Your letter I received at this hour. And regarding the zaigril [clock] — know that it was running a little fast — by approximately eight minutes over twenty-four hours. Therefore see to it that the craftsman has it run properly — neither too fast nor too slow — only twenty-four hours over twenty-four hours. And may Hashem Yisborach help us that we merit to keep the measure of day and the measure of night — so as not to lose any hour [לִשְׁמֹר מִדַּת יוֹם וּמִדַּת לַיְלָה לִבְלִי לְאַבֵּד שׁוּם שָׁעָה — the practical becomes theological: the clock that keeps exact time is the metaphor for human life itself. Every hour is precious; to lose an hour is a real spiritual loss], G-d forbid. And on account of the entry of Shabbos it is impossible to extend.
May the One Who has compassion on Tziyon have compassion on us [מְרַחֵם צִיּוֹן — the central liturgical phrase of the Tisha B'Av and Three Weeks prayers, framing the entire letter's theological movement from mourning toward consolation] — that we merit to accomplish through the kinos the petition of Return us to You, Hashem, and we shall return [הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה' אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּב — Eichah 5:21, the closing verse of the book of Lamentations — so beloved that the congregation reads it aloud twice on Tisha B'Av. Reb Nussun identifies it as the essential purpose of all the kinos: they are all contained within Megillas Eichah, composed by Yirmiyahu in the holy spirit — and all of Eichah leads to and is contained within this final cry of return] — for this is the essential purpose of the recitation of the kinos — all of them are contained within Megillas Eichah which Yirmiyahu the prophet composed in the holy spirit — and which concludes at the end with Return us and so forth.
And the essential thing is that we fulfil pour out your heart like water before the face of Hashem [שִׁפְכִי כַמַּיִם לִבֵּךְ נֹכַח פְּנֵי ה' — Eichah 2:19: one of the most concentrated expressions of personal prayer in all of Scripture. The heart poured out like water — completely, unreservedly, until nothing is held back — in direct presence before Hashem. Applied not only to Tisha B'Av lamentation but to daily personal speech before Hashem] — until we arouse His mercies each day — and He returns to us and has compassion on us and consoles us and gladdens us [וְיָשׁוּב אֵלֵינוּ וִירַחֲמֵנוּ וִינַחֲמֵנוּ וִישַׂמְּחֵנוּ — four verbs in deliberate sequence that trace the entire arc from Tisha B'Av mourning to ultimate joy. Yashuv — returns — echoes hashivenu (Eichah 5:21); y'rachamenu — has compassion — echoes rachem throughout Eichah; y'nachhamenu — consoles us — echoes the opening word of Shabbos Nachamu's Haftorah (nachamu, nachamu ami — Yeshayah 40); and y'samchenu — gladdens us — is the final arrival at joy that neither Eichah nor the prophetic consolations name directly. Compressed into four words, Reb Nussun traces the complete movement: Tisha B'Av crying out → Hashivenu → Shabbos Nachamu consolation → full joy in divine service] — until we merit to serve Him, Yisborach, in joy always. And may the merit of the holy Shabbos protect us to reach all of this speedily — for it is not an empty thing all that is being done with us each and every day in these times — in the footsteps of the Mashiach [בְּעִקְבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא — Talmudic Aramaic (Sotah 49b) for the generation immediately preceding the messianic era, characterised by the specific trials of the faithful. Reb Nussun identifies the community's struggles as the particular experiences of this threshold generation] — in the general and in the particular, with each and every person. And we need to sustain ourselves with all kinds of delights that restore the soul [כָּל מִינֵי מַטְעַמִּים הַמְשִׁיבִין אֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ — the delights that restore the soul: the teachings of the Rebbe, personal speech before Hashem, and most of all the holiness and joy of Shabbos, which protects and sustains through even the most difficult generation] — and most of all through the holiness and joy of the holy Shabbos which protects everything.
Nussun of Breslov.
Overview: Written on Shabbos Chazon — the Shabbos before Tisha B'Av — in haste as Shabbos approaches. The clock runs eight minutes fast; the practical note becomes a prayer for guarding every hour. The essential purpose of all the *kinos* is identified as Eichah's final verse — *hashivenu*. The instruction: pour out your heart like water daily. The four-verb sequence — *yashuv, y'rachamenu, y'nachhamenu, y'samchenu* — traces the complete arc from Tisha B'Av (return/hashivenu) through Shabbos Nachamu consolation (nachamu) to ultimate joy (y'samchenu) — Reb Nussun's theology of the Three Weeks compressed into four words. The generation lives *b'ikvos meshicha* (Sotah 49b).