of the most devastating decrees ever to fall\n upon Russian Jewry. The bracketed gloss in the original Hebrew text reads:\n \"those appointed over the conscription of the children of Israel into the army\"]\n from Nemrov conscripted eight [boys] — and one soldier remained.\n [וְנִשְׁאָר חַיָּל אֶחָד — the plain Hebrew says simply\n \"one soldier remained.\" Whether this means one boy still at risk, one quota-slot\n yet unfilled, or some other unresolved aspect of the decree, Reb Nussun leaves"
    },
    {
      "index": 3,
      "he": "רְאֵה בְּנִי וַחֲכַם, מַה שֶּׁעוֹבֵר עַל הָאָדָם בִּימֵי חַיֵּי הֶבְלוֹ וְהַכֹּל לְטוֹבָה. בְּנִי רְאֵה גַּם רְאֵה הֶבֶל הָעוֹלָם הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים, הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים. וְאִם קֹהֶלֶת אָמַר שִׁבְעָה הֲבָלִים, רָאוּי לָנוּ לוֹמַר אַלְפֵי אֲלָפִים וְרִבֵּי רְבָבוֹת הֲבָלִים. רְאֵה בְּנִי מַה שֶּׁעוֹבֵר עַל הָאָדָם בִּימֵי חַיָּיו, וְכָכָה וְכָכָה עָבְרוּ עַל יְמֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ כַּמּוּבָא בַּסְּפָרִים כַּמָּה מִינֵי דֶּבֶר וְחֶרֶב רַחֲמָנָא לִצְלַן עָבְרוּ בְּכָל הַדּוֹרוֹת, לִפְעָמִים בִּמְדִינָה זֹאת וְלִפְעָמִים בִּמְדִינָה זֹאת. וְהַכֹּל בִּשְׁבִיל הַנִּסָּיוֹן וְהַבְּחִירָה, לְמַעַן הַשֵּׁם, לְמַעַן הַשֵּׁם, שֶׁנִּתְחַזֵּק וְנַעְתִּיר לַה' שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הַכֹּל לְטוֹבָה, בִּבְחִינַת (מִשְׁלֵי יט) \"יִרְאַת ה' לְחַיִּים\", וְלֹא לְמָוֶת. הַיְנוּ שֶׁעַל יְדֵי כָּל מַה שֶּׁעוֹבֵר נִזְכֶּה לְהִתְקָרֵב יוֹתֵר לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְלִזְכֹּר בְּהַתַּכְלִית הָאֱמֶת שֶׁהַכֹּל הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים הֶבֶל נִדָּף.",
      "en": "unstated — the horror speaks without elaboration]\n May Hashem Yisborach have mercy on His people\n quickly. Bitter and most bitter — woe and alas —\n to speak and write of this. May the Omnipresent have mercy on the remnant\n of His people Israel. And may He place in each person's heart to look well upon himself —\n what is happening in the world: troubles heaped upon troubles\n in quick succession — and he still dances among them\n [going about ordinary life as if unmoved, oblivious to\n the spiritual urgency pressing on every side] —\n it does not let us settle our spirit\n [לֹא יִתְּנֵנוּ — \"it does not let us\": the\n subject shifts here from singular to plural — from \"him\" to \"us.\" Reb Nussun\n steps inside the very condition he has just described. The relentlessness of\n affliction does not let any of us — including Reb Nussun himself — compose our\n minds to think of our end and our future]\n and compose our mind to think of our end and our future.\n What shall we say — what shall we speak — what shall we say\n — what shall we speak\n [the fourfold repetition is in the original — an expression\n of wordless anguish echoing the language of Yosef's brothers: what shall\n we say to my lord, what shall we speak\n [B'reishis 44:16]]. But — I considered my ways and turned my feet toward Your testimonies\n [Tehillim 119:59] —\n we have no one to flee to except to Torah and prayer\n — on the paths of truth and uprightness which we drew from the wells of\n salvation. And even now we must console ourselves and gladden our souls with the"
    },
    {
      "index": 4,
      "he": "אֲהוּבִי בְּנִי יֵשׁ בְּלִבִּי הַרְבֵּה לְדַבֵּר אַךְ גָּבַהּ טוּרָא בֵּינָן, לְמַעַן הַשֵּׁם חֲזַק וְהִתְחַזֵּק וּזְכֹר אֶת בּוֹרַאֲךָ בְּכָל עֵת בֵּין בְּטִיבוֹ בֵּין בְּעָקוּ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם חַס וְשָׁלוֹם; וְקַיֵּם מַה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תְּהִלִּים נו) \"בַּה' אֲהַלֵּל דָּבָר בֵּאלֹקִים אֲהַלֵּל דָּבָר\". כִּי כָּל הַמְּאֹרָעוֹת הַכֹּל לְטוֹבָתֵנוּ, וְזֶה מֵעֵין עוֹלָם הַבָּא וְכוּ' כַּמְבֹאָר בְּסִימָן ד', רְאֵה גַּם רְאֵה כַּמָּה הִפְלִיא הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ חַסְדּוֹ הַגָּדוֹל עִמָּנוּ שֶׁהִקְדִּים רְפוּאוֹת נִפְלָאוֹת כָּאֵלֶּה לְמַכּוֹתֵינוּ הָאֲנוּשׁוֹת כָּאֵלֶּה, שֶׁהוֹדִיעָנוּ בְּרַחֲמָיו תּוֹרוֹת נוֹרָאוֹת וְנִפְלָאוֹת וְנִשְׂגָּבוֹת כָּאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא נִשְׁמְעוּ מֵעוֹלָם, שֶׁנּוּכַל לְהַחֲיוֹת נַפְשׁוֹתֵינוּ בָּהֶם גַּם בָּעִתִּים הַלָּלוּ בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים הָאֵלּוּ, אֲשֶׁר עָלֵינוּ נִבְּאוּ כָּל קַדְמוֹנֵינוּ הַצַּדִּיקִים וְהַנְּבִיאִים הָאֲמִתִּיִּים; לְמַעַן הַשֵּׁם חֲזַק וְנִתְחַזֵּק, וְאַל תִּשְׁכַּח בְּכָל עֵת מִי הָיָה בָּעוֹלָם וּמִי מְקַיֵּם הָעוֹלָם עַתָּה; בַּה' בָּטַחְנוּ לֹא נִמְעַד, חֲטֹף וֶאֱכֹל חֲטֹף וֶאֱכֹל בְּנִי גַּם עַתָּה תּוֹרָה וּמִצְווֹת וּתְפִלָּה וְהִתְבּוֹדְדוּת כָּל מַה שֶּׁתּוּכַל. כִּי גַּם יָמִים אֵלּוּ הֵם יָמִים, וְנֶחֱשָׁבִים בִּימֵי חַיֵּינוּ, וְגַם עֲלֵיהֶם נֶאֱמַר \"הַיּוֹם אִם בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ\" הַיּוֹם דַּיְקָא. וְאָז טוֹב לְךָ וּלְבֵיתְךָ וְהַאֲרַכְתָּ יָמִים וְשָׁנִים אָמֵן.",
      "en": "greatness of the wonders of the salvations — which the Master of Mercy performed\n for us: to have preceded for us such remedies before these\n blows\n [Reb Nussun refers to the Breslov teachings and practices —\n the segulos and paths of\n emunah — which were given to the community before\n these terrible decrees fell. The order of mercy: the remedy first, the blow\n after]. For were it not for Hashem Who was with us\n [Tehillim 124:1] — nearly, nearly our hope would\n have been lost entirely, G-d forbid.\n\nTherefore it is upon us to praise the Master of All\n and so forth — every day and every time — and to gladden our souls in this —\n so that through this very thing — specifically\n [עַל יְדֵי זֶה דַּיְקָא — davka: precisely,\n specifically through praise. Not that praise is a preliminary to petition —\n rather, praise is itself the mechanism through which the heart opens and the\n words of prayer flow as naturally as a child's speech before its father.\n The davka is the theological point]\n — we merit to pour out our speech before Him, as a child\n who beseeches before his father. For He has already drawn us near in His\n mercy as beloved and precious children — and shown us such treasuries upon\n treasuries of goodness and preciousness — such wondrous and beloved and awesome\n segulos\n [propitious remedies and spiritual treasures].\n\nEnclosed — A Letter from Rabbi Aizik of Ladizhin\n\nAnd receive the letter enclosed here — from our friend Rabbi Aizik of Ladizhin —\n so that you may see the strength of the longing of our people\n toward the truth — to come to the Land of Israel and so forth. And I have\n already written him a fine reply to this. If G-d wills it — if you are in\n Ladizhin — ask him to show you my letter. And\n treasure this letter\n [וְתַצְנִיעַ — hide it carefully, preserve it]\n — for I have hoped in Hashem that\n our letters will be precious in the days to come\n with the help of Hashem Yisborach.\n\nFor all of them revolve around the central point of the truth in its truth —\n to long and to yearn for Hashem and His Torah and the true\n tzadikim and their holy ways.\n Happy are we that we merited to this. May Hashem be thus with us — that we merit\n to complete and to bring our good intention to fruition speedily —\n so that we not be shamed and so forth — forever and ever."
    },
    {
      "index": 5,
      "he": "דִּבְרֵי אָבִיךָ הַכּוֹתֵב בְּחִפָּזוֹן וּמְצַפֶּה לִישׁוּעַת ה' מְהֵרָה.",
      "en": "[cf. Tehillim 25:3]\n\nThe words of your father — who awaits salvation.\n\nNussun of Breslov."
    },
    {
      "index": 6,
      "he": "נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב",
      "en": "Nussun of Breslov."
    }
  ]
}