סא.

The daughter of my eye and my heart, Mr. Z. Shazar — who has girded his loins without laziness, and inflamed his heart that blazes like a burning fire, to use the elegance of his sharp and precise tongue and his extraordinarily great talent, to win over great souls of writers and scientists — to ignite their hearts toward the true Tzadik, who is the one unique individual in the world, who is the essential novelty and wonder of all the great Tzadikim, the exalted ones who have existed in all the generations. Who subdues and nullifies the vanity and the spirit of foolishness and madness of external wisdoms and false faiths, and reveals His G-dliness Yisburach to all who come into the world through the foods that are cooked in the fire of his cookhouse. The King Moshiach — only he will be the matchmaker, who will match and bind all of Israel with the true Tzadik, and will reveal the immense power and the lofty stature and the greatness and the might of his wondrous Torah and teaching — without end and without limit. And through this he will repair the entire world and bring everyone close to Hashem Yisburach, and fill the entire earth with knowledge to know Hashem. Peace and all good for a long life — a good life, a true life, an eternal life.

Because of the greatness of my love for you and the immensity of my love with which I have loved you — a great love, a true love — I am hereby sending you these words from the words of Rabbainu za.tza.l., which Hashem placed in my heart following the conversations and the supplications and the weepings that I poured out over you before the Creator Yisburach at the time of hisbodidus at midnight, among the mountains. For your soul is always bound to my soul at every time — and especially in my prayer and my entreaty, my innards storm over you greatly. For I know well the goodness of your heart in its inwardness, and the quality of your noble and very exalted soul. And it is fitting for you to overcome yourself with all your might, lest the precious and beloved treasures that are dependent upon your very precious soul be lost.

Awaken, my brother, from your sleep, and remember your Creator in the days of your old age. And think about your end and your eternal purpose — before the candle is extinguished. For already many of your years have passed, and "our days upon the earth are as a shadow" [1 Chronicles 29:15]. For the time goes and murmurs, goes and storms — and races and flies exceedingly, exceedingly — and does not stand still even for a single moment. And when will you make provision for your eternal home? Take these words deeply to heart and remember what we have spoken many times — that praise be to G-d, we have an old father, the Elder of all Elders, whose power is very great and awesome beyond all end and all limit — who labors at our repair and endeavors at our salvation forever, in every generation. And he will certainly repair us with a wondrous repair. Only be strong and courageous to fulfill his words — to gladden your soul always, every day, a little or a great deal — and you will find rest for your soul. And the essential thing is to nullify your mind before the mind of Rabbainu the holy and the exalted za.tza.l.

Whoever wishes to merit a good end forever must strive with all his strength to draw close to the Tzadik and his truly worthy people — and through this everything is repaired, to the point where sins are transformed into merits. And through this it brings about that even the utterly wicked who have left the category of Israel through the multitude of their evil deeds — even they become a throne for holiness, and they return in teshuvah, and they help those who serve Hashem to build the buildings of holiness.

The essential power of the evil inclination — which is the aspect of the primordial serpent — is against the scholars and the great students who have the greatest daas. For after them it constantly trails in order to cause them to sin — because they have the most exalted soul, which is the intellect. And the essential teshuvah and rectification is to guard one's intellect and one's thoughts very carefully, not to allow any external thought or any external wisdom into one's mind. For the intellect is the soul — and when one sanctifies one's intellect, meaning one's soul, through this one elevates and returns everything to its root. And this is the essential teshuvah.

In the very extremity of the darkness — in the very extremity of the descent of a Jewish soul when it falls greatly to the side of impurity — then specifically it cannot receive vitality from any holiness, except from the aspect of the supernal holiness, which is the holiness of the true Tzadik. For he is able to conceal himself and to hide even in the completely impure places, and to give life to those who fall there, Heaven forbid. Therefore there is no despair in the world at all — because on the contrary, specifically there, a most supernal holiness is clothed and hidden and concealed to give it life. And therefore if a person will remember this in the very extremity of his descent and his fall, and will believe this with complete faith — then certainly he can merit to draw close to Hashem Yisburach from wherever he may be, and to transform the descent into the ultimate ascent.

One must remove one's mind entirely, and lower oneself to the aspect of faith, which is the aspect of the Land of Israel — and through this one merits to a very elevated daas. And the essential of true faith is that Hashem Yisburach receives pleasure and delight from the lowly human beings below specifically — even from the very lowest. And to merit to this in perfection is only through the great Tzadik who merited to the humility of Moshe. And through the greatness of his humility he lowers himself to all the lowest levels, and he elevates and binds them all to Hashem Yisburach — even those most distant. The transcriber, who longs and yearns to meet with great love and great joy. Yisroel Odesser

Israel Dov Odesser