שיט

And peace to his dear friend — the veteran — fruit of holiness — and so forth — our Teacher the Rabbi Avraham Ber — may his light shine — and to his companion and friend the rabbinical scholar — and so forth — our Teacher the Rabbi Abeli — may his light shine — and his children who go forth from his loins — may they live. He received a letter from his son — may he live — that he already received the sum that he lent for him. May Hashem repay your deeds and so forth. And certainly they will strive for his good in all that is possible. And if Hashem wills — in the coming days in peace — he will write to them again — with Hashem's help. And for now — from yourself understand to urge the anshei sh'lomaynu to stand by his help — in a way that they can complete the desires of heaven — to give the merit of the many — forever.

And peace to all our anshei sh'lomaynu with great love — to each and every one. And see to care for his household — to help them in all that is possible — so that he not be a debtor — G-d forbid. And in particular since he needs to engage in the work of heaven for the merit of the many — therefore they must see that he has no obstacles through livelihood — G-d forbid. And do what is yours — both to give the donation of your good heart as befitting — and to strive to collect from our friends all that you can do — do with all your strength. And may Hashem Yisborach the Good complete for you for good. And be strong and resolute — to snatch every day Torah and prayer and tzedakah and gemilus chasadim — and in particular to lift your eyes heavenward and to express your conversation every day anew — [here the manuscript breaks off].

Peace — to my beloved son — my dear one — the rabbinical scholar — our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may he live — with all his children who go forth from his loins — may they live. And to all our anshei sh'lomaynu — peace and great salvation.

Know my beloved son — that at this very hour he arrived in peace to the congregation of Berdichev — about an hour after midday. Until here His abundant mercies and great chasadim that never cease — have helped him — that he passed all this way in peace — praised be G-d. *"Baruch hanosein laya'ef koiach"* — Blessed is He Who gives strength to the weary. [Yeshayahu 40:29] Hashem Yisborach knows the weakness of his strength — and in particular the division of his mind — which is almost without measure and estimation. And who would believe his report — that in such weakness of strength and in such division of mind — and in such dispute and persecutions — he lifts his steps for such journeys and such difficult wanderings. And in all the places that he passed — there passed over him distresses of the famous and the not famous — and it is impossible to express all this in writing. Blessed and blessed is He Who gives strength to the weary — and to such a one without strength — increases power greatly — that he passed the road in peace and tranquility — with Hashem's help. *Illu finu malei shirah* — and so forth.

[Hebrew: נָתָן הַנַּ"ל...]

The words of your father — who awaits seeing you in life and peace and joy soon in Uman — if Hashem wills. For it is impossible for him to travel home now for several reasons — and he is now awaiting to arrive soon in Uman. And after the sealing of this letter he will begin to deal with the matter of his journey from here to Uman. And he still does not know by which road he will travel. And He Who establishes the steps of a man — lead him in the straight and true road — *"yancheini b'maaglei tzedek l'maan sh'mo."* [Tehillim 23:3]

Nussun of Breslov.

And praised be G-d — he was on Shabbas Nachamu in Kremenits — and the entire family received him with very great honor. And also from the other Chassidim in the city — many were with him — though not all. And because of the longing of the members of the family — he spoke there praised be G-d many words of his holy Torah. Until their soul nearly went out in the inwardness of their heart — to draw close to us. Until some of them revealed the hidden things of their heart in their mouths. Only the road is far and the obstacles are immense. And many many things prevent all of them — the dispute and the groundless hatred that is upon us — groundlessly — without violence in our palm. And they know and understand well that the truth is with us — but it is difficult for them to bear the noise — together with the other obstacles. And all of this it is impossible to express even verbally — all the more so in writing. For the heart of each and every one is crooked. Only He Yisborach knows the secrets of the world and the hidden things of the thoughts of all that live. And I in my poverty see and understand from afar — that it almost seems explicitly — one can hear the depth of the cry of the heart of each one — to draw close to the true point of truth — but the mountain is high — and the Jordan spreads out to pass to the holiness. What shall we return to Hashem — Who saved and rescued our soul from this — from having — G-d forbid — any division of heart from the true point of truth. So may Hashem continue to increase and to make wondrous His great chesed with us — that we merit to fulfil in truth and in wholeness his holy words — until we merit to arrive quickly at the eternal purpose — as His good will — Amen so may it be His will.

[Hebrew: נָתָן הַנַּ"ל...]

Also he was in Ostraha — and he gave life greatly to the holy lineage of our Master our Teacher and our Rebbe — his memory for blessing. And he had very many obstacles from traveling there — until he was already despairing of traveling there. And Hashem Yisborach helped him in His mercy — and he traveled there — and they received him with much honor — the famous and great — himself and his sons — and some of his people who were there at the time. And he was there from Wednesday after midday until some hours after Shacharis on Thursday. And the Great Counselor Yisborach sent into his heart to travel from there for Shabbas Kodesh to the congregation of old Konstantín. And so he did — and came there on Friday after midday. And he had great sufferings and confusions in his mind when he entered there — because it is close to our land where they know more from the fire of the dispute. But Hashem Yisborach helped him — that the members of our family received him with great honor — and the other people there were of divided opinion — and some of them were with him. And praised be G-d — the Shabbas passed in peace — but words of Torah were said there only a little. And on Sunday toward evening he left there — and arrived here in peace — as above. Behold he has told them a little of the many — of the sequence of his journey — so that it be for them a memorial. And in particular when Hashem will have mercy and will help them in His chesed to complete their work in peace — then they will understand more the salvation of Hashem and His wonders and chasadim without number — and to Hashem the salvation. At this moment it became known to him that the post is about to leave from here — and he is compelled to cut short. Overview: Tuesday, Parshas Re'eh — Berdichev — 5600. To Yitzchok and all anshei sh'lomaynu. Know that at this very hour he arrived in peace to the congregation of Berdichev — about an hour after midday. Until here His abundant mercies have helped him — that he passed all this way in peace. "Baruch hanosein laya'ef koiach." Hashem knows the weakness of his strength — and in particular the division of his mind — almost without measure and estimation. And who would believe his report — that in such weakness and in such division of mind — and in such dispute — he lifts his steps for such journeys and difficult wanderings. And praised be G-d he was on Shabbas Nachamu in Kremenits — and the entire family received him with very great honor — and many Chassidim were with him. And because of the longing of the members of the family he spoke there many words of his holy Torah — until their soul nearly went out — to draw close to us — until some of them revealed the hidden things of their heart. Only the road is far and the obstacles are immense. And many many things prevent all of them — the dispute and the groundless hatred upon us. And they know well that the truth is with us — but difficult for them to bear the noise. For the heart of each one is crooked. Only He Yisborach knows the secrets of the world. And I in my poverty see and understand from afar — that one can almost hear the depth of the cry of the heart of each one — to draw close to the true point of truth — but the mountain is high. What shall we return to Hashem — Who saved and rescued our soul from this — from having G-d forbid any division of heart from the true point of truth. So may Hashem continue to increase and to make wondrous His great chesed with us — that we merit to fulfil in truth and in wholeness his holy words. Also he was in Ostraha — and he gave life greatly to the holy lineage of our Master our Teacher and our Rebbe. He had very many obstacles from traveling there — but Hashem helped him in His mercy — and they received him with much honor. He was there from Wednesday after midday until some hours after Shacharis on Thursday. The Great Counselor sent into his heart to travel from there for Shabbas to old Konstantín. He came there on Friday after midday — had great sufferings and confusions — because it is close to our land where they know more from the fire of the dispute. But Hashem helped him — members of our family received him with great honor. The Shabbas passed in peace — but words of Torah were said there only a little. On Sunday toward evening he left — and arrived here in peace. When Hashem will help them to complete their work in peace — then they will understand more the salvation of Hashem and His wonders and chasadim without number. The post is about to leave — compelled to cut short. The words of your father — who awaits seeing you soon in Uman — for it is impossible to travel home now for several reasons. He still does not know by which road he will travel. And He Who establishes the steps of a man — lead him in the straight and true road — "yancheini b'maaglei tzedek l'maan sh'mo." He received his letter — and it was a great comfort to him. And his language praised be G-d is already somewhat refined — with Hashem's help — and soon it will be refined as befitting. Only in writing — you must accustom yourself every day — so that your hand is well trained in writing. And it will be needed for you in all ways — both for the way of the world — and for Torah and the service of Hashem. And to reply to your letter — the time is not right just now. And if Hashem wills — from Uman — he will reply to him in writing — and also they will speak — if Hashem wills — with Hashem's help. Only be strong my son and very resolute — to flee every time from strange thoughts — for the thought is in the hand of a person to bend it as he wills. And every time one draws the thought from outside to inside — it is very very precious in the eyes of Hashem Yisborach. [כָּל פַּעַם שֶׁמַּמְשִׁיכִין הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה מִחוּץ לִפְנִים — every time one draws the thought from outside to inside — the image is of a person's mind as a palace with an outside and an inside. Strange thoughts come from outside — from the outer courts of the mind. Each time one makes the effort to bring the thought inward — toward Hashem — toward Torah — this is immensely precious. And for this — says Reb Nussun — a person comes to the world: to fight this war] And for this a person comes to the world — to fight this war. And according to the ways of the holy counsels of our Master our Teacher and our Rebbe — and through his great power — one can save his soul. Only one needs great strengthening and immense stubbornness in desire — to engage every day in Torah and prayer — and let whatever happens happen. I will do what is mine — and I will snatch good — all that I can — little or much — like a rooster pecking in a rubbish heap. And in particular to cry out and to supplicate before Hashem Yisborach at every time. In particular in these holy awesome days. The words of your father — who awaits to see all good in you. Nussun as above.

[Hebrew: נָתָן הַנַּ"ל...]