Letter 36 ל"ו

Peace and blessing to the honored self of our beloved dear friend, our dear and mighty companion — the generous-hearted one, pursuer of kindness and charity — the Chassid who drinks living waters from the well of living waters, from the flowing stream, the source of wisdom — Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman [מננמ"ח] — the distinguished Torah scholar, our Master R' Moshe Klein, may he live and be established.

After warmly greeting you with great love — as fitting — we have come to arouse and request of your honor regarding a great and awesome mitzvah — unlike anything — upon which the entire world depends. For letters have come from the fellowship at Uman — asking, for the sake of Heaven, to see to exert themselves with all possible ability and all strength to send olive oil for the lighting of an eternal lamp [נר תמיד] at the holy Tzion of Rabbainu the Holy one [Rabbainu's grave in Uman; an eternal flame of olive oil was maintained there as a sacred act of devotion]. For this is a very great essential matter — impossible to measure or assess — as is found in the words of Rabbainu the Holy and Awesome Nachman explicitly, in the Sefer HaMiddos: through an eternal lamp burning with olive oil — through this one is saved from shmad [שמד — forced apostasy, coercion away from the Jewish faith; a grave communal danger]. And this is very necessary in this time — for the world, G‑d forbid, is full of shmad — as is known to all. And all the troubles are only because of this. And since the time of the war [World War I] — olive oil has not been burning at the holy Tzion of Rabbainu the Holy one. Therefore it is a great obligation upon every person of the fellowship to see with all his ability and strength to exert himself and assist in this matter — upon which all the worlds depend. And enough is said to the wise. And also — if possible — to assist in their sustenance [i.e., the sustenance of the Breslov community in Uman] — for their times are very pressing and many dangers pass over them in their livelihood. And it is fitting to exert oneself greatly and to sustain them. So we have received letters from the fellowship at Uman — and also R' Shimshon, may he live, Rabbainu's grandson, wrote and asked very, very greatly — for the sake of Heaven — to exert oneself in this.

[The letter ends here as preserved in the collection. The closing is not included in the manuscript.]