נו

Peace — to my beloved son, my dear one, our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may his light shine. Your letter I received today. And yesterday Rabbi Shimshon — may his light shine

— was in my house, but there was no time to speak much with him — for in the meantime the in-laws came to invite us to the wedding. And I have not yet spoken with him at all about the matter of the opposition — and presumably he will be here today. And now — about the matter of the opposition: I heard of it only last night. And there is no need to strengthen you — for, thanks be to G-d, you can already see the truth eye to eye. And behold — how much we ought to rejoice and fill our mouths with laughter — to see the truth of the preciousness of these precious things, dearer than fine gold — that the foolishness of the one who found a blemish in himself for the fact that I did not write l'havdil [לְהַבְדִּיל — the phrase customarily inserted to distinguish holy from profane when mentioning both in the same breath. The opponent claimed that Reb Nussun's failure to write l'havdil at a certain point was a disrespectful blemish]. But in truth — anyone who understands a little of the ways of language and literary style knows that it was not at all appropriate to insert the word l'havdil there — and it is only a pretext: he wishes to fabricate a charge and cast a false blemish on holy things for nothing — in order to blind his eyes from seeing the awesome wonders of the revelation of this novelty — that Moshe stands [the specific teaching — that the spiritual presence of the Tzadik continues and stands after death — known to the recipients and referred to by its opening phrase. A revelation, Reb Nussun says, that has never been heard in the world] and so forth. And anyone who has a heart to look upon the truth — his very hair should stand on end and he should stand trembling and astonished at the greatness of the wonders of this revelation. And if we had come into the world only to hear this — it would have been enough [אִלְמָלֵא לֹא בָּאנוּ לָעוֹלָם אֶלָּא לְמַשְׁמָע דָּא דַּיֵּנוּ — the Haggodah's dayenu formula applied to the Rebbe's revelation: one such hearing justifies a lifetime] — all the more so that we have merited to hear such things and more. And certainly it is fitting for you to rejoice greatly at all of this — since we see clearly how much the opposition cannot bear the truth. And note: the opponent — father-in-law of Yaakov — himself was initially impressed by the holy books, even though even then he did not look upon them with the proper favorable eye and did not attend to them properly — and thus even then he did not feel the sweetness of the words. At any rate he was not opposing them. And now — because we worked diligently for his daughter's good, wanting her husband to be a proper man who would benefit him and his seed forever — now he has turned against us as an enemy and wants to repay good with evil. His recompense shall return upon his own head — for a thousand like him shall perish while not one word of his Torah shall be nullified [כִּי אֶלֶף כְּמוֹתוֹ יֹאבֵדוּ, וְדָבָר אֶחָד מִדִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָתוֹ אַל יִתְבַּטֵּל — a formulaic declaration of Torah's eternal permanence over those who oppose it, echoing Yehoshua 23:14 and midrashic formulations. The structure is classical: the opponents will perish, but not one word of the holy teachings can be annulled. This is the liturgical affirmation of Torah's indestructibility contra those who seek to suppress it] . And how very much I am astonished at my friend Rabbi Yaakov, his son-in-law — for being so faint-hearted. For he is not in an intermediate position — and since he has already leapt over many obstacles and been here twice, and has already accustomed himself to pray with force and kavonah — why should he still accept fear of his father-in-law upon himself? For he must be bold as a leopard [עַז כַּנָּמֵר — from Avos 5:20: "be bold as a leopard to do the will of your Father in Heaven"] — and strengthen himself with azus d'kedushah [עַזּוּת דִּקְדֻשָּׁה — holy boldness, sacred audacity: the Breslov concept of sanctified refusal to allow fear of human opinion to override commitment to truth — explicitly distinguished from disrespect] — and throw off the fear of him from his face — and speak specifically with my friend Rabbi Mordechai — may his light shine — since he drew him near to the truth. And in Hashem's kindnesses may he draw him closer and closer to the very point of truth which will benefit him forever. And I have much in my heart to extend the speech — but it is impossible in the open field — and this suffices for now. Be strong and resolute — do not be afraid of them — let not your hearts grow faint — for Hashem is with you to save you. For a lip of truth will be established forever [Mishlai 12:19]. Be strong and let your hearts be courageous — all who hope in Hashem. And also about Rabbi Mordechai I am astonished that he is so faint-spirited — and he is certainly obligated to strengthen himself greatly with azus d'kedushah and Hashem will save him. And now, my son — you have already heard very much how much you need to strengthen yourself in joy. And in the whole matter of what happened with you — you ought to rejoice greatly that you were saved through His awesome and wondrous mercies from foolishnesses and errors such as these — which hide from those they stand before such awesome lights, such revelations, such novelties. For the sake of Hashem — strengthen yourselves in all the ways we have spoken — and in particular with milei d'shtuta u'vdichutha [מִלֵּי דִּשְׁטוּתָא וּבְדִיחוּתָא — Zoharic Aramaic: words of foolishness and laughter — playfulness and levity as tools for breaking the grip of melancholy and opposition alike, as in Letters 49 and 63] — for the joy of Hashem is your stronghold [Nechemiah 8:10] — and may your enemies see and be ashamed. And behold — I do not want Rabbi Yaakov to disgrace his father-in-law — only to have azus d'kedushah — not to accept fear of him at all. And a wise man of understanding can easily know how to conduct oneself with azus d'kedushah

— without paying heed to his words at all — and yet not disgracing him either, since he is in his house. And one also needs to pray greatly to Hashem Yisborach to know how to conduct oneself in this. For it is not an empty thing — it is your life. For the opponents want to prevent the person from true life — to lead a person G-d forbid in what seems to them the straight path, but whose end is the ways of death [Mishlai 14:12]. For what they immediately want to prevent is the clear good visible to the eyes — they want to prevent Torah and prayer. And whoever departs from him is like one departing from life. But this is not the only intent of the adversary — he wants to uproot entirely — as is seen clearly in the enormous difference between those who have remained and those who departed from us. And many admit among themselves what they have lost — but it is a loss that does not return — and what is crooked cannot be straightened — and what is missing cannot be numbered [Koheles 1:15 — applied here to the irreversible loss of spiritual life. The Talmudic interpretation follows: Chagigah 9b — this refers to one whose companions were counted for matters of holiness and he was not numbered among them. The loss of that fellowship is precisely the m'uvos that cannot be straightened] — as our Rabbis expounded [Chagigah 9b]: this is one whose companions were counted for matters of holiness and he was not counted among them. And speak much with those newly drawn close — that they take these things to heart. For since they have already begun a little and already suffered humiliations and broken many obstacles — therefore one must have compassion on them and strengthen them — so they do not lose for nothing, G-d forbid — true life, eternal life and so forth. The words of the one who writes and urges them for their good forever — who loves them in truth and in truth — a love that is not dependent on any thing [אַהֲבָה שֶׁאֵינָהּ תְּלוּיָה בַּדָּבָר — the Mishnaic formula from Avos 5:16: "a love that is not dependent on any condition" — unconditional love that never ceases because it has no cause that can be removed] — but only the love of truth for His sake, Yisborach — to enable them to merit in this world and in the world to come forever.

Nussun of Breslov. Postscript — To All Friends And peace to my friends, those beloved of my soul — new ones and old alike — each according to his elevated station. Be strong and resolute — hope in Hashem and He will save you.

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]