קנא

Your letter from Tuesday and Wednesday — I received from the hand of the woman on Friday — the eve of Shabbos. And you gave us life with your letter — that you received my letter — for I had suffering — perhaps the letter was not delivered to you. And our letter is a secret of secrets.

And you gave us life — in that you wrote to me that you were joyful in Meron [מירון — Meron — the burial site of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron near Tzfas; one of the most important holy sites in Eretz Yisroel for Breslov Chassidim; a visit there to pray and rejoice] — by the light of the Tzaddikim — may it rejoice. So may joy flow upon you and upon me — always — from the sources of joy. Chadei — Rabbi Shimon [חדי רבי שמעון — chadei is Aramaic: "rejoice!" — an Aramaic imperative; "rejoice with Rabbi Shimon" — an exhortation addressed directly in the Aramaic imperative to be joyful together with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai] — and give yourselves life at all times. For blessed be G-d — the books of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple rest on your table — and sometimes — almost every day — you study in them novelties such as these. And look in the letter on the excellence of his Torah and his holy books — sign 37 — and we must establish each day some joy about this — with permanence. [לקבע בכל יום איזה שמחה על זה בקביעות — to make fixed and permanent — keva — a regular, set, established joy every single day; not occasional but permanent and fixed]

And we must not confuse our minds — with the controversy and the humiliations — for "from the desert — a gift" [Numbers 21:18 — "and from the desert — Mattanah" — a gift; a Talmudic teaching: the Torah was given in the desert — midbar — and is also a gift — matanah; what appears to be a desert of humiliation and emptiness is actually the place from which the gift emerges] — for through them we merit such good. And the controversy raises and elevates a person. And the main thing is that Hashem Yisbarach should help — that there should not be, G-d forbid, division among us. And even about this — we need not rebuke — even one who errs in this — for "Abraham was one" — and his attribute was lovingkindness.

And regarding what you wrote — that I should write to your co-parent-in-law — I do not know — surely Reb Yosef, may his candle shine, and Reb Dov, may his candle shine, spoke with him about Rosh Hashana — and what did he say to them? And nevertheless — if you write to me what to write to him — surely I will write to him and send it to you. Or if my mind is inclined — I will write to him and send it to him from here. Only write to me — how one writes to Gonrad [חנראד — Gonrad or Conrad — presumably a town in the diaspora to which the letter would be sent] — in the Russian language.

And also I asked — to bring good tidings to the woman Dabris — the wife of Reb Tevil — that there came to my hand — in his name — Kamiel — from Reb Moshe Yadid — from her daughter — the sum of three rubles — with a letter from her daughter from Breslov. And write to me with whom to send it to her. And I paid postal money on behalf of the letters.

Words of one who loves you, Nussun from Breslov

And greetings of peace to Reb Aizik, may his candle shine — and to all the Anash.

Woe — and bitter — over our bitter and most bitter breaking — that I heard this very moment — of the passing of the Tzaddik, the Chassid Reb Efraim — may his merit protect us. Woe to me — woe to me — woe, woe to me — over a basket full of books [צנא מלא דספרא — Aramaic from the Talmud [Sanhedrin 68a] — "a basket full of books" — the Talmudic elegy for a great scholar who has passed; Reb Efraim is mourned as one who was a basket full of Torah and holy books] — who gave over his soul — in order to be present at the Rosh Hashana of the Tzaddik — to pray in the aspect of judgment [תפילה בבחינת דין — prayer in the aspect of strict judgment — a specific Kabbalistic concept: the Tzaddikim who are hidden in the diaspora pray from the aspect of strict divine judgment; this specific manner of prayer is explained in Likutay Halachos in the laws about the Tzaddikim who are set apart and hidden in the diaspora] — as is explained in Likutay Halachos — on the exceptional Tzaddikim who are stored away as treasure in the diaspora — that this is prayer in the aspect of judgment. And now I ask — to inform me when he passed away — and whether he was in Uman — healthy — on Rosh Hashana — and in what place he passed away. For my heart aches over the passing of such a precious stone. And I want to know how and what his passing was. And how fortunate is he — for four or five years he was drawing close to Rabbainu ז"ל — with all his might — with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength — and drew close to himself with all his powers — to Reb Nosson ז"ל. How fortunate is he — in peace shall he rest upon his resting place. And we need in all respects to study his composition at least a little — so that his lips should murmur in the grave. [שיהיו שפתותיו דובבות בקבר — "so that his lips should murmur in the grave" — from the Talmud [Yevamos 97a]: one who cites a teaching in the name of its author causes the lips of that author to murmur in the grave; by studying Reb Efraim's compositions and citing his name, his lips will murmur in the grave — a form of continued spiritual life] And from now — "death shall be swallowed up forever." [Isaiah 25:8 — "He will swallow up death forever — and Hashem G-d will wipe away the tears from all faces"; a verse of ultimate consolation and eschatological hope applied at the moment of grief]

Words of the above-mentioned. Written Sunday, Parshas Mikeitz, 5643 (December 1882 / Chanukah), from Teverya. Joy at Meron. Controversy as the desert from which gifts flow. "Abraham was one — and his attribute was lovingkindness." A stunning postscript: the writer hears this very moment of the passing of the Tzaddik Reb Efraim — "a basket full of books." נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן Letter 149 | קמט (Kuf-Mem-Tes)