A letter reached me regarding the health of your modest mother-in-law — the very day after your departure from here — and it gladdened me. So may Hashem give, and so may He continue to give. Amen.
I also inform you that, blessed be Hashem, I am on the line of health. I also inform you that I long very much for the liveliness and the joy of your son Yisroel Leb. Since his departure it is very quiet in the house. May Hashem Yisborach grant that I should always hear good tidings from you. Amen.
I also inform you that a letter has arrived from your sister Miriam Leb, from Odessa — that they sailed by ship on Thursday, the 7th of Menachem-Av. She writes that she is happy and joyful, and that everyone draws her close — and she extends greetings of peace to all of you.
I also request of you that you do as I have commanded you — pay no attention to the needs of the household, and eat and drink meat and wine — for your health is more precious to me than my own life. And you will truly give me life when you inform me that you are healthy and strong.
Are these not the words of your father, who awaits hearing from you good and true tidings?
Nachman, son of our Teacher the Rabbi Simcha — may his Rock protect him and give him life.
Extend greetings of peace to my beloved mechutan (co-parent-in-law), the distinguished communal leader, our Teacher the Rabbi Yuda Layb.
And I request of him to watch over my daughter's health — for my soul is bound up with her soul. I likewise request this of his modest wife.
I also request of his eminence that he engage in masa u'matan (business dealings) — for his eminence's business dealings are a matter of high necessity — for declare among the nations His glory [Tehillim 96:3].
Nachman, as above.
Postscript — Final GreetingsExtend greetings of peace to my beloved dear brother, our Teacher the Rabbi Yechiel.
Nachman, as above — together with the welfare of his wife and his daughter, may she live.
The collection now opens the letters of Reb Nussun of Breslov (Moharnat — our Teacher Reb Nussun), of blessed memory — chief disciple of Rebbe Nachman, author of Likutay Halachos and Likutay Teffilos, and the faithful preserver of all of Rebbe Nachman's teachings. His letters begin with the year 5567 — the very same year as Rebbe Nachman's letters above — with a letter written directly to Rebbe Nachman himself.
Overview: This brief, tender letter is the last in the collection written by Rebbe Nachman himself. Written in the summer of 5569 — just over a year before his passing in Tishrei 5571 (1810) — it is addressed to his daughter Marat Sarah, and revolves around two things: concern for her health and longing for her son's cheerful presence. The command to eat meat and drink wine — to stop neglecting herself for the household — is one of the most direct expressions of parental love in the entire collection.
The original text marks this transition with the heading "Michtevay Moharnat" — the Letters of Moharnat — followed immediately by a year-header (5567) and then the first letter of Reb Nussun, written to Rebbe Nachman himself. That letter, one of the most spiritually soaring texts in the entire collection, will open the next file. The compiler of the collection has thus arranged the letters so that Reb Nussun's voice enters in the very same year as Rebbe Nachman's — the two masters present together, as they always were.