Ullim LeTroofah – Letter Thirty-Three | Reb Nussun: Good News, The Teaching on Waiting

Ullim LeTroofah

עלים לתרופה

Leaves for Healing

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

LETTER THIRTY-THREE

Thursday, Parshas Ekev, 21st of Av · Year 5589 (1829)
Written from Breslov

Blessed be Hashem

To Abundant peace to my beloved son, my dear one — our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may his light shine and radiate.

May blessings rest upon your head, my beloved son — for you gladdened me with your salvation — which you announced to me in your letter that I received today. Would that I always merit to hear good tidings from you and from all who are joined with us and from all Israel.

And behold you see with your own eyes how faithful our words are — that we spoke much in these times — that one must only wait for the salvation of Hashem. And we see the salvation of Hashem each day and at every time. And also in the building of the house — I see salvations of Hashem each day. But even so — one must always wait for everything — in general and in particular. And the essential thing — in the essential salvation — to merit to draw close to His service, may He be blessed, in truth.

Although one must hasten and be greatly urgent in this — even so, one must also wait greatly. As explained in the words of our Master, our Teacher and Rebbe, of blessed memory (Likutay Moharan 6) — the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory (Yoma 38b–39a): One who comes to purify himself — they assist him. They say to him: Wait.

And behold I, in my poverty, have already waited very greatly — and our eyes grow weary all the day long — for His true salvations. And I have already seen salvations of Hashem beyond measure. But even so — in what I have not yet been saved — I wait still, still — until Hashem looks down from Heaven and sees [cf. Eichah 3:50]. Be strong, my son — be strong — and remember well — do not forget all His kindnesses. And salvation belongs to Hashem — to help you and to save you a complete, true and eternal salvation. And may our enemies see and be ashamed, and so forth.

I have already waited very greatly — very greatly. And our eyes grow weary all the day long — for His true salvations.

And I have already seen salvations of Hashem beyond measure — but in what I have not yet been saved — I wait still, still — until Hashem looks down from Heaven.

The words of your father — who writes amidst preoccupation — and who awaits salvation.

Nussun of Breslov.

Overview: Written seventeen days after Letter 32 — on Parshas Ekev, the same portion that bore Letter 29 — this brief letter responds to good news: some salvation has arrived for Yitzchok. Reb Nussun opens with a burst of blessing and then delivers the teaching that the waiting itself proves faithful — citing *Likutay Moharan* 6 and the Talmudic dictum from Yoma: one who comes to purify himself is assisted — but told to wait. The letter closes with one of the most personal disclosures in the collection: Reb Nussun's own endless waiting for salvations he has not yet seen.

Key Themes

Wait — Hamtayn The Talmudic principle — ha'ba litaher m'say'in oso — omrim lo hamtayn (one who comes to be purified is aided — they say to him: wait) — is Rebbe Nachman's key teaching on the spiritual structure of growth. Heaven assists — but not immediately. The waiting is not abandonment; it is part of the assistance.

I Have Waited Very Greatly The sudden shift from teaching to personal testimony — "I, in my poverty, have already waited very greatly" — is one of the most intimate moments in all of Reb Nussun's letters. He is not only teaching his son to wait. He is telling him: I am also waiting. We are waiting together.

Still, Still The doubling — mamtin adayin adayin (I wait still, still) — is characteristic of Reb Nussun's style when he reaches the edge of language. The repetition is not redundancy; it is the sound of ongoing, unfinished, faithful waiting pressing against the limits of what words can say.

Salvations Beyond Measure The juxtaposition — I have seen salvations beyond measure / but in what I have not yet been saved, I still wait — is the most honest statement of the Breslov position on unanswered prayer: not denial, not despair, but the holding together of extraordinary gratitude and continued longing.