Letter 19 י"ט

From me — your brother: Shmuel son of Feiga Horowitz. Please tell R' Velvil son of R' Gedaliah — that to my great sorrow the letter fell from my pocket on the road. Therefore I ask — as does his father — that he write again everything he wrote in the letter, sent directly by post. Please, please. My dear brother — I ask you greatly: for the sake of Heaven — have compassion on me — and act immediately in the matter of the formal requests for the man from Hungary and from Poland. And as long as I do not receive a reply from you on this — I will not write to you further until I receive a reply. From me: Shmuel Horowitz. Please immediately — a correct and clear reply. Please write a good reply immediately. From me — your friend, truly your soul's companion: Shmuel son of Feiga. From me — your friend, your brother — who awaits to see you with joy: Shmuel son of Feiga Horowitz. Strengthen yourself, be strong! And seize and eat Torah — and seize and drink prayer — and clothe yourself in mitzvos — for only this will remain from all the effort. And the rest is vanity and emptiness. Therefore — one must remember what one needs to do in this world — and rejoice in this. His friend — who greets him and wishes him all goodness forever: Shmuel HaLevi Horowitz. Letters 69–85 complete the collection — spanning from Jerusalem in 5692/1932 through Jerusalem in 5727/1967, a period of 35 years. The contrast between the early and late letters is profound: the young R' Shmuel's desperate cries from Uman give way to the elder R' Shmuel's Torah teachings from Jerusalem and Meron.