ע

My beloved son, my dear one. [Yitzchok] Your letter I received twice — and there is no time to reply now close to

Shabbos Kodesh — especially since you will soon be here, with the help of Hashem Yisborach. And may Hashem Yisborach gladden your souls speedily — and may your

enemies see and be ashamed. And I hoped in Hashem that there would be a great downfall speedily for all your enemies and pursuers — for Hashem Yisborach will not be silent regarding humiliations and pursuits such as these that they pursued you without cause — especially since they laid hands on his holy books with such humiliations. And although the ways of goodness of our Master, our Teacher and Rebbe, the awesome and exalted one, of blessed and holy memory, are without end — and his patience without measure — and because of this for the most part one does not see vengeance immediately falling upon those who pursue him and so forth — even so in a place where there is desecration of the Name and humiliation such as this that strikes to the very soul [נוֹגֵעַ עַד הַנֶּפֶשׁ — echoing the language of Iyov 2:6 where Hashem permits the adversary to afflict Iyov: "only spare his life (nafsho)." The violation of the Rebbe's holy books has struck to the level of soul — the deepest level of life and being — and it is precisely this category that cannot be borne in silence] — it is not His way to be silent. And I am confident in His kindness, Yisborach, that there will soon be fulfilled: from the plunder of the poor, from the groaning of the destitute — now I will arise, says Hashem [מִשֹּׁד עֲנִיִּים מֵאֶנְקַת אֶבְיוֹנִים עַתָּה אָקוּם יֹאמַר ה' — Tehillim 12:6: the divine promise of intervention triggered specifically by the plundering and groaning of the destitute. It is precisely this state that makes Hashem rise] and so forth — may they be ashamed and confounded together — all our enemies — may they fall and not rise. And may the merit of their forefathers stand for them — that they suffer a great downfall immediately [וּזְכוּת אֲבוֹתָם יַעֲמֹד לָהֶם שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לָהֶם מַפָּלָה גְּדוֹלָה מִיָּד — a profound and deliberate paradox. Normally z'chus avos — the merit of the forefathers — is invoked as a shield of protection for the living. Here Reb Nussun inverts the formula with a kind of mercy: he invokes the merit of the opponents' own ancestors on their behalf — but for their downfall, not their rescue. The logic is merciful: a swift and limited punishment now — however painful — saves them from the far worse fate described next. The z'chus avos is their lifeline even in their defeat] — for otherwise, G-d forbid, they will be lost and uprooted entirely from both worlds [נֶאֱבָדִין וְנֶעֱקָרִין לְגַמְרֵי מִשְּׁנֵי הָעוֹלָמוֹת — the formulaic rabbinic description of the ultimate punishment for those who destroy Israel's spiritual foundations, as in Sanhedrin and Avos. Ne'evadin v'ne'akarin mi'sh'nei ha'olamot — lost and uprooted from both worlds — is the most absolute legal-theological consequence in rabbinic literature. Reb Nussun does not say this lightly: it is the category-verdict for those who attack what is most sacred, and it applies here because the opponents have attacked the Rebbe's holy books — the foundations of Israel's spiritual future] — for it is not an empty thing what they did: they set their mouth against the heavens [שַׁתּוּ בַשָּׁמַיִם פִּיהֶם — Tehillim 73:9: blasphemy extended all the way to Heaven itself] and so forth. Hashem will plead your cause [ה' יָרִיב רִיבוֹ — the formula of divine advocacy appearing in Mishlai 22:23 and elsewhere: when a person's cause is Hashem's own cause, Hashem becomes the plaintiff] — Hashem will fight for you and you shall be silent [ה' יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם וְאַתֶּם תַּחֲרִישׁוּן — Sh'mos 14:14: Moshe's words at the Red Sea — the paradigmatic verse of divine combat on behalf of the persecuted. At the moment of greatest danger, Hashem takes over the battle and the people need only stand still]. And if Hashem wills — at the holy Shavuos coming upon us for good — Hashem Yisborach will send down correct counsel on how to conduct oneself in this. Rejoice in Hashem who has helped us to be in His holy portion — happy are we, how good is our portion and so forth. The words of your father — who awaits salvation speedily in all aspects and

in all matters — in the physical and in the spiritual. And abundant peace to all our anshei sh'lomaynu — with great love. Nussun of Breslov.

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]