מה

Peace and life — to my beloved son, my dear one, the veteran scholar, our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may he live. Please, my beloved son — inform me at once by the hand of this messenger of your welfare and the welfare of your son — may he live. For my eyes are scanning all day to hear the good from him. May Hashem Yisborach support him and restore him to his strength soon. And to tell you of the kindnesses of Hashem which He did with me in these days — the sheet of the scroll would be too short [תִּקְצַר הַיְרִיעָה — an expression drawn from the midrashic tradition, meaning the wonders exceed the capacity of language or writing to contain them]. For two of my sons — may they live — were ill with the illness of the mazlin [measles] — and also two of my wife's children — and all of them were in very great danger — and some of them were with me after despair — nearly — [רַחֲמָנָא לִצְלַן — Aramaic: may the Merciful One spare us — invoking G-d's mercy in contemplating an almost-unbearable outcome]. And with the greatness of His wonders and His awesome kindnesses they returned to their strength with the help of Hashem Yisborach. Only my son Yosef Yonah — may he live — has not yet returned to his full strength — because on the holy Shabbos and on Sunday of this week he was in very, very great danger — and close upon that moment, right at its edge, Hashem healed him and gave him life [וְזֶה סָמוּךְ — v'zeh somuch: literally "and this was adjacent, right up against it." The word somuch conveys extreme closeness — the healing came immediately adjacent to the moment of near-death, right at the very brink. The proximity itself is part of what makes it miraculous: not gradual recovery but a turning at the precise edge of the abyss] in His great mercy — without any remedies and without any action or strategy whatsoever — in our way — as is known to you. [כְּדַרְכֵּנוּ, כַּיָּדוּעַ לְךָ — "in our way, as is known to you": the Breslov way of trusting entirely in Hashem rather than conventional medicine — the healing came through prayer and divine mercy alone, with no medical intervention] May Hashem restore him to his full strength soon. And now my eyes are watching to hear the good from your son — may he live. Please — inform me at once. More than this there are no words on my tongue now to extend the speech. Please, my son — be very strong and resolute, and gladden your soul with all that you can — and remember the kindnesses of Hashem Who has already performed wonders with us: to place for us a remnant in the land to sustain us until this very day [לָשׂוּם לָנוּ שְׁאֵרִית בָּאָרֶץ לְהַחֲיוֹתֵנוּ כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה — an echo of Yosef's words to his brothers [B'reishis 45:7]: "G-d sent me ahead of you to place for you a remnant on the earth and to sustain you for a great deliverance." Reb Nussun applies this language to the Breslov community: Rebbe Nachman's teachings were sent ahead as remedies to sustain us through all these trials, as Yosef was sent ahead to sustain his family through the famine] — through the wells of salvation and so forth. So may Hashem continue His kindness with us — and may He not forsake us and not abandon us forever [וְאַל יַעַזְבֵנוּ וְאַל יִטְּשֵׁנוּ לְעוֹלָם — two distinct verbs of abandonment drawn from different biblical sources: ya'azov — forsake [cf. D'vorim 31:6,8; Yehoshua 1:5] and yitosh — abandon, cast off [cf. Tehillim 94:14 — "Hashem will not abandon His people"]. The doubling of the prayer against abandonment, using two different verbs, intensifies and deepens the plea]. The words of your father — who seeks your peace always with love, and who intercedes on your behalf, and who awaits your reply speedily. Nussun of Breslov.