כה

Thursday, the Torah portion of Lech Lecha [Parshas Lech Lecha — "Go, go forth" — the portion of Avraham's call to leave his homeland and travel to the Land of Israel; it falls in late October or November], 5638 [= autumn or winter 1877–78 CE — a new year; the first letter of 5638] — here in Teverya, may it be established and built for good — written from the home.

To the honor of our ohavainu — why, it is the veteran Chassid, the wondrous young Torah scholar, the man of understanding — Morainu v'Rabbainu Reb Nussun, may his candle shine — together with peace upon his wife and all the members of his household — and together with peace upon your father, may his candle shine, and upon his wife, may she live — and to all the Anash, each and every one in general and in particular.

Thanks to G-d for our lives — all of us are in life and in peace — but not fully in the way of health [אך לא בקו הבריאה בשלמות — a careful qualification: they are alive and at peace, but the writer's wife is not well] — for my wife, may she live, has pain in her eyes. May Hashem Yisbarach send her a complete healing. And may Hashem Yisbarach likewise merit me to hear from you and from all the Anash — in the midst of all of Israel — life and peace.

After inquiring after your good welfare with great love [אחר דרישת שלומכם הטוב באהבה רבה — "after inquiring after your good welfare — with great love" — the phrase באהבה רבה — "with great love" — is explicit in the Hebrew and names the quality of the inquiry itself: this is not a perfunctory formula but a reaching-out from genuine and great love] — I have come to ask of you: immediately upon seeing this letter, write to me — for I sent to you regarding your debt the sum of one hundred and eighteen groshen of Tiberias currency — together with a letter — to the money-changer [החלפן — the money-changer who exchanged currencies between the various coins in circulation in Ottoman Palestine] Reb Altir son of Reb Sh. — and that was two weeks ago, and I have no letter from you at all. And I have great suffering from this. Therefore — whether this way or that way [בין כך ובין כך — "whether this way or that way" — not merely "in any case" but specifically naming both possibilities: whether the money arrived or did not arrive, whether things went well or badly — in either case, write; the writer names both branches of the uncertainty] — write to me a letter so that I should know how to conduct myself. And also write to me whether you received the letter I sent you through the kollel [הכולל — the communal organization of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisroel that maintained the distribution of funds and correspondence from diaspora communities].

Write back immediately — through Reb Chaim Yehoshua — to Reb Dov, may his candle shine — and not through Zeidel, for he did not want to give me the letter unless I gave him one coin of 20, and aside from the fact that I had nothing — beyond this, it is impossible to obtain a coin of 20 here. And when I receive a letter from you, I will write to you at length — for I have several matters to write to you. But on account of the urgency of dispatching this letter I have been brief — and say peace.

Words of one who truly loves you — who rejoices in the joy of the recovery of your dear brother, may his candle shine [השמח בשמחת בריאות אחיך היקר — the recipient's brother has recovered from an illness; the writer rejoices with him in this]. May Hashem Yisbarach guard him from this time forth from all kinds of illness — and may Hashem Yisbarach swiftly return to him his wealth and possessions. Your friend, Nussun from Breslov