Ullim LeTroofah
עלים לתרופה
Leaves for Healing
LETTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
Blessed be Hashem  ·  Sunday, Parshas Re'eh  ·  Year 5592 (1832)
Written from Breslov — written at the time of the morning prayer
To My beloved son. [Yitzchok]

Your letter I received on Erev Shabbos Kodesh at the time of the lighting of the Shabbos candles — and I read it immediately in its entirety from my love for you — and I enjoyed the length of your words — in that you explained to me what is passing over you. And the essential thing from what I saw is that you are giving some attention to the fact that all of this is a hint from Him, Yisborach, to draw you near to Him, Yisborach, through this very thing — and this is very fitting for you.

And so it is good for you and for us to take to heart each day what passes over us — and to keep the memory well — for everything is for the sake of the takhlees of the World to Come [תַּכְלִית עוֹלָם הַבָּא — takhlees: the ultimate end-goal, the final purpose — the philosophical term for what Aristotle called telos, the final cause toward which everything is directed. In Breslov usage takhlees carries this full weight: not merely "purpose" in a vague sense but the ultimate finality of existence — the point to which all experience in this world, including all its trials and hints, is directed. The word recurs in Letter 88 as the central term: mah yihyeh takhlieto la'olam haba — what will his takhlees be in the World to Come]. And if you are not able to understand in detail the particular hints — even so the faith that one believes that all of this is hints — and the attention one pays to this, to notice it — even though one does not understand in detail — even so this itself is very good — that one believes in this as above. And for the sake of Hashem — see to persevere in your study at every time that you can snatch — and now you need to persevere and pay attention to time more than at the beginning — since you have many interruptions. May Hashem Yisborach have mercy on you that you accept upon yourself the yoke of Torah [עֹל תּוֹרָה — from Avos 3:5: "whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah — the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly affairs are removed from him. But whoever removes from himself the yoke of Torah — the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly affairs are placed upon him." Torah study is not an additional burden on top of life's pressures — it is the replacement of all heavier burdens. The lighter yoke removes the heavier ones] properly — and cast off from yourself the yoke of worldly affairs [Avos 3:5]. And the time for the morning prayer has arrived — and there is no time to extend at all.

The words of your father — who prays on your behalf.

Nussun of Breslov.

Overview: Written Sunday morning, received at candle-lighting on Friday, cut short by Shacharis. Yitzchok is beginning to see his experiences as divine *remozim* — hints — and Reb Nussun affirms this: even faith in the hints without complete understanding of their details is already very good. The word *takhlees* — the ultimate end-goal, the philosophical *telos* — is now identified as a term of weight that carries across Letters 87 and 88. The closing teaching: the *ol Torah* (yoke of Torah) from Avos 3:5 replaces the *ol derech eretz* (yoke of worldly affairs) — Torah is not an additional burden but the liberation from all heavier burdens.

Key Themes

Takhlees — The Ultimate Telos Not merely "purpose" but the philosophical telos — the final cause toward which all of existence is directed. Everything that passes over a person — every trial, every hint — is directed toward this ultimate end: the World to Come. The term carries its full Aristotelian weight into Breslov spiritual language.
Faith in the Hints — Even Without Details Even if one cannot understand the specific divine hint in each experience, the faith itself that all is a hint — and the attention paid to noticing this — is already very good. The *emunah* in the pattern is itself a form of closeness, independent of complete comprehension.
Ol Torah vs Ol Derech Eretz — Avos 3:5 Accepting the yoke of Torah removes the yoke of government and worldly affairs. Torah is not an additional burden on top of life's pressures — it is their replacement. The lighter yoke frees one from the heavier ones.
Frame of Prayer The letter is received at Shabbos candle-lighting on Friday and answered Sunday morning — cut short when the time for Shacharis arrives. Prayer surrounds the letter on both ends. The teaching about the *ol Torah* is delivered at the very threshold of prayer itself.