סד

My beloved son. [Yitzchok] Your letter I received just now at the time of the morning prayer — and it was

a great comfort to me — for I had some distress at not having seen your letter for several days. And all the materials for the tallis I received properly — and praise be to G-d I immediately completed the tallis and attached the tzitzis to it — and I inaugurated it on last Shabbos Parshas Parah — and it was a great comfort to me, praise be to G-d. You have done well — that you merited through your good desire to have a great share in the tallis with the help of Hashem. And may the merit of the wings of the tallis protect you — like an eagle who stirs his nest [כְּנֶשֶׁר יָעִיר קִנּוֹ — D'vorim 32:11, from Moshe's great song Ha'azinu: the eagle who rouses his nest, hovering over his young, spreading his wings. The knafot — wings — of the tallis carry this image: the wings of the divine presence sheltering the one beneath them] and so forth — to save you from extraneous thoughts. Only accustom yourself at every time to perform a complete severance of attention from thoughts that are not needed in that hour [לְהָסִיחַ דַּעְתְּךָ לְגַמְרֵי — hesach hada'as: a precise Talmudic legal term (appearing in Brochos, Gittin, and throughout Halachic literature) denoting the complete interruption or severance of mindful attention. It is not merely ceasing to think about something — it is a deliberate legal and spiritual act of disengagement of the mind's attention. When Reb Nussun instructs to perform hesach hada'as from the extraneous thoughts, he is applying the precision of this Halachic concept to the realm of inner life] — and do not begin to think them at all — and this is a very good counsel — and to be as one who has completely forgotten — and even more than forgetting — and to make yourself as if you have no knowledge of these thoughts at all — and to engage in whatever you are engaged in — whether Torah or prayer or commerce and the like. And even good thoughts that do not belong to the matter at hand must be set aside as well — as if one has no knowledge of them at that moment. For example: during prayer one need not think of anything at all — and in truth it is precisely then that all kinds of confusions and mental tumult intensify — but one must prevail greatly then with this counsel — to not begin to think any extraneous thoughts at all. And even if from force of habit the thought goes out each time — take it each time by the bridle and bring it back in — to think what one is saying at that moment — even if this happens a hundred times in a single prayer. And regarding all that you wrote to me — I have already heard such things from you many times — and you already know that you have nothing with which to sustain yourself except in the matters you yourself write in your letter. And so it passes over every person — even though not all are the same and one case is not like another — but even so what passes over each person is immeasurable. And certainly there is no vitality and no refuge from them except through Hashem Yisborach and through the Torah — and in particular through the holy and new and wondrous and awesome way: the matter of personal speech between oneself and one's Maker — of which there is nothing higher. Give thanks to Hashem for the little bit of little — that you have already merited to receive from him and to fulfil a little in this matter. Would that this heart of yours were such — to fear Hashem all the days [מִי יִתֵּן וְהָיָה לְבָבְךָ זֶה לְיִרְאָה — D'vorim 5:26: Moshe's words after the giving of the Torah — "would that this heart of yours were such — to fear Me and keep all My commandments all the days." Reb Nussun applies Moshe's yearning for Israel's heart to his own longing for Yitzchok's perseverance] — with additional holiness and purity and more and more prayers and personal speeches — and also to be very, very careful to strengthen oneself each day in joy and gladness at each and every good point that we have merited and so forth. And behold — in these times I am engaged in the matter of the intention of Elul [כַּוָּנַת אֱלוּל — the spiritual intention of the month of Elul, as taught in Likutay Moharan II:87-88] — which is the rectification of the covenant [Likutay Moharan II:87-88] — which contains awesome secrets that he revealed there in the matter of and if the woman does not consent — and the matter of the fruits — and the matter of the lost objects that the angels search for, who blow tekiah, t'ruah, tekiah and so forth. Happy are the ears that heard this — for a teaching such

as this has never been heard in the world. And the essential lesson that emerges from there is that every person needs to seek and search greatly — very, very much — after his lost objects. And the essential seeking and searching is through the ways of Torah that he revealed on the verse call Yehoshua [Siman 6 of Reb Nussun's Likutay Halachos] — as is explained there in its place. And the essential intentions are in the aspect of if I ascend to Heaven You are there, and if I spread my bed in She'ol there You are [אִם אֶסַּק שָׁמַיִם שָׁם אָתָּה וְאַצִּיעָה שְׁאוֹל הִנֶּךָּ — Tehillim 139:8: divine omnipresence — no height or depth places the person beyond Hashem's reach. Here it refers to the spiritual capacity to rise and to descend in the search, with Hashem present in both movements] — which is in the aspect of boki b'ratzo boki b'shov [expert in going out, expert in returning — from Chagigah 13a: the angels who approach and retreat before the divine Throne. Applied here to the soul's spiritual movement in both directions] — boki b'ayeil boki b'nafik [expert in entry, expert in exit — the paired Aramaic formulation describing complete spiritual mobility in both directions]. For one who merits to fulfil if I ascend and if I spread my bed in She'ol — there You are — draws upon himself the aspect of the secret of the intention of Elul — and is able to seek and search after his lost objects. For one needs to seek and search greatly — and certainly during the time of that searching, what passes over the person is immeasurable. In particular since the lost objects are generally in a place of desolate wilderness, in a place of tohu vavohu — and because of this the person wanders like a lost sheep — and about this it was said [Tehillim 107:4]: they wandered in the wilderness in a desolate trackless way and so forth — and the entire Psalm [Tehillim 107 — the great psalm of return and rescue: lost wanderers, prisoners, the sick, those at sea — all who cry out from their extremity. Reb Nussun invokes the entire Psalm as the context for the search: the seeker of lost objects is the wanderer of Tehillim 107]. And now understand from yourself how much strengthening is needed when one must pass through such places — and one also needs to seek and find lost objects from previous incarnations through which the soul has passed — and it is very

difficult to escape that in the course of the search one does not lose even more. And as it is hinted there — that even the Tzadikim who dig for the lost objects sometimes themselves get lost — see there — all the more so other people. And through this the general exile is prolonged so greatly — and the personal exile of each and every soul individually is prolonged — all of this because of this — may the Omnipresent have mercy. Therefore whoever wants to have compassion on his own soul — how much strengthening he needs — so as never to despair of the seeking and searching — whatever the situation — even if it seems to him that he is losing more each time, G-d forbid — even so he must do what is his to do and search more. And even if he finds nothing at all — he must believe that he certainly finds much through the seeking and searching alone — for the toil does not perish [לֵית רְעוּתָא טָבָא דְּאִתְאָבֵיד — Zoharic Aramaic: there is no good desire that is lost. Every sincere yearning leaves a permanent trace — nothing of the search is wasted] — and therefore: I toiled and did not find — do not believe; I toiled and found — believe [יָגַעְתִּי וְלֹא מָצָאתִי אַל תַּאֲמִין, יָגַעְתִּי וּמָצָאתִי תַּאֲמִין — from Megillah 6b, originally about Torah learning. Reb Nussun draws this into the framework of searching for lost objects: even when the searcher sees nothing of what they found, they have certainly found — for the effort itself is the finding]. And it is hard to understand why ta'amin — believe — is used, for one can surely see whether one found or not. But in truth it can be that a person toiled greatly and it seems to him that he still found nothing — and because of this he says "I toiled and did not find" — and even so do not believe him — "I toiled and found — believe" — even though he has nothing in hand of what he found — even so believe with complete faith that he certainly found much. For there are many things that are not shown to a person what he found until the very end — and even if he found nothing yet — even so he found much through the searching and toil alone — for the toil and searching alone is never lost in any way. And therefore: I toiled and found — believe — ta'amin specifically — and understand this well — for it is not an empty thing. And according to this path — all the toils and efforts in Torah and prayer —

especially in personal speeches before Him, Yisborach — we now call seeking and searching. And so for the most part one seeks and searches through desire and yearning and longing. And through this you can greatly strengthen yourselves at every time however it is — for you are obligated to seek and search more regardless — like the one who searches for lost objects in the physical world, who certainly does not find in one attempt — especially for losses such as these — for which one must spend all one's days seeking and searching them. In particular since we believe in truth that toil is never in vain — for what one gains through the toil and searching alone — even all the time one has not found — is itself a gain beyond measure — more than all the wealth of the world — an eye has not seen [עַיִן לֹא רָאֲתָה — Yeshayah 64:3. The full verse: "no eye has seen, O G-d, other than You — what He will do for those who wait for Him." It is a verse specifically about the hidden reward awaiting those who wait upon Hashem — the gain that no eye has seen is the specific reward reserved for those who persevere in hope. Reb Nussun applies it here with full prophetic weight: the gain from the toil of searching — even when nothing is found — is precisely this ayin lo ra'asah, exceeding all sight, all conception, reserved for those who wait and hope and search] and so forth. All the more so since we are confident that we will certainly merit to find everything in the end — if we merit to always strengthen and seek and search as above. And in the matter above are contained all the intentions of Pesach and Parshas HaChodesh — see Likutay Halachos, Birchas HaPeiros 5. And now rejoice greatly in Hashem [שׂוֹשׂ תָּשִׂישׂ בַּה' — a direct quotation of Yeshayah 61:10: "I will greatly rejoice in Hashem — my soul shall exult in my G-d." This is the opening verse of one of Yeshayah's most concentrated passages of messianic joy — immediately following the declaration of good tidings to the poor and the binding of the brokenhearted. Reb Nussun opens the final joy-section of this letter with precisely this messianic phrase] — that we merited to hear such awesome things as these. And more than this it is impossible to extend — how much we need to rejoice when we are sustained with seven m'shivei ta'am [שִׁבְעָה מְשִׁיבֵי טַעַם — from Mishlai 26:16: seven who give back taste — applied here to the Rebbe's teachings as providing spiritual nourishment in sevenfold abundance] such as these. And joy and gladness shall overtake you [וְשָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה תַּשִּׂיג — Yeshayah 35:10 and 51:11: the great messianic verse — "the ransomed of Hashem shall return with song — eternal joy shall be upon their heads — gladness and joy shall overtake them — and sorrow and sighing shall flee"] — until you also seize the sorrow and sigh and bring them into the joy against their will — for in everything with which they can weaken your mind with any sadness, G-d forbid — say: on the contrary — this is my joy — that a person such as I — and even so I know of such wonders as these — pleasantness in His right hand forever [נְעִימוֹת בִּימִינוֹ נֶצַח — Tehillim 16:11: "in Your presence is fullness of joy — in Your right hand are pleasures forever"] such as these. And if I am even worse — on the contrary it is fitting for me to rejoice even more — for even so Hashem Yisborach has given us the privilege of leaning on a holy Tzadik such as this — who has revealed such awesome things. And surely one cannot deny that even so I know the story of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua [One of the Rebbe's thirteen holy stories in Sipuray Maasios] — and I also know the Torah of the melody of seventy-two strings [from Likutay Moharan] — and I also know the story of the Seven Beggars [הַשִּׁבְעָה בֶּעטֶלִירְשׁ — the last and greatest of Rebbe Nachman's sacred stories, told in Yiddish — each of the seven beggars reveals that their seeming deficiency is their greatest perfection] and so forth — what shall we say, what shall we return to Hashem — for all He has bestowed upon us [מַה נְּדַבֵּר מַה נָּשִׁיב לַה' כָּל תַּגְמוּלוֹהִי עָלֵינוּ — Tehillim 116:12: "what shall I return to Hashem for all His beneficence to me?" — quoted in plural as a communal cry of awe]. And on account of the distraction — for I also must travel to the wedding this week if Hashem wills — it is impossible to extend further. And may the joy of the holy festival be sweet for you — and may you merit to be careful of even a trace of chametz in the physical and the spiritual — and to feel the joy and cleaving of the holy Hallel of Pesach — and the exalted sweetness of the holiness of the Pesach Seder. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation. Nussun of Breslov.

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]