Ullim LeTroofah – Letter Forty-Five | Reb Nussun: There Is No Time At All

Ullim LeTroofah

עלים לתרופה

Leaves for Healing

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

LETTER FORTY-FIVE

Blessed be Hashem · Sunday, Parshas Metzora, 27th of Nissan · Year 5591 (1831)
Written from Breslov

To My beloved son, my dear one. [Yitzchok]

On Thursday, Isru Chag [the day following the festival of Pesach] I sent you my letter. No doubt it reached your hand. And now the time of K'rias Sh'ma of Shacharis [the morning prayer] has arrived and I am ready to stand and pray — but from my love for you I am informing you that, thanks be to G-d, life and peace are with us.

And receive a letter from our friend Rabbi Chaim Nachum — may his light shine — for he gave me life by what he reminded me of regarding the matter of bitul hazman [בִּטּוּל הַזְּמַן — the nullification of time; wasting time; this is one of the gravest spiritual concerns in the Breslov tradition, as every moment carries the possibility of Torah, prayer, and service] — that one must go in this [that is: one must truly live and act according to the awareness of bitul hazman] — for in truth there is no time at all.

And soon I will see to write to you at greater length.

Nussun of Breslov.

Overview: The shortest letter in the collection — written in the very moment before Shacharis, with the time of K'rias Sh'ma pressing. Reb Nussun stops to write only because love compels him. The teaching he transmits is itself enacted by the letter's brevity: there is no time at all. The phrase bitul hazman — the nullification or wasting of time — is one of the central concerns of the Breslov path. Rabbi Chaim Nachum's reminder of this principle "gave Reb Nussun life" — a moment of mutual spiritual revival between teacher and student. He promises to write at greater length. This letter is its own teaching in miniature: even a note dashed off before prayer, containing a single sentence of truth, is not wasted.

Key Themes

There Is No Time At All Bitul hazman — the waste of time — is a grave spiritual concern in Breslov teaching. Every moment carries the potential for Torah, prayer, and service. The insight Reb Nussun transmits here goes further: not merely "don't waste time" — but "in truth there is no time at all." Time itself is too precious, too thin, too fleeting, to treat as though there were plenty of it.

The Letter Enacts Its Teaching Written in the moment before K'rias Sh'ma — pausing prayer itself to dash off a word of truth to his son — this letter is its own demonstration. Reb Nussun does not let even the press of time silence him. And the letter is as brief as time allows. The form and the content are one.

Chaim Nachum Revives the Teacher Reb Nussun says that Rabbi Chaim Nachum's reminder "gave me life." The flow of spiritual vitality is not only from teacher to student — here a student's letter awakens the teacher. This is the Breslov understanding of community: mutual revival, each one kindling the other.