# מב
מב
Source: https://ajew.org/reader/alim-litrufa/2/42
## Segment 1
יוֹם ג' פְּקוּדֵי [כ"ג אדר] תקצ"א פֹּה אוּמַאן.
My beloved son, my dear one — may he live. [Yitzchok] 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
## Segment 2
שָׁלוֹם וְחַיִּים לַאֲהוּבִי חֲבִיבִי כְּנַפְשִׁי הָרַבָּנִי הַוָּתִיק מוֹרֵנוּ הָרַב חַיִּים נַחוּם נֵרוֹ יָאִיר לָנֶצַח.
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. Now I ask that you reply to me at once with some length — clarifying for me what
you can in the letter — and a little about the will of your father-in-law, of
blessed memory: whether he also left some portion for you.
## Segment 3
בְּשָׁעָה זוֹ שָׁמַעְתִּי שֶׁהִגִּיעַ מִכְתָּב מֵאִתְּךָ שֶׁחוֹתֶנְךָ נִפְטַר, תְּהֵא נִשְׁמָתוֹ צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים הַמָּקוֹם יְנַחֵם אֶתְכֶם. וּמֵאַהֲבָתְךָ זֵרַזְתִּי עַצְמִי לִכְתֹּב לְךָ שׁוּרוֹתַיִם אֵלּוּ שֶׁתּוֹדָה לָאֵל בָּאתִי לְשָׁלוֹם לְפֹה אֶתְמוֹל, וּבָרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם הַכֹּל שָׁלוֹם. אַךְ הֵיטֵב חָרָה לִי עָלֶיךָ עַל שֶׁהִשְׁלַכְתָּ אֶת אֲחוֹתְךָ עַל הַצַּדֶּקֶת מָרַת אָדְל תִּחְיֶה, וּפָקַדְתָּ עָלֶיהָ בְּאַזְהָרָה לְבַל תִּנָּשֵׂא לְאִישׁ פָּשׁוּט עַד שֶׁיִּזְדַּמֵּן לָהּ לַמְדָן דַּיְקָא. הֲיִתָּכֵן לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן, אִם אַתָּה רוֹצֶה לְהַשִּׂיאָהּ לְתַלְמִיד חָכָם דַּיְקָא תִּקָּחֶנָּה לְבֵיתְךָ וְתִהְיֶה מֻטָּל עָלֶיךָ וְתוּכַל לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹנְךָ, וְאֵיךְ אַתָּה רוֹצֶה לְהַעֲמִיס הָעֹל עַל אָדְל תִּחְיֶה, שֶׁתִּהְיֶה בְּבֵיתָהּ, אֲשֶׁר הַשָּׁעָה דְּחוּקָה לָהּ מְאֹד כַּיָּדוּעַ לְךָ, וְתִהְיֶה צְרוּרָה מִלְּהִנָּשֵׂא עַד שֶׁיִּזְדַּמֵּן לָהּ תַּלְמִיד חָכָם דַּיְקָא. וּמִי יוֹדֵעַ אִם הַתַּלְמִיד חָכָם יִרְצֶה לִשָּׂאֶנָּה עַל תְּנַאי שֶׁיְּחַזֵּר עַל הַפְּתָחִים עִמָּהּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ עִמָּהּ, אֲפִלּוּ אִם אֲחוֹתְךָ תִּתְרַצֶּה לָזֶה. מִכָּל שֶׁכֵּן שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת גַּם אֲחוֹתְךָ אֵינָה מְרֻצָּה לָזֶה כְּלָל. וְאִם אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ"ל (פְּסָחִים מט) 'לְעוֹלָם יִמְכֹּר אָדָם וְכוּ' וְיַשִּׂיא בִּתּוֹ לְתַלְמִיד חָכָם', אֲבָל אַתָּה לֹא מָכַרְתָּ כְּלָל, וְאֵין לְךָ מַה לִּמְכֹּר. מַדּוּעַ לֹא תִּזְכֹּר דִּבְרֵי רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ"ל (שָׁם קיג) 'בִּתְּךָ בָּגְרָה שַׁחְרֵר עַבְדְּךָ' וְכוּ'. מִכָּל שֶׁכֵּן שֶׁהִשְׁלַכְתָּ אוֹתָהּ בְּלִי רְשׁוּת בְּבֵית הַצַּדֶּקֶת אָדְל תִּחְיֶה, וְאַתָּה מַזְהִיר עָלֶיהָ כָּאֵלֶּה. הִסְכַּלְתָּ עֲשׂוֹ אָחִי חֲבִיבִי, כִּי נִזְדַּמֵּן לָהּ שִׁדּוּךְ הָגוּן, לְדַעְתִּי וּמֵחֲמַת דְּבָרֶיךָ נִתְבַּלְבֵּל. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֲחוֹתְךָ נִתְרַצֵּית, אֲבָל אַף עַל פִּי כֵן נִתְבַּלְבֵּל הַדָּבָר עַל יָדְךָ, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲסַפֵּר לְךָ אִם יִרְצֶה הַשֵּׁם. עַל כֵּן תִּרְאֶה לְתַקֵּן זֹאת, וְתִכְתֹּב לָהּ תֵּכֶף שֶׁלֹּא תְּדַקְדֵּק דַּיְקָא עַל זֶה, רַק תִּסְמֹךְ עַל הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ שֶׁיַּנְחֶה אוֹתָהּ בְּדֶרֶךְ הָאֱמֶת, יָתֵר מִזֶּה אֵין לְהַאֲרִיךְ בָּזֶה.
Beyond this there is
no need to extend. May Hashem Yisborach strengthen your heart to discharge the
obligation of the day — each and every day — all that your hand finds with
your strength to do on that day — and not to carry over from one day to the next
at all — as we have already spoken of this much. And still
much prayer and
hisbodidus [personal outpouring before Hashem] are
needed to merit salvation and great mercy — to fulfil this in true truth,
according to His good will. The words of your father — who seeks your peace always with love and awaits
seeing you soon. Nussun of Breslov.
Postscript — To Rabbi Mordechai
And peace to my friend Rabbi Mordechai — what shall I say to you to console
you? From yourself you will understand that
all the things I write to my son who shall live are said to
you as well — and to all of you. And keep my letters well — for to me
myself they are very precious words — renewed each time from Him Yisborach in
His great kindness. And they are your consolation for all
the troubles — for the essential consolation is the true knowledge —
through which we can draw true counsel to remain steadfast in His service,
Yisborach, forever.
Nussun as above.
Second Postscript — Shavuos Approaching
May Hashem Yisborach grant us the fear and joy and holiness
and purity of the awesome holy festival which comes upon us for good
[Shavuos]. If we remember even one point from the intense
fear that flows at Shavuos — as it is written in the Shavuos prayer:
even the whole world trembles before You… in thunders and lightnings
[from the U'v'chen
prayer of Shavuos Musaf — a liturgical formulation, not a Tanach verse]
and so forth — one should shudder without measure even now.
And if we still do not merit to this — at least now it is fitting to
pour out our speech greatly like water before the face of
Hashem — where are we in the world? — we have already counted more than
six weeks, and still have not purified ourselves to feel the fear of Shavuos.
May the Good G-d atone and protect us — and draw upon us in His mercy His great
fear — that there be fulfilled in us:
and in order that His fear be upon your faces so that you not sin
[Sh'mos 20:17] — and through this may we merit
great joy — as it is written:
rejoice with trembling
[Tehillim 2:11].
And this is the perfection of fear — when through it one
merits joy. And we have already written and spoken much of this — that
even through fear of punishment one merits to joy — through the ways we received
of giving oneself life with all the good points and so forth.
Nussun as above.
Third Postscript — A Second Letter Arrived; The Kaddish
After I wrote the enclosed letter, a second letter reached me from you — from
the eve of the holy Shabbos. And I am astonished, my son — how did you not
understand on your own that I am not at all particular about such matters? And
what does it concern me if you say several
Kaddishim each day with
kavonah [intention] — which is a great and awesome
praise —
[d'tavar kol g'zizin d'farzela — דְּתָּבַר כָּל
גְּזִיזִין דְּפַרְזְלָא: Aramaic — "that breaks all bars of iron," meaning it
shatters all harsh decrees. This is a traditional formulation about the power of
Kaddish found in rabbinic sources (cf. Soferim 19:12), not a line within the
Kaddish prayer itself]. But if you say Kaddish — have in mind that it is
also for my father, of blessed memory — who is your grandfather — and
this is my honour: that you should honour me through good
deeds
[b'uvadin tavin — בְּעוּבָדִין טָבִין: Aramaic —
"through good deeds/acts." Like milei d'shtuta earlier in this letter,
the Aramaic signals an intimate, direct register]
as much as you are able. But do not confuse your mind during the actual
recitation with this — only beforehand you may think as above.
My beloved son — I have already written you that no one has been travelling from
here to Tultshin on account of the fears — therefore the letter was delayed until
now. And today — Monday, after midday — your third letter reached me, in a voice
of great and bitter outcry. And I do not know what more to write to you — for I
have already written you much — and I have already replied to you in the first
letter, and reminded you that I had already informed you beforehand many times:
that it is necessary for every person to pass through many and various hardships
[harpatkao's] — may the Omnipresent have mercy that
it be with great kindness.
What shall I say to you, my son — do you not see with your own eyes, every day
and every time, the vanity of the world — how
everything is vanity, and all the toil that is done under the sun — with each
and every person? And already all the tzadikim of former and later generations
cried out — and in particular our Master, our Teacher and Rebbe, of blessed
memory — that the world deceives us entirely and so
forth. And if we know all this — and yet even so it seeks to deceive us against
our will — for the leaven in the dough holds back
[Brochos 17a — the evil inclination, compared to leaven,
spreads and expands against a person] and spreads and extends itself
against each one as it extends — nevertheless
the truth is the truth — for truth is one — and it is
impossible to alter the truth in any way for one who wishes to look upon the
truth.
And for this it is good for us to give thanks to Hashem at every time — that at
any rate we know the truth more clearly than the rest of the
world — even more than the Chassidim of
today.
## Segment 4
חֲזַק וֶאֱמַץ אָחִי וְתַלְמִידִי חֲבִיבִי, הַשְׁלֵךְ עַל ה' יְהָבְךָ וְהוּא יְכַלְכְּלֶךָ, וְאַל תִּדְאַג דַּאֲגַת מָחָר, וְיִהְיֶה בְּעֵינֶיךָ דְבָרִים אֵלֶּה בְּכָל יוֹם כַּחֲדָשִׁים, לִבְלִי לַחֲשֹׁב מִיּוֹם לַחֲבֵרוֹ כְּלָל, רַק כָּל אֲשֶׁר תִּמְצָא יָדְךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּכֹחֲךָ עֲשֵׂה בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם. וְתִזָּהֵר מֵעַתָּה לֵילֵךְ עִם מַה שֶּׁכָּתַב אֲדְמוֹ"ר זַ"ל, הַיּוֹם אִם בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ, הַיּוֹם דַּיְקָא. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁגַּם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לְבַד קָשֶׁה לָצֵאת חוֹבַת הַיּוֹם, תְּצָרֵף לָזֶה שְׁאָר שִׂיחוֹת וְהַתּוֹרוֹת הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת מֵהַנַּחַל נוֹבֵעַ מְקוֹר חָכְמָה שֶׁהֵם מְלֵאִים עֵצוֹת עֲמֻקּוֹת מְאֹד, בִּפְרָט הַדֶּרֶךְ הַתָּם וְהַיָּשָׁר עַל פָּסוּק אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹקַי בְּעוֹדִי וְכוּ', וְדַי בָּזֶה כָּעֵת.
And if even so your deeds do not go well — even so it is very good and
precious, very very precious, that you know the truth in its
truth. But just as it is a great virtue that you yearn so much toward the
true purpose — so too there is in it a great deficiency: that you burn and cry
out more than necessary. For more than necessary is — G-d forbid — close to
destruction [h'risah]. And have we not already
spoken to the very last point — that one must give oneself life even with a
single point of our holy Jewishness which we hold in His great kindness?
And you should not look at all at other people who do not give themselves life
in this — even if they are far better than you, and yet even so they are in
black melancholy and sadness — and even if they are from our own
anshei shlomaynu [community]. For you should not
look upon them in this matter at all — only listen to my words,
which flow from his holy words, of blessed memory —
to give yourself life at every time and every day from the fact that you are of
the seed of Israel and who has not made me a gentile — and that we
merit to perform many mitzvos each day — and in
particular, in particular, the great wondrous and awesome kindness
that we are held and bound to his holy name, of blessed
memory.
And if we had heard from him nothing except the Torah of
Azamra l'Elokai b'odi
[אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹקַי בְּעוֹדִי — "I will sing to my G-d
while I yet exist" [Tehillim 146:2] — the subject of Likutay Moharan I:282,
which teaches finding and singing from the good points within oneself and all
people]
— that alone would suffice to give ourselves life
through this holy Torah all the days of our lives — and to merit through it
eternal life forever. All the more so that we also heard the story of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, and Kislev and Chanukah, and Chalifos [Exchanges],
and Yovel [Jubilee], and Daray Ma'ala and Daray Mata [Heavenly and Earthly
Dwellers], and those that encompass above time, and the cycles of days and of
years and so forth — and we have also heard yet further awesome and wondrous
things that were never heard in the world. What shall I speak.
Know, my beloved son — our holy and sublime and awesome
Rebbe, of blessed memory, knew all that would pass over you until the very
end — and he already preceded awesome remedies for our grievous wounds
— through all the Torahs and stories and
conversations and the illumination of G-dliness that he lit in our minds.
Be strong, my son — be strong.
And the main thing is to go with what I have already written you —
to make yourself at every time as if completely forgetting
— and through this you will go out to freedom each time: from the
galus ishto
[גָּלוּת אִשְׁתּוֹ — literally "the exile of his wife":
an oppressive domestic situation with his wife that weighs heavily on Yitzchok]
which rests upon you — and from the other kinds of exiles and subjugations
that rest on your mind as if holding you in their hand, G-d forbid.
And in truth free choice is free — and thought is in the
person's hand to turn it as he wills. And the main thing is not to begin
to think at all — but as if you were born just now — and as if you do not know
at all what was and what will be. And in that very hour gladden yourself with
everything you can — both with the good points as described above, and with
words of foolishness and joking and the like
[מִלֵּי דִּשְׁטוּתָא וּבְדִיחוּתָא — Zoharic Aramaic:
words of foolishness and laughter — playfulness, levity, humour — legitimate
tools for breaking the grip of melancholy when nothing else avails].
And if from within this you can seize yourself into Torah and prayer — good. And
if not — even so rejoice in Hashem and His Torah and His true
tzadikim according to the above ways — and
wait until the good time arrives when you can seize
good and truth in His great kindness through a little effort — for without any
effort at all it is impossible.
For even the effort and toil in the service of Hashem —
one can draw more of it upon oneself through joy and
freedom. And more than this it is impossible to extend in writing — and
I am confident that you will understand on your own how to take these words into
your heart in a manne
## Segment 5
דִּבְרֵי אוֹהַבְךָ בֶּאֱמֶת לָנֶצַח.
r that will console and gladden yourself and others — and
merit to fulfil the words of our Master, our Teacher and Rebbe, of blessed
memory — and to walk in his holy ways — so that it be good for you forever. The words of your father.
Nussun as above.
## Segment 6
נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב
Nussun of Breslov.