צז

Said the transcriber: The beginning of this letter I did not find — only a little of its end. And I said — I will transcribe even this. For whoever merits to look upon it and upon all the letters with an open eye [בְּעֵינָא פְּקִיחָא — Aramaic: with an open eye. The Talmudic phrase for attentive, penetrating perception — seeing not just what is on the surface but what is truly there] will see with physical eyes that every single word has rooted within it remedies for the healing of our souls — to heal them from the sickness of our impurity — and to cleave them to the light of the face of the King of Kings of Kings, the Holy One Blessed be He, the living G-d. From the very depths of the lowest pit and below it — for they flow and emerge from the pure utterances, refined seven times [מַאֲמָרוֹת טְהוֹרוֹת מְזֻקָּק שִׁבְעָתַיִם — a direct quotation from Tehillim 12:7: imros Hashem amaros t'horos, kesef tzaruf ba'alil la'aretz, m'zukkak shiva'tayim — "the words of Hashem are pure words — silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times." The transcriber applies the Psalm's description of Hashem's own pure words directly to the Rebbe's teachings: they are in the category of imros Hashem — the pure words of Hashem — refined seven times in the furnace. The silver refined in the furnace is not an ordinary purity but the purity achieved through repeated trial and fire] of our Rebbe and Teacher Moharan — of blessed and holy memory — may his merit protect us — within which there is strength and vitality to revive and restore the soul of every living creature — in the aspect of and if I make my bed in the depths of the underworld — behold You are there [וְאַצִּיעָה שְׁאוֹל הִנֶּךָּ — Tehillim 139:8: "if I ascend to the heavens — You are there; and if I make my bed in the depths of the underworl

d — behold You are there." Divine omnipresence even in the lowest place: the Rebbe's letters reach even there] — and in the aspect of and those who are lost in the land of Assyria and those who are cast out in the land of Egypt shall come and bow down to Hashem on the holy mountain in Jerusalem [Yeshayahu 27:13] [The prophetic vision of the ultimate ingathering — even the most lost and cast out will be brought home. The transcriber frames the entire collection under this eschatological hope] — Omain, so may it be His will, speedily, speedily. Therefore I took pains — with the help of Hashem Yisborach — to transcribe nearly every single word. For from them flow the issues of life [כִּי מֵהֶם תּוֹצְאוֹת חַיִּים — a direct quotation of Mishlai 4:23: mikol mishmar n'tzor libecha ki mimenu totza'os chayyim — "above all that you guard — guard your heart — for from it flow the issues of life." The transcriber closes his preface by applying Mishlai's verse about the heart directly to the letters: as the heart is the source from which all vital life-flow emerges, so these letters are the heart of the collection — the source from which the issues of life flow outward. The letters are identified with the heart itself]. The ink and the paper — by the looks of things they are working out well. I have no indication at all of where olive oil can reach me. And send quickly — either on Wednesday through the post — or on Thursday in any case without any delay — so that I should not need to think about this at all on Friday, if Hashem wills. For now — you have gained greatly through the paper and the ink — this entire enclosed letter — which I had not thought to extend so far — but your strong desire was effective — and the ink flowed after the quill on very fine paper [וְהַדְּיוֹ נִמְשְׁכָה אַחַר הַקֻּלְמוֹס עַל נְיָר יָפֶה מְאֹד — the desire of the recipient pulled the ink after the pen. The physical act of writing and the spiritual act of transmission mirror each other: longing from below draws the flow from above. What was not intended to be written became a full letter]. Blessed is Hashem who has helped us until now — and this too is one of the salvations and expansions mentioned above — in the aspect of: in distress You expanded me [בְּצָר הִרְחַבְתָּ לִי — Tehillim 4:2: "in distress You have expanded me." Reb Nussun's personal refrain of salvation arising from constriction, already used in Letters 59 and 76. Here applied to the writing act itself: having nothing to say became the expansion of an entire letter] — and truly it is a wondrous expansion and salvation. For our letters are precious medicines. For they all flow from the spring that goes out from the House of Hashem — of which all its fruit is for food — and its leaves for healing [מַעְיָן הַיּוֹצֵא מִבֵּית ה' אֲשֶׁר כָּל פִּרְיוֹ לְמַאֲכָל וְעָלֵיהוּ לִתְרוּפָה — Yechezkel 47:12: the vision of the river flowing from the Temple threshold — on its banks will grow every kind of fruit tree whose fruit is for food and whose leaves are for healing. The same spring invoked in Letter 96 as the river going out from Eden and the daily renewal of creation — now named in its prophetic Yechezkel form: the spring from the House of Hashem] [Yechezkel 47:12]. "Its leaves" — that is, the paper — for they are leaves and pages — upon which we write all the holy books of the holy Torah. [עָלֵיהוּ הַיְנוּ הַנְּיָר שֶׁהֵם עָלִין וְדַפִּין — the interpretive key to the entire collection's title. The Hebrew word aleha — its leaves — is identical to alim — leaves — and also to dafim — pages. The prophetic promise that the leaves of the healing river will be for medicine is applied directly to the paper pages of the holy books — and specifically these letters. The very paper on which the Torah is written — and on which these letters are written — is the prophetic leaf for healing. The title Ullim LeTroofah — Leaves for Healing — is here explicitly grounded in Yechezkel's prophecy: these letters are themselves the healing leaves of the river from the House of Hashem] Which are our healing and our life forever. Nussun of Breslov. [Translator's Note: Overview: A fragment — and the most remarkable letter in the collection. The transcriber's preface now fully identified: *m'zukkak shiva'tayim* is a direct quotation from Tehillim 12:7 — the Rebbe's words are in the category of *imros Hashem*, the pure words of Hashem, refined seven times in the furnace. *Ki mehem totza'os chayyim* is a direct quotation from Mishlai 4:23 — the letters are the heart itself, the source from which all vital life-flow issues. The letter contains the key to the collection's title: *aleha literufah* (Yechezkel 47:12) — the prophetic healing-leaves of the river from the Temple are the paper pages of the letters. *Batzar hirchavta li* (Tehillim 4:2) returns for the third time. The ink followed the quill; desire from below drew the flow from above. Key Themes M'zukkak Shiva'tayim — Tehillim 12:7 "The words of Hashem are pure words — silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times." The transcriber applies this directly to the Rebbe's teachings: they are in the category of Hashem's own pure words, refined through fire. Not ordinary purity but the purity of repeated trial.]

[Hebrew: נָתָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב...]