קב

Your letter I received properly — along with the spirits — for the sending of portions. And every time I drink from it I will bless Hashem — and you and your household — and particularly on the days of the holy Purim festival. And may Hashem Yisbarach merit you to be a good agent to bring me joy with your spirits on the holy Purim — and may there be drawn down upon us the supreme uppermost awe — according to the will of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple. And through this may Hashem Yisbarach merit us to prayer with intention — which for Rabbainu ז"ל is like the red heifer to purify us from the impurity of death — and to receive the Passover festival in holiness and in purity and in propriety. For Purim is the preparation for Passover. And may Hashem Yisbarach merit us to fulfill all the commandments belonging to Purim — in truth and in wholeness and in great joy — and may we have no fallen fears — and awe is the fear of Yitzchak — and may Hashem Yisbarach remember and visit you with a child who will endure in this year — writhing like a woman in labor.

And also the legumes I received — and write on your account-book [הבוק שלך — dayn buk — Yiddish from German Buch — book, ledger, account-book; the Yiddish word for the written record of transactions] — two rats of legumes.

And also — as your wife, may she live, told your wife, may she live, that she received the raisins — and now it has become known to me that the palimide and the raisins were not sent to us. Therefore I ask of you to inquire to whom they belong — and pay on my behalf — and formally present it to my account — for the donkey-driver Zeidel demanded from me the raisins and the herring. And they already made from the raisins Purim foods — and the herring — without the raisins — he did not want to receive. And beyond this — the donkey-driver Zeidel still does not know to whom they belong. Therefore I asked to inquire there and to pay on my behalf for all the above — and formally present it to my account.

And I have great suffering from the letter of your father, may his candle shine — and I will be compelled to write a letter to Reb Tzvi of Kalibulad.

And also I read the letter from Reb Aizik, may his candle shine, from last week — and he wrote to me: why do I not want to draw him close and receive him with love — as I drew close you and Reb Nussun son of Reb Yekusiel ז"ל? Have I not also not written to them that they should come — but if they came — I would surely receive them with love? And also if you come — surely I will receive you with love and with affectionate warmth. And I am not a Rebbe at all — only a good brother — in order to receive from one another the good point — and in this we can receive from the point.

More news there is none — only life and peace.

Words of one who truly loves you in truth and in wholeness, Nussun from Breslov

Written Thursday, Parshas Vayikra, 5641 (late March or early April 1881), from Teverya. Purim spirits received as mishloach manos. The red heifer teaching. Raisin-and-herring confusion. "I am not a Rebbe — only a good brother."

נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן Salutations to your honor — that you exerted yourself and labored on my behalf — and it is reckoned by me also as a good sending of portions. May Hashem Yisbarach help you to receive the Passover festival in propriety — and may Hashem Yisbarach pour down upon you abundant blessing — from the spoils of the sea — in the strength and merit of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple. And know that the non-Jewish donkey-driver received from me one groshen — his fee for the trouble. And enclosed here is a letter to the woman Dabris — the wife of Reb Tevil, may his candle shine — from Keisar Kasdan — and the woman Leah — the wife of Reb Nussun — knows her.