Ullim LeTroofah – Letter Sixteen | Reb Nussun: Five Signatures Printed

Ullim LeTroofah

עלים לתרופה

Leaves for Healing

The Sacred Letters of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and Reb Nussun of Breslov, of blessed memory

LETTER SIXTEEN

Tuesday, 7th of Teves, Parshas Vayigash · Year 5584 (1823)
Written from Breslov

Blessed be Hashem

To May the mountains bear peace [Tehillim 72:3] — to the honor of my beloved son, the friend of my soul — our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may his light shine and radiate.

Your letter I received twice — and I exult over your utterance as one who finds great spoil [Tehillim 119:162]. My innards rejoice at your lips speaking uprightly [Tehillim 23:16]. You gave me life with your words — in what you wrote that you are engaging in Torah and prayer and in the books of our Master, of blessed memory, and that you are in joy — for for this my soul has yearned. Would that this heart of yours be so — to fear Hashem all the days of your life — and to add each day and each time in holiness and purity and in strengthening of the service of Hashem more and more — for apart from this everything is vanity, for our days are like a passing shadow, and the day is short and the work is much, and if not now — when?

Be strong, my son, and courageous with all your strength to go in the straight and true path that our great and holy Master taught us — may the memory of the righteous and holy one be for a blessing — for it is your life and the length of your days, for all eternity and for everlasting eternities. And beyond this it is impossible to elaborate in writing — go out and look and absorb yourself in the books of our Master, of blessed memory — and you will find there everything your soul asks of you: counsel and guidance and paths in the service of Hashem. Turn them over and turn them over — and from them do not stir — for you have no better quality than them.

Update on the Printing of Likutay Teffilos

Know, my beloved son, that thank G-d five forims (signatures — gatherings of printed pages) of the Teffilos are already completed, and now we are working on the sixth. May Hashem complete it for us. And all of them are greatly occupied with the printing — for it is known that we are running the press without hired workers: only Rabbi Mendil, and Rabbi Chayyim Nachum, and the young man Yitzchok Yehoshua — and also my veteran son, our Teacher the Rabbi Shakhnah — may his light shine and radiate — helps a great deal each time, but not on a fixed basis. Therefore the work proceeds slowly and gradually. May Hashem Yisborach be with us to complete it in perfection speedily.

And there are many obstacles on account of lack of funds, as you know of this.

⚠ Urgent Appeal — Do Not Delay Even One Day Therefore see to it to urge greatly the anshay shlomaynu in your community that they should see to send me immediately and with alacrity their generous gift — and let them not delay at all — for it is impossible to delay the printing, G-d forbid, even a single day, as you know. And receive with love one sample leaf from the Teffilos — let your eyes see it and let your heart rejoice. And beyond this there is no time to elaborate.

The words of your father, who always awaits hearing the good from you — and the essential good is the true and eternal good.

The lowly Nussun, son of our Teacher the Rabbi Naftali Hirtz — may his light shine and radiate.

Overview: Written three weeks after Letter 15 — the printing has advanced: five signatures of Likutay Teffilos are complete, the sixth is under way. Reb Nussun opens with an outpouring of joy at his son's spiritual progress, delivers a concentrated charge on the path of Rebbe Nachman's books, and then pivots with urgent practicality: the press cannot be delayed even one day, funds are needed immediately, and a sample page is enclosed. The letter embodies the complete unity of the spiritual and the practical that marks all of Reb Nussun's writing.

Key Themes

Spoil and Inner Organs The two opening Biblical images — finding great spoil (Tehillim 119:162) and innards rejoicing (Tehillim 23:16) — are not ornamental. Finding spoil is the sudden, overwhelming enrichment of the soldier in victory. The innards — the kilyos, the kidneys — are in Biblical Hebrew the seat of the deepest inner self. Reb Nussun's joy at his son's progress is felt in his innermost being.

Without Hired Workers The detail that the press is being run entirely by a small group of unpaid volunteers — Rabbi Mendil, Rabbi Chayyim Nachum, a young man, and Reb Nussun's own son helping when he can — opens a window into the extraordinary self-sacrifice behind the creation of Likutay Teffilos. This book of 210 prayers was produced under conditions of poverty and personal exhaustion.

The Sample Leaf Reb Nussun encloses a single printed page from Likutay Teffilos — the first the community in Tcherkass has ever seen. The phrase — "let your eyes see it and let your heart rejoice" — is both practical and deeply tender. He knows what these pages mean. He wants his son to hold one in his hands.

The True and Eternal Good The closing formula — "the essential good is the true and eternal good" — appears here for the first time in the collection as a standalone closing thought. It will recur. For Reb Nussun, all other goods — health, wealth, success — are real but temporary. Only the good of Torah, prayer, and closeness to G-d is true and does not pass away.

Note on Parshas Vayigash

The letter is written on Parshas Vayigash — the portion in which Yosef reveals himself to his brothers after years of separation, and Yaakov descends to Egypt to be reunited with his son. The imagery of a father longing to hear good from his son, and of reunion after distance, resonates quietly behind every line of this letter.