רד

My beloved son — my dear one — the rabbinical scholar — our Teacher the Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzchok — may his light shine — together with all his offspring who shall live — peace and all good.

[Hebrew: אֲהוּבִי בְּנִי חֲבִיבִי....]

On Monday before Yom Kippur I traveled from Breslov to here — and there I left a letter for you with my son Rabbi Shachna — may he live. Just now there is nothing new — and praised be G-d I was here for Yom Kippur with our *anshei sh'lomaynu* — Rabbi Ayzele of Hayshin and Rabbi Nachman of Tulchin. And praised be G-d — everything was peace — and we prayed as we wished — and no one opened his mouth [אֵין פּוֹצֶה פֶּה — no one opened his mouth to oppose or disturb — a profound relief. After the months of persecution, Yom Kippur in Nemirov passed in peace, with no interference from opponents] . May Hashem have compassion from now on — that there be peace and truth in the world. Just now I am sending for my wife to come here with my young children — may they live — and from yourself you understand that I have no proper dwelling — but the necessity compels me to send for them — for I have no place here to eat in a *sukkah* [סֻכָּה — Sukkos is immediately upon them. Reb Nussun is in Nemirov for the forced exile — he has no home of his own and no sukkah — and cannot eat in his brother's sukkah because his brother lives in close proximity to enemies and it cannot all be explained] — for it is impossible for me to eat by my brother in a *sukkah* — for he lives in close proximity to enemies — and it is impossible to explain everything. And in this time one must certainly give oneself life only through the expansions within the distresses — for they are the wonders of the Perfect in Knowledge [נִפְלְאוֹת תְּמִים דֵּעִים — from Iyov 37:16: *miflaos temim dei'os* — "the wonders of the Perfect in Knowledge." The expansions that appear within the distress are not human constructions — they are the direct wonders of Hashem Himself — the One Who is perfect in all knowledge] [Iyov 37:16] . And in several ways they are novelties and kindnesses and great wonders — even greater than the expansion itself that we hope to attain — to come out from the distresses entirely — and to return home in peace quickly.

At present I have no impediment whatsoever to prayer and study and so forth — except from the distractions and confusions that confuse me. And this battle one must always fight — to drive away the distractions. For all the distractions and fears that confuse — even now — are for nothing — and especially at the time of prayer — where they are certainly of no benefit at all when one thinks about them — G-d forbid — not at their proper time. And in this matter every person must always fight — to settle his mind — to drive from his thought all the distractions and preoccupations. And the essential is at the time of prayer — when all the distractions come and make themselves heard specifically then. And I wrote this to you so that you understand hints from this for yourself according to your level — for although you have your own preoccupations and affairs and transactions regarding your livelihood that confuse you — even so — I know that there are various matters that confuse you with confusions and preoccupations and fears for nothing — as is known to you. And we have already spoken of this greatly — but still we need to return to all our words many times every day. And also during the time of one's business itself one must remember Hashem and His Torah — even in the post office [בֵּית הַפָּאסְט — the Russian *pochta* — the post office — here the post-relay station where mail and travellers passed. Even in the midst of the most mundane transaction — Reb Nussun says — remember Hashem and His Torah] — and on the way there and back — and so forth. For if someone should say to you: where is your G-d? — say to him: in the great city of Rome [בִּכְרַךְ גָּדוֹל שֶׁל רוֹמִי — the parable from LM I:33 (*Mi Ha'ish Hachafetz Chayyim*): a king hides his treasure in the most unlikely place — the great city of Rome — the city of the enemy. So too Hashem hides His presence in the places that seem most distant from holiness. This teaching — that Hashem is hidden precisely in the most distant, mundane, and oppositional places — is the foundation of the practice of constant remembrance even in the post office and on the road] [LM I:33] — as is explained well in the Torah of *Mi Ha'ish Hachafetz Chayyim* (Likutay Moharan Part I, section 33) and in other places. How fortunate are we — that we merited to hear such holy and awesome things and so forth. *Mi ha'ish hachafetz chayyim* — who is the man who desires life? — let him take hold of them — turn them over and turn them over [הֲפֹךְ בָּהֶם וַהֲפֹךְ בָּהֶם — the formula from Avos 5:22 applied to the Rebbe's Torah teachings: *hafoch bahem v'hafoch bahem* — turn them over and turn them over — for everything is within them. The double turning — study the teachings from every angle — plumb their depths endlessly] and so forth — for there is no finer attribute than them. More than this there is no leisure to extend.

And praised be G-d — Hashem Yisborach is in our help to rejoice every time — and in His holy Name we trusted — to rejoice and exult in His salvation in this world and the next forever. [אִין טַאקֶי פָארְט הָאפּ — Breslov Yiddish: "and yet for all that — *hoff* — hope!" The same defiant expression of hope Reb Nussun uses in Letter 191. Written from exile in Nemirov — the day after Yom Kippur — the year has been the most difficult of his life — and still: *in taki fort hoff* — and in truth despite everything — joy!]

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]

Nussun son of our Teacher the Rabbi Naftali Hirtz — of blessed memory — of Breslov [נָתָן בֶּן מוֹרֵנוּ הָרַב נַפְתָּלִי הִירְץ זַ"ל מִבְּרֶסְלֶב — the only letter in this entire collection where Reb Nussun signs with his father's full name. Written from exile — on the day after Yom Kippur — in the most difficult year of his life — he identifies himself in full, anchored in his lineage. An intimate moment of self-disclosure and rootedness]. Nussun son of our Teacher the Rabbi Naftali Hirtz — of blessed memory — of Breslov [נָתָן בֶּן מוֹרֵנוּ הָרַב נַפְתָּלִי הִירְץ זַ"ל מִבְּרֶסְלֶב — the only letter in this entire collection where Reb Nussun signs with his father's full name. Written from exile — on the day after Yom Kippur — in the most difficult year of his life — he identifies himself in full, anchored in his lineage. An intimate moment of self-disclosure and rootedness] . I received your letter on the night of Hoshana Rabbah — and it was a comfort to me — for many days have I longed greatly to see the form of your handwriting [נִכְסֹף נִכְסַפְתִּי — the doubled verb of longing — from Bereishis 31:30: *nichsof nichsafta* — "you have greatly longed." Applied here to the longing to see even the physical form of a letter from Yitzchok — how much more so the person himself] . And behold — in every direction one turns — every corner and every movement — one sees the wonders of Hashem and His individual providence [הַשְׁגָּחָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בִּפְרָטִיּוּת — *hashgachah bifratiyus* — individual divine providence — the Breslov teaching that every particular detail of every moment is directly guided and overseen by Hashem] — for it never entered my mind that my whereabouts on Yom Kippur would be hidden from you and you would not know where I was — until the day after Yom Kippur. And I had directed and prepared a letter on Thursday before Erev Yom Kippur to inform you — but all is from Hashem — the pain — may the Merciful One save us — and the expansiveness — and the information and the tidings for good or for the reverse — G-d forbid — all did Hashem do beautifully in its time and its season [Koheles 3:11] — and vanity of vanities — all the toil that a person toils under the sun [Koheles 1:2–3]. And although even so — sometimes according to His will — Yisborach — one must engage in business — the toil and the exertion are certainly vanity of vanities — as we have already spoken of this on these verses in Koheles — where he says: for every time and season — for every desire — what gain has a person from all his toil [Koheles 3:1; 1:3] and so forth. And there is much to speak of this — but it is impossible in the open field — and also because of the late-night hour and the absence of leisure.