רלא

Nussun of Breslov.

[Hebrew: בְּנִי חֲבִיבִי....]

And peace to all our *anshei sh'lomaynu* with great love. I was astonished that you did not write me any reply from Rabbi Ya'akov regarding his traveling to Uman.

My beloved son — my dear one. Until now — His mighty mercies — have helped us — that I went and came in peace: from Nemirov — to Uman — and from Uman to Teplik for *Shabbas Teshuvah* [שַׁבַּת תְּשׁוּבָה — the Shabbas between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — the Shabbas of Return — one of the most sacred and charged Shabbases of the year. Reb Nussun spent it in Teplik — still making his way back toward Breslov] — and from there here to Breslov — and I spent here *Shabbas Shabason* — Yom Kippur — the awesome and very terrible day. *"Mi y'malel gevuros Hashem v'chu'"* — "who can express the mighty acts of Hashem" [Tehillim 106:2] — *"illu kol hayamim deyo v'chu'"* — "if all the days were ink" and so forth. And the salvation and the hope are Hashem's — that I will return here to my home soon — through His wonders and His great *chasadim* which have not ended and not ceased — as we see with our own eyes. And more than these — the hidden things belong to Hashem our G-d — His hidden *chasadim* — the *chasadim* of pure grace from the treasure — the gift of grace — that the great *prost* — the great simple one — draws forth [הַפְּרָאסְטִיק הַגָּדוֹל — the great *prost* — from the Yiddish and Slavic *prostiy* — "simple" — one of Reb Nussun's most intimate names for the Rebbe himself. The Rebbe's essential quality was this supreme simplicity — *temimus* — the *prost* par excellence — the one from whom all the hidden *chasadim* of pure grace flow] — which we merit to know from him only a very little of the very little — who can understand the immensity of his greatness and his exaltedness? And behold — at this very hour — Hashem Yisborach arranged that I called to my son Rabbi Shachna — may he live — from the multitude of his preoccupations — and he came to me and showed me the letter you had written to him. And this was what caused me to write him these few strengthening words — from within bundles upon bundles of my preoccupations just now from several directions. And praised be G-d — I spent here Yom Kippur the holy day in peace and tranquility without any trouble. And praised be G-d — all is well established from Hashem — from the day I left Nemirov until now. May Hashem have mercy on us and return us in peace here — and from here to the Holy Land [וּמִכָּאן לָאָרֶץ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה — "and from here to the Holy Land" — Reb Nussun's fervent hope to travel to Eretz Yisrael — a dream he held throughout his life — ultimately he traveled to Eretz Yisrael in 5622 / 1822 in an earlier period. Here the phrase expresses the ultimate aspiration] . More than this there is no leisure to extend at all. And may His great name be blessed and glorified through us. And *"ilmale lo aseina l'alma ela lishmo'a hata'am she'nikra hayom hazeh Shem Hashem — dayi"* — "if I had not come into the world — except to hear the reason why this day is called 'Shem Hashem' — that would have been enough for me" [אִלּוּ לֹא אֲתֵינָא לְעָלְמָא אֶלָּא לִשְׁמֹעַ הַטַּעַם שֶׁנִּקְרָא יוֹם הַזֶּה שֵׁם ה' דַּיִּי — This is one of the most ecstatic utterances in all of Reb Nussun's writings. *Shem Hashem* — literally "the Name of Hashem" — is one of the names for Parshas Ha'azinu — and more deeply it refers to the teaching in Likutay Tinyana 66 about the *shem Hashem* — the name of Hashem — and its profound connection to the holy day and the entire structure of creation. Reb Nussun says: if I had come into the world for no other reason than to hear and understand this one teaching of the Rebbe — *dayyi* — that alone would have been sufficient justification for my entire existence. The phrase echoes the *Dayenu* of the Passover Haggadah] [cf. Likutay Tinyana 66] . And if you merit — you will hear from me much about this. And all the words I wrote just now — all of them flow from this. *"Mi yitneich b'ni b'toch p'nimiyus moichi u'l'vavi — b'toch hashi'ur sheb'libi"* — "Would that you were in the innermost depth of my mind and heart — within the measure that is in my heart — you would understand a little the greatness of Hashem Yisborach and His awesome acts and His wonders and His *chasadim* without end — what the mouth cannot speak and the heart cannot think." [מִי יִתֶּנְךָ בְּנִי בְּתוֹךְ פְּנִימִיּוּת מֹחִי וּלְבָבִי — "would that you were in the innermost depth of my mind and heart" — one of the most lyrical and intimate expressions in all of Reb Nussun's letters. He is overflowing with the experience of this day — the holiness of Yom Kippur in Breslov after the Rosh Hashanah in Uman — and he longs to transmit even a fraction of it to his beloved son] And behold — at this very hour — Hashem Yisborach arranged that I called to my son Rabbi Shachna — may he live — from the multitude of his preoccupations — and he came to me and showed me the letter you had written to him. And this was what caused me to write him these few strengthening words — from within bundles upon bundles of my preoccupations just now from several directions. And praised be G-d — I spent here Yom Kippur the holy day in peace and tranquility without any trouble. And praised be G-d — all is well established from Hashem — from the day I left Nemirov until now. May Hashem have mercy on us and return us in peace here — and from here to the Holy Land [וּמִכָּאן לָאָרֶץ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה — "and from here to the Holy Land" — Reb Nussun's fervent hope to travel to Eretz Yisrael — a dream he held throughout his life — ultimately he traveled to Eretz Yisrael in 5622 / 1822 in an earlier period. Here the phrase expresses the ultimate aspiration]. More than this there is no leisure to extend at all. And may His great name be blessed and glorified through us. Nussun of Breslov.

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]