On Tribulations and the Desperate Need for Encouragement

Regarding what you write — that presumably I have no need for words of encouragement [divray hischazkus — דברי התחזקות]: in truth, I am greatly in need of words of encouragement, for I am surrounded by obstacles, troubles, sufferings, disturbances, and manifold harassments — [Yiddish: "the plaguing, the torment, the homelessness and wandering"] [and in Hebrew, appended immediately: "the suffering, the toil, and the wandering"] — blessed be G‑d, from every side, direction, quarter, and corner. From my dear father, may he live; from my mother, may she live; from us ourselves; from the relatives — from every single side literally… [Yiddish passage — translated in full:] How I have been receiving things from my father, one after another: first — that we had received no further letter from the ship; second — the sufferings he endured: three times he was in literal mortal danger, G‑d forbid — three consecutive day-and-night periods at once; and then, before the first was even forgotten, the second came, and the third and the fourth, etc.; and that he received no letters from us; and then — G‑d forbid — a great calamity: he was walking in the street, and did not notice in time — a tram knocked him over; and he had outright miracles, entirely beyond the natural order — he was truly a hairsbreadth from death, G‑d forbid. And he writes to us that we have truly received a new father [i.e., he was virtually reborn]; and he received a blow to the nose and lay in bed the entire week while they stitched his nose; and for the first ten minutes he was unconscious; and there is no way to gauge the depth of his pain, agony, and dread. And one sees the expansiveness of Hashem always, literally inside the very distress itself. And then afterward he again had a further incident: an insolent person humiliated him publicly before an entire congregation. And then his wandering, and his food is dry and scanty, and he suffers very much, the poor man — may the Master of the Universe have compassion upon him.

[The following is a Hebrew parenthetical that appears in the original text — R' Shmuel's own Hebrew re-telling of the Yiddish account above, inserted immediately after it within parentheses:] (All of this reached me from my father, one matter after another. First: that no further letter had reached us from the ship. The suffering he endured — three times he was in literal mortal danger, G‑d forbid, three consecutive day-and-night periods; and then, before the first was forgotten, the third and the fourth arrived, etc. And that he received no letters from us. And then — G‑d forbid — a great calamity that befell him: he was walking in the street, and a vehicle — may it not befall us — knocked him over, and he had complete miracles, utterly beyond the natural order; he was truly a hairsbreadth from death, G‑d forbid. He writes to us that we have received a new father — that he was struck in the nose, and the entire week was confined to bed while they stitched his nose; and the first ten minutes he was unconscious; and there is no way to gauge the depth of his pain, agony, and dread. And one sees the expansiveness of Hashem always, literally within the very distress itself. And afterward he again had a further incident, in which an insolent person publicly shamed him before an entire congregation. And then: his wandering, and his food is dry and meager, and he suffers greatly, the poor man — may Hashem have compassion on him.)

Regarding the matter of strengthening through the words of our master the Rebbe זצ"ל — see in Likutay Halachos — which is full of strengthening — and so in Alim LiTerufah and the letters of our master R' Nossan[מוהרנ"ת = מורינו הרב נתן — "our master, our teacher, Rabbi Nossan." The standard Breslov abbreviation for R' Nossan Sternhartz.]. And the essential: one must strengthen oneself — for one strengthens only the already-strong. [Yiddish:] "One must hold firm with what one can — and give life to oneself with every good point — and in particular with the drawing close to the Rebbe — which is greater than everything. And this is the entire topic of Adar: 'When Adar enters — one increases in joy.'" [One must strengthen oneself with what is possible — and give life to oneself with every good point — and in particular with the drawing close to the Rebbe — which is greater than everything — and this is the entire matter of Adar: when Adar enters — one increases in joy.] And the Tzaddikim say: one increases holiness through joy — through the joy with which one rejoices.

And in particular — the holy Purim — when one must receive joy for the entire year. And according to the joy one merits on Purim — so one merits to the kashrus of Pesach — to be saved from even a trace of chametz — upon which depends all of Judaism — as is explained from the Arizal: according to how much one guards oneself from even a trace of chametz — so one is guarded all year from sins. And this is what is brought in Likutay Moharan Tannina: at first all beginnings were from Pesach — which is the beginning of Israel's drawing close to their Father in Heaven — and so on — and now the beginnings are from Purim.

And for this very thing — to merit the kashrus of Pesach — one merits through Purim — for the essential is the joy on Purim. And certainly one must be greatly ashamed on Taanis Esther — and cry out and request from Hashem — "save us from Haman-Amalek — the evil inclination" — and so on. But the essential: one must fulfill the holy commandments of Purim with love and joy and the supreme awe — which is the golden scepter — for the awe is with joy and love and cleaving to Hashem — like Rosh Hashana[ר"ה = ראש השנה — "Rosh Hashana."] and Yom Kippur[יו"כ = יום כיפור — "Yom Kippur / the Day of Atonement."] — the High Priest[כה"ג = כהן גדול — "the High Priest."] in the Holy of Holies[ק"ק = קודש הקדשים — "the Holy of Holies." The innermost chamber of the Temple.] — but then the awe was revealed more than the joy — and on Purim the joy is revealed more — and then the illumination of Mordechai shines — which has no parallel in all the days of the year — and then everyone can draw close to Hashem. And in the Megillah one can see the face of the Tzaddik — Mordechai and Esther — who are the true Tzaddikim and the Community of Israel [כנס"י — כנסת ישראל — "the Community / Congregation of Israel." The Kabbalistic archetype of the collective Jewish soul, identified with Malchus / the Shechinah.] — in the aspect of the Messiah. And so with the other commandments of Purim — gifts to the poor — and dances and melodies — and the clapping of hands — which sweeten all the harsh judgments — [and in the aspect of the receiving of the Torah with love and joy — which was on Purim] — the receiving of the Torah of the revealed and the hidden — judgments and legs. And the essential: the drinking and the intoxication on Purim — which is the rectification of the covenant — and through this one ascends to the place where there is no distinction between evil and good — where everything is good — everything is One — in the aspect of "until one does not know the difference between cursed Haman and blessed Mordechai." [עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי — "until one does not know the difference between cursed Haman and blessed Mordechai." The famous Talmudic teaching (Megillah 7b) on the level of intoxication required on Purim. In Breslov understanding — this represents not just physical intoxication but a spiritual state: the level where all of one's past — including what was "cursed Haman" (one's sins and fallings) — has been so thoroughly transformed and elevated that it merges with "blessed Mordechai" (holiness). The penitent reaches the place where his sins have become merits — where the distinction between the impure past and the holy present dissolves.] This is the light of the love within the da'as — which is the supreme love — the love of the future — when there will be peace and unity — "and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb" and so on — "they shall neither harm nor destroy" and so on — as brought in Likutay Halachos: this is the aspect to which the penitent must return in his teshuvah — until he reaches the place that is entirely good. And then what was made from sins becomes merits — and this is accomplished through the intoxication of Purim. May Hashem grant us merit for this — and may we merit to be truly close and connected to our master the Rebbe זצ"ל — until all the foolishnesses will automatically become null — and so on. So may it be His will. Amen.

Q1 — Looking at books of other streams: In truth — according to my understanding — it is permitted to look at books [as brought in the words of our master R' Nossan זצ"ל] that speak of Judaism — besides those[ר"ל = רוצה לומר — "meaning / that is to say."] [that speak against the Torah — or contrary to the Shulchan Aruch[שו"ע / משו"ע = שולחן ערוך — "the Shulchan Aruch — the Code of Jewish Law." The variant משו"ע = "contrary to the Shulchan Aruch" (מ = from/against).] — or in opposition to the Tzaddikim — which it is forbidden to look at — and so those that speak of philosophy]. But against this: when there is meat and fish — why does one need to eat vegetables? — It is a pity on the time — one could then study and look into the books of the true Tzaddikim — and so on — and enough said.

Q2 — Tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam: [תפילין דר"ת — "Tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam." Two interpretations exist regarding the order of the four Torah portions placed inside the tefillin: the view of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040–1105), which is the standard practice; and the view of Rabbeinu Tam (Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir, 1100–1171), his grandson, which places the portions in a different order. Traditional Ashkenazic Chassidim wear both — first the Rashi tefillin, then (without a blessing) the Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. The Kabbalistic distinction is profound: Rashi tefillin correspond to this world; Rabbeinu Tam tefillin to the World to Come.] According to the Arizal[עפ"י = על פי — "according to / in accordance with." Al pi — the standard expression of attribution.] — they are higher than the tefillin of Rashi. And according to the holy Zohar — for the tefillin of Rashi are the tefillin of this world — and the tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam are the tefillin of the World to Come. For the tefillin of Rashi are in the aspect of Binah — and the tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam are in the aspect of Chochmah. And because of this one does not recite a blessing over them — as brought from the Arizal: there is a dispute between the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim about the head-tefillin — whether they require a separate blessing — the Ashkenazim do recite a blessing because they say we can draw down through our blessing the encompassing lights of the holiness of the head-tefillin. And the Sephardim say: it is not in our power to draw through our blessing the holiness of the head-tefillin — it is accomplished automatically through the arousal from above. And this is for the tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam — which are even higher — we cannot draw their holiness through our blessings — it is accomplished automatically through our placing them. And why is it permitted to interrupt for answering Amen — because with Rashi tefillin if one interrupts one must make an additional blessing which causes a blessing in vain — but with Rabbeinu Tam tefillin — the truth is that it is also forbidden to interrupt in speech — but if one hears a blessing and does not answer Amen — this is a great transgression — and therefore one answers — since in one's answering one does not cause an additional blessing — since in any case one does not recite a blessing over the tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam — and enough said.

Q3 — Leaving the Land of Israel for the grave-site of the Rebbe: It is certainly permitted to leave[אר"י = ארץ ישראל — "the Land of Israel." The standard abbreviation.] for such a great mitzvah for such a great mitzvah — there is none like it. And it is also permitted to use charity money to travel to holy grave-sites — for this is a merit for the giver — and enough said.

Q4 — The obstacles: One must greatly strengthen oneself in all that one can — and request from Hashem — that through the obstacles — pleasantness will be made — and vessels to feel even more deeply the holiness of the Tzaddik and the service of Hashem. May Hashem help you in all that you need. And the essential: to be in joy — and certainly through this all the troubles will be nullified — for "in joy you shall go out" — through joy one succeeds — and all the harsh judgments are sweetened — and they have no power to prevent and to harm. [Yiddish:] "The essential is to hold firm and to always be in joy" — as brought in Likutay Moharan Tannina: "it is a great commandment to always be in joy."

This forty-sixth letter — Tuesday, 5 Adar 5724, from Meron — is addressed again to Eliezer Tshingel (Letter 37). It has two parts: a sustained Purim teaching, and then four concise practical answers to specific questions.

Purim teaching (§2): Likutay Halachos is full of strengthening; Alim LiTerufah likewise. The Rebbe's drawing-close = greatest thing = the entire topic of Adar. Now all beginnings are from Purim (LM Tannina). Taanis Esther = cry out. Purim commandments = supreme awe in joy = like High Priest in Holy of Holies. The Megillah = seeing the face of Mordechai. Gifts to the poor, dances, clapping = sweetening harsh judgments; receiving the revealed and hidden Torah. Drinking on Purim = tikkun habrit = ascending to the place of "no difference between cursed Haman and blessed Mordechai" = the love of the future = the place where sins become merits (Likutay Halachos).

Four practical answers (§3): (1) Books of other streams: permitted to look at Jewish books — but when one has meat and fish, why eat vegetables? — time is precious. (2) Rabbeinu Tam tefillin: higher than Rashi tefillin per the Arizal (this world = Binah; World to Come = Chochmah). No blessing recited because too high to be drawn by human blessing — only by arousal from above. Interrupting for Amen is permitted because it doesn't cause a redundant blessing. (3) Leaving the Land of Israel: absolutely permitted for a mitzvah as great as visiting the Rebbe's grave. Charity money may be used for this. (4) Obstacles: strengthen, request that obstacles become pleasantness and vessels. Joy nullifies all troubles: "in joy you shall go out."

Key terms: Maariv me'at kol yom — Alim LiTerufah — LH full of strengthening · Mishniknas Adar marbin b'simcha — all of Adar is this theme; drawing close to the Rebbe = greatest thing · Sharbat hazahav — the golden scepter — Purim's supreme awe = in joy and love · Ad d'lo yada bein arur Haman l'varuch Mordechai — the place of unity; sins become merits · Tefillin d'Rashi = olam hazeh = Binah vs. tefillin d'Rabbeinu Tam = olam haba = Chochmah · No blessing on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin — atirutha d'lei'la — too high to be drawn by human blessing · Yotzei m'Eretz Yisrael for the Rebbe's grave — permitted · Minian = niyut / obstacles → pleasantness = vessels

Volume One • Letter 46