רנב

Nussun of Breslov.

[Hebrew: בְּנִי חֲבִיבִי....]

And abundant peace to all our anshei sh'lomaynu with great love — and love of eternity forever.

Peace — to my beloved son — friend of my soul and my heart — the veteran remarkable scholar — our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may he live.

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]

I received your letter yesterday Thursday — close to Mincha — via one of the anshei sh'lomaynu who was a special messenger to me about our affairs. Hashem will complete for good. Just now we still need many prayers and supplications — that Hashem Yisborach will complete in His wondrous mercies for good quickly — and to Hashem the salvation. Until now His mercies helped us in ways that were wondrous and awesome — very very much — that were never heard and never seen. "Rabbot asita atah Hashem Elokai nifle'osecha" [Tehillim 40:6] — and so forth. Also now may He not abandon us and not forsake us — and for the sake of His great name — may He do and complete our desire for good quickly — Amen. The words of your father who gives himself life at every time — through all the above-mentioned paths — and all that is included in them — without end and without limit. Praised be He Who does great things without investigation — miracles and wonders without number — Whose mercies helped us until here and Whose chasadim did not abandon us — in the name of His holiness we trust that He will not forsake us forever. Nussun of Breslov. And it did not come to my mind yesterday to reply to him today — for the preoccupation of Shabbas is upon me as usual from Thursday. And the essential — how one merits at any rate to begin from this Shabbas — for every day and day one must begin — all the more so and all the more so on Shabbas Kodesh which is all the life-force of all the days of the week. And it is all teshuvah in love and in joy — from within the oneg Shabbas — in the aspect of "ahavah bata'anugim" and so forth. And the greatness of our distance from Shabbas — every person knows in his own soul. But even so — every individual of Israel — according to the good point that is still in him — so is the holiness of Shabbas drawn upon him. But even so — Shabbas and Yom Tov require preparation — as our Sages said (Beitzah 2b) — and the essential preparation is the will — to remember Shabbas in simplicity every day and day — and to fulfil "mei'echad b'shabbas l'shabbat'cha" [מֵאֶחָד בְּשַׁבָּת לְשַׁבָּתְךָ — from the first day of the week — already thinking of the coming Shabbas. As quoted from Beitzah 16b — the teaching of Shammai who would dedicate each day of the week to the honor of the upcoming Shabbas] — as it is written "zachor es yom haShabbas l'kadsho — zachrehu mei'echad b'shabbas" [Beitzah 16b] . All the more so and all the more so when one arrives at "tik'dama yoma kamai shabbasa" — the three days before Shabbas — and especially from Thursday — when all of Israel prepare themselves for Shabbas — and every one runs and toils to buy flour and meat for the need of Shabbas — who can assess the inner spark in his heart — what awesome delights are made from this in all the worlds. But this — all Israel fulfil with Hashem's help — and we too among them — certainly ashreinu — ashrei kulanu — that we merited to such a good and precious gift — that was hidden in His treasury — and "Shabbas" is its name. And certainly we must fulfil this in simplicity without sophistications — with great joy. But the essential is to prepare oneself in his heart and soul — to think thoughts of how one merits to draw upon oneself the holiness of Shabbas Kodesh — at any rate now — and to ask greatly from Hashem Yisborach about this. Even over all of these — it was far in his eyes to reply to him immediately — especially the great pain from his affairs — he has very great yearning of eyes that he merits that it be completed for good — and also the pain from each and every one of the anshei sh'lomaynu from fear of the troubles — may Hashem Yisborach in His mercy protect each and every one — and in the shadow of Your wings conceal us. But even so — when he was reading the Parasha — twice in Scripture and once in Targum — the immensity of his yearning for his letter flashed through his mind — and he said in his heart — to fulfil with this the great mitzvah of all — which is "v'shinantam l'vanecha" and "v'hoda'atam l'vanecha v'livnei vanecha" — as he warned us explicitly — the light of our lives — of blessed memory — (Sichos HaRan 209). And he strengthened himself in this to reply to him immediately. Blessed be Hashem Yisborach that he reminded himself and you of the holiness of Shabbas Kodesh — which is the totality and root of all holinesses. And there is much to speak about this. And the essential is to strengthen oneself and to ask from Hashem Yisborach — to receive every Shabbas and Shabbas with great joy — in love and in good will — and to drive away and distance at any rate then all kinds of sadness and grief and sigh — especially the preoccupation and worry of livelihood — to forget and to remove all from one's mind — until one merits to draw the joy of Shabbas upon all the weekdays — so that also on weekdays one strengthens himself in strong bitachon always — and gladdens his soul in Hashem in his good points — in the aspect of "azamra lelokai b'odi." And praised be G-d — we have nothing to be ashamed of to mention the awesome Torah "Azamra" — thousands of times every day. For it is our life. And now my son — my beloved — delight of my heart — the glory of my heart and soul — before he began to reply to him in his letter. Praised be G-d in His wondrous chesed — he has already replied to him greatly — for all that he wrote to him until here — you can give yourself life always — and receive counsels from them every day — for Shabbas Kodesh is a wondrous counsel for everything — in the aspect of "Shabbas agin al adam harishon" — "Shabbas protected the first man" [Zohar II:138] — as he explained — the light of our eyes — in the awesome story of the children who were exchanged (Sipurei Ma'asiyos 11) — that when they drive a person from the holy garden — which is the secret of the aspect of Gan Eden — he must stand himself next to Shabbas — which is in the aspect of the king whose peace is His. And even though these matters are very exalted — even beyond his mind — even so — he knows clearly that the essential intention is in simplicity — to stand oneself next to Shabbas — as he wrote above. And know my beloved son — that it also seems to him that never in his life has he gone through what he went through after this Rosh Hashanah — especially during Sukkos. And the truth is so — but even so — he knows that also every time that what passed over him passed — "kol mishbareicha v'galecha alai avaru" — every time there were new changes — waves and depths — that never passed before. And so over every person at every time — new things — both in good and in difficulty. And even so — the attribute of good is greater — and His chesed has prevailed over me and over you as well. And Hashem helped us in His wonders and goodnesses and miracles that are in every day and every time — morning and evening and afternoon — especially on holy Yamim Tovim — especially in Yerach Ha'eisanim — the month of strength in mitzvos — which is the holy and awesome month of Tishrei [יֶרַח הָאֵיתָנִים — the month of the mighty ones — the ancient name for Tishrei (Melachim Aleph 8:2) — those who are mighty in mitzvos . And it is also: the month of the eisanim — the patriarchs — for they were born in Tishrei according to one tradition] — in which we merited to wondrous salvations — and to snatch also some gladness and joy — and to dwell in the Sukkah every day — and to hold in our hands "mana krava — mateh oz" — the weapons of war — the staff of strength [מָאנָא קְרָבָא מַטֵּה עֹז — from the Zohar — the four species ( arba minim ) are described as spiritual weapons of war — the weapons with which Yisrael wages the battle against impurity during Sukkos ] — namely the esrog and the lulav and hadasim and aravah — holy and very awesome — and to cry Hoshana Hoshana every day — and especially on Hoshana Rabbah — and to rejoice on Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah.* And all of it through the power of the holy and exalted and very awesome Rosh Hashanah — in which we merited to gather together in the holy place of his holy burial. Ashreinu that we merited to this — ashrei ha'azna'yim v'ha'einayim — that hear and see the holy and awesome letter-combinations that he revealed about the secret of the month of Tishrei. [In the teachings of the Rebbe — the word תִּשְׁרֵי (Tishrei) contains deep letter-combination secrets that he revealed at the Uman Rosh Hashanah gatherings — the verse "Atah porereta b'uzecha yam — shibarta roshei taninim" — and other combinations — connecting Tishrei to the great cosmic battles and the redemption. Mi yisvonen — who can contemplate — how those so distant were brought close to such light] Mi yisvonen — who can contemplate — mi yisvonen — for one who does contemplate — how were those so distant brought close — and merited to draw close to such light — to know from such letter-combinations — especially with the connection of all the holy Torah that was revealed there. And in truth he informs his beloved and precious son — that every time he reminded himself with intention of the word Tishrei with these awesome and exalted combinations — he greatly strengthened himself over all that had passed over him. For every understanding heart can understand from afar — that in Tishrei there is an immense battle for each and every one — as they preface to cry out in every month of Elul: "im tachaneh alai machaneh lo yira libi — im takum alai milchama" — "though an army should encamp against me — my heart will not fear — though war should rise against me" [Tehillim 27:3] — and so forth — but "b'zos ani votei'ach" — "in this I trust" — certainly in all that he wrote until now — about the holiness of Shabbas Kodesh and the holiness of Tishrei. And all of it is the power of the holiness of the true tzaddik who revealed all this — and is engaged in all this still — for the tzaddikim are greater in their death than in their lifetime. And as written in the holy Zohar (III:71a) that were it not for the prayer of the tzaddikim who have died — who pray for the living — the world would not be sustained for even one moment. And an extra love is made known to us — that praised be G-d — we know from the true tzaddik who is engaged in our repair — together with all the righteous who sleep in the dust — whose merit protects us always — Amen. And as for what you wrote — that in the time when the vicissitudes and confusions pass over one — it is impossible to feel the chasadim of Hashem — only afterwards when it expands a little — then one sees the wonders of the chasadim of Hashem — this he knows from long ago — from many days — and he has already spoken about this with our Master our Teacher and our Rebbe — of blessed memory — himself — and he said to him that this is so. But even so — his intention was that a person should specifically strengthen himself at the time of the great distress — to find some expansiveness — until one feels then specifically the chasadim of Hashem and His wonders. And at any rate believe in them with complete faith — that certainly Hashem Yisborach is good to all at every time — and He has already helped him greatly — and certainly will not abandon him even now. And this is the essential battle — to turn the grief and sigh specifically into gladness and joy. And he has already spoken greatly about this — and there is still a vision for the appointed time — that Hashem will open our eyes to speak about this. More than this there is no leisure to extend. And now my son — fulfil the mitzvah of love of friends — and copy this letter word for word — and send it immediately to the holy congregation of Kremintshak — to our friend Rabbi Ephraim — may his light shine — for he has no leisure to write him himself — and especially because he too is lax in writing to him as he has already reproached him greatly about this. And fulfil all this immediately — and write me immediately via the post whether you received this letter and whether you fulfilled to send to Rabbi Ephraim as above. Also inform me immediately of the nephew Rabbi Ayzik — whether he is alive — for he heard from afar an unfavorable report and does not know the truth. And also this is a great hint and arousal to strengthen in all the above — until we merit to the complete teshuvah of Shabbas quickly. Tov l'hodos laHashem — that he began from Shabbas and ended with Shabbas — for all the life-force from beginning to end is Shabbas Kodesh. And behold — praised be G-d — the holy challah of Shabbas Kodesh has already been kneaded. And the light of the day is approaching to come. And the Master of mercy and chesed will satisfy us in the morning with His chesed and His goodness — "chasdei Hashem ki lo samu... chadashim labekarim rabbah emunasecha" — that the chasadim are renewed every morning — as Rashi explained there (Eichah 3). And one must believe in this every day — and especially on the sixth day — which is the preparation for Shabbas — which is the very essence of chesed and mercy — ra'ava d'ra'avin [רַעֲוָא דְּרַעֲוִין — Aramaic: the will of wills — from the Zohar — the deepest divine will — which is most manifest on Shabbas ] — His chesed has prevailed over us — and the truth of Hashem is forever.