ו

Your letter has now reached me a second time. In the first letter there were enclosed the introductions (haktamos) of my friend our Teacher the Rabbi Nussun of Nemirov. And now there has reached me a second time a letter from your lofty eminence, and within it is enclosed the text for the printing. And your eminence also writes to me that I should send for this no less than one hundred adumim (red coins).

I marvel at your eminence — how you do not write by whose hand I should send it, and to whose hand I should send it, and in whose name I should send it. And I also marvel at your eminence for not writing to me the total number of copies to be printed — a thousand, or more. And also: on what paper — on shrayb (writing paper) or on rigahl (ruled / lined paper) — and how many on shrayb and how many on rigahl. And how much your eminence is paying the printer as the fee for printing per boygin (signature / gathering of pages). And how many boygin this book will contain in total. Thus let your eminence write to me every detail, by return.

And regarding what your eminence wrote to me — that you have difficulties with the Rav, and also that he wishes to print within the book certain things of his own — behold, I have placed everything in your hands, and everything is under your authority. Therefore, if you understand with your own understanding that you have no need of the Rav — cease from him. But if you do need him, I warn you that he should not allow even a single letter of his own to go to press — so that no stranger should be intermingled within the book. And as for those two introductions which you sent me — they are upright in my humble eyes. And regarding the haskamos (approbations) — I spoke with the Rav that he should not make an issue of this, and so forth. And regarding what your eminence wrote to me — that the brother-in-law of the printer, who is the extraordinary scholar, and so forth, our Teacher the Rabbi Mosheh — may his light shine and radiate — is doing you favors: with the help of Hashem Yisborach I shall repay him measure for measure. And may Hashem Yisborach grant you strength — in material matters and in spiritual matters — to complete the printing without any hindrance whatsoever.

And regarding the health of my body — I hereby inform you that for some days now I have strengthened somewhat, but I still stand in need of great mercies — u'man d'rachim li li'ba'ay alai rachamim — whoever loves me should beseech mercy for me (Nedarim 40).

[Hebrew: נַחְמָן הַלֵּוִי חַזָּן...]

Thus speak the words of one who loves your soul and constantly seeks your welfare. Nachman, son of our Teacher the Rabbi Simcha — may his Rock protect him and give him life. Also — to send out the letters by way of the postal service, each one to its place. Overview: Written from Lemberg in 5568, this letter is unique in the collection: it is almost entirely devoted to the practical logistics of printing a holy book — almost certainly Likutay Moharan, Rebbe Nachman's magnum opus, the first part of which was published in Ostrog in 1808. The letter reveals Rebbe Nachman as a remarkably hands-on, detail-oriented overseer of the printing process: paper types, print-run quantities, payment per signature, the chain of custody for funds, and — above all — the absolute purity of the text. Not a single foreign letter was to enter his book. The phrase "the 26th by the count of the Children of Israel" refers to the Sefiras Ha'Omer count — the daily counting of the forty-nine days between Pesach and Shavuos. The 11th of Iyar is the 26th day of the omer. Rebbe Nachman records both the calendar date and the omer count in the dateline, reflecting the sanctity of each individual day in this period. The two lines closing this letter are editorial markers from the compiler of the collection. Line 78 announces the beginning of the letters of 5569. Line 79 is a parenthetical identification of the recipient of Letter 7 — Rebbe Nachman's own daughter Marat Sarah and her husband Reb Yitzchok Ayzik, both of blessed memory. Both are rendered within the manuscript page as structural signposts.

[Hebrew: נַחְמָן הַלֵּוִי...]