Ullim LeTroofah – Letter Thirty-Four | Reb Nussun: From Uman in Elul, Early Morning Prayer

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-FOUR

Thursday, Parshas Ki Savo · 19th of Elul, Year 5589 (1829)
Written from Uman

With the help of G-d, may He be blessed

To My son, beloved as my soul — the outstanding, veteran scholar — our Teacher the Rabbi Yitzchok — may his light shine and radiate. Life and peace and all good.

Behold — the letter to your father-in-law will be before your eyes. And there is no need to repeat the words. And believe me — it did not enter my mind yesterday to respond to him immediately — and in particular with such words. But this too came out from Hashem of Hosts — who performs His kindness wondrous with us at every time, in most wondrous ways. Be strong and courageous, my son — with everything you can — for there is hope for your future. And do not forget all His kindnesses — that He has already bestowed upon you kindness and truth for eternity. I hope and trust in Hashem that He will increase His kindness with you — to make your end better than your beginning. Only be strong and courageous.

And it is impossible to elaborate further — for the time of the recitation of Shema of Shacharis (the morning prayer) has already arrived. And you know the intensity of our longing to pray always in the morning, early — as he, of blessed memory, warned us (Sichos HaRan, 31).

Please, my son — accustom yourself in this. Would that you merit to pray each day the prayer of the Vatikin (at sunrise) — then happy are you and good is it for you. For when one prays in the morning early — there is freedom and liberty the entire day for His service, may He be blessed.

How fortunate are we — how good is our portion — for every single word that we merited to receive from the springs of salvation — for even this practice above-mentioned is a great foundation for drawing close to Hashem Yisborach.

The words of your father — who awaits to rejoice in you for eternity.

Nussun of Breslov.

✦ Letters of the Year 5590 ✦

Overview: A brief, luminous letter written from Uman on 19 Elul 5589 — just eleven days before Rosh Hashana — the season of return and awe. Reb Nussun has just written a letter to his son's father-in-law that he says arose spontaneously from Hashem. He then breaks off — the time for Shacharis has arrived — and uses the interruption itself to teach: the practice of early morning prayer, from Sichos HaRan 31, is a great foundation. When you pray at sunrise, the whole day opens before you with freedom.

Key Themes

This Too Came from Hashem The sense that even an unexpected letter — written spontaneously, not planned — is a divine communication is characteristic of Reb Nussun's theology of the moment. He is not the author of what he writes; he is the channel. Gam zos may'eis Hashem Tzvaos.

The Prayer of the Vatikin Vatikin — the early ones, the pious ancients — is the practice of beginning the Amidah precisely at sunrise. Sichos HaRan 31 records Rebbe Nachman's strong emphasis on this practice. Reb Nussun interrupts his own letter to go pray — and the interruption itself becomes the teaching.

Freedom the Whole Day The principle that praying early liberates the entire day for service is not merely practical. It reflects the understanding that morning prayer establishes the spiritual orientation of the day. Once that foundation is laid — you are free, not enslaved to the drift of circumstance.

Written From Uman in Elul This is the second letter in the collection written from Uman itself (after Letter 27), and the first written specifically in the month of Elul — the month of return, of divine proximity, of the approach to Rosh Hashana. The physical location and the spiritual season are inseparable.