שמ

And peace to all our anshei sh'lomaynu with great love.

[Hebrew: אֲהוּבִי בְּנִי חֲבִיבִי....]

Peace — to my beloved son — may he live.

And now he does not know what to write to him — and he should inform him whether he sent all the letters that were sent to him. And he will also hear the rest of the matters from the mouth of the bearer of this letter — regarding a certain garment — a zupitzel — a coat — or a hat for his son Nachman — may he live — and on all of this he should reply to him with a clear answer. And from all of this you will understand what happens with each and every person in his days of youth and childhood and old age — both in the matter of his many needs — and in the matter of the drawing close to Hashem Yisborach. For from all that passes over a person all the days of his life — from his childhood until his old age — one must take to heart to draw close through this very thing to Hashem Yisborach. For the distancing is for the sake of drawing close — and the obstacles are for the sake of desire — and in all the sufferings there are expansions — and in all the injustices there is rectitude — and in all the strict judgments there are mercies. And in all the falls and descents — there is Hashem Yisborach. And in all the disputes in the world — both in the generality of the world and in each particular — in every city — and between neighbors — and in every single household — in all of them there is a hidden peace within them. And in the evil days there are good days. [This is perhaps the most concentrated formulation of Reb Nussun's characteristic theology of immanence. Each clause is a paradox that unlocks the next: distancing for drawing close — obstacles for desire — sufferings containing expansions — injustice containing rectitude — strict judgment containing mercy — falls containing Hashem Himself — disputes containing hidden peace — evil days containing good days. The entire structure of painful existence is reframed as the very pathway to the Divine] And the summary of all — for "m'lo kol ha'aretz k'vodo" — "the whole earth is full of His glory" — and His chesed and His goodness Yisborach fills the world — and all is for good — for "leit asar panuy minei" — "there is no place devoid of Him." [תִּקּוּנֵי זֹהַר — Tikkunei Zohar — one of the most fundamental expressions of the omnipresence of Hashem — from which Rebbe Nachman drew much of his teaching] But to know all this — and to receive life and sustenance through this — all of it is through the true tzaddik — the tzaddik — the foundation of the world — who sustains the world in the aspect of "ilmalei milcha la havei alma yachlin l'misbal m'rirutha." "Mah ashiv laHashem kol tagmulohi alai" — "What shall I return to Hashem for all His bestowals upon me" — that he merited to know all of this with clarity. [Tehillim 116:12] Even though it is very difficult to make known to you all of this as it is in his heart — even so — the little bit that you grasp from this in your minds and your hearts — each one according to what he can estimate in his heart — this is a great good before you — before each and every one — in this world and in the World to Come — to draw close and to cling to Hashem Yisborach — in every day and at every time — from every place where one is — whether in his wellbeing or in his distress — G-d forbid — whether in ascent or in descent — by day and by night — when he lies down and when he rises up — in the house and in the market — whether when one does not know at all where he is — whether he is in the aspect of entering or in the aspect of going out — and he is only wandering like a lost sheep — and so forth — from all of them one can remember — that praised be G-d — we believe in Hashem Yisborach and in Moshe His servant — and in the true tzaddikim of every generation — and in particular in the true tzaddik who illuminates in this generation forever. Be strong my son — and strong — and know and believe that all these words are said also to you in particular — in all that passes over you every single day. And believe that Hashem Yisborach makes new things at every time. And certainly your end will be for good — together with all of them — with Hashem's help and His chesed and His wondrous salvation — for His chesed is forever — for His chesed prevailed over us — and the truth of Hashem is forever. The words of your father — who writes in great haste — from within pain and joy. Joy is embedded in his heart on one side — and so forth. And to Hashem the salvation and the hope — that also the other side — from which the distress and the sighing come — G-d forbid — will also be turned to joy — in the aspect of "sason v'simcha yassig" — "they will attain joy and gladness" — and so forth. Nussun of Breslov.

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]