קמה

Thanks to G-d — blessed be G-d, blessed be G-d — all of us here are in life and in peace. So may I merit to hear from you — life and peace — from within an expansiveness of heart. And may Hashem Yisbarach merit us to see quickly the downfall of the wicked — in the merit of Eretz Yisroel — and in the merit of the Tzaddikim. And even the husks of Og and Avshalom [קלפות עוג ואבשלום — the husks — the shells of spiritual impurity — of Og King of Bashan and Avshalom son of David; Kabbalistic terms for specific forces of spiritual opposition and impurity; Rabbainu ז"ל wages the wars of Hashem against these forces] — with whom Rabbainu ז"ל wages the wars of Hashem — will surely be completed quickly. And he has already slain many strong husks. And surely he will subdue even the husks whose grip is on the right [הקלפות שאחיזתם בימין — "the husks whose grip is on the right side" — a specific Kabbalistic category of the most tenacious forces of opposition; those who clothe themselves in seeming holiness and grip from the right — the side of holiness — making them the hardest to dislodge] — quickly.

Your letter — from the night before Sunday — I received today. And when reading the letter — my eyes streamed and overflowed with tears [זלגו עיני דמעות — "my eyes streamed, overflowed" — from zalag — to overflow, to stream forth involuntarily; stronger and more vivid than merely "shedding" — the tears streamed and overflowed uncontrolled] — and my wife wept tears of a third [דמעות שליש — "tears of a third" — an expression for tears shed in great quantity — a third of one's tears, a measure of deep weeping; the same expression appears in the context of intense grief in rabbinic literature] — but the magnitude of the suffering and humiliations that you endured — which touched Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple — for merely hearing it with the ear our soul grew faint. But what can we do — for the Divine Presence is in a great exile — and whoever engages in redeeming the Divine Presence from her exile — they seize him and his name in the exile. But "the wicked one watches for the righteous and seeks" [Psalms 37:32 — "the wicked one watches for the righteous and seeks to kill him — Hashem will not abandon him in his hand and will not condemn him when he is judged"; the verse of assurance that G-d does not abandon the righteous to the pursuer] — etc. — and Hashem will not abandon us in his hand. And surely He will avenge quickly. And the believer will not be shaken.

And I counsel you — to go to the grave of the holy Ari — may his merit protect us — and tell him: because of this — that you study the books of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple — who labored to draw our hearts to Torah and to prayer with intention — and to arouse us toward Hashem Yisbarach — and to draw upon us the holiness of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and your holiness — and we want to shelter in the shade of your holy house of prayer. And worthless men pursue us — and want to thrust us out of your house of prayer — and pursue us with every kind of pursuit — to kill and to destroy. And we have no one to lean upon except our Father in Heaven — and the strength of all the Tzaddikim — and your strength — and your great merit — which is able to subdue all who pursue us without cause.

And I too will not be silent — and I will go here to the holy resting places — and I will share in your great suffering. And believe — that Hashem Yisbarach will surely not abandon you — and they will perish — and a thousand like them — and not one word of Rabbainu ז"ל will be annulled. And Rabbainu ז"ל already said — the Torah Abba Shaul [Abba Shaul — a Torah discourse of Rabbainu ז"ל based on a teaching of Abba Shaul from the Mishnah; this specific discourse addresses the trial of persecution and how the righteous are tested] — and your trial is: that you should have such pursuits in Eretz Yisroel. And surely Hashem Yisbarach will have mercy on us and on you — and take you out from all the troubles into great expansiveness. And may you have a good year — for a year that is poor [שנה שרשה מתחלתה — "a year that is poor at its beginning" — from the Talmud; a year that begins with poverty and difficulty will improve by its end; a consolation: the hardship of this year's beginning is itself a sign that its end will be good] at its beginning — its end is made good. And do not worry at all — for the humiliations will be for you a great honor in the World to Come. And Hashem Yisbarach — "He who guards truth forever" — will surely guard you from all evil.

And my friend Reb Aizik, may his candle shine — do not worry at all — for Hashem Yisbarach showed you that prayer helps. And from now begin anew to pray — and surely Hashem Yisbarach will help you from now — with living and enduring children. And receive the judgment of Hashem Yisbarach with love and with joy — as is explained in Chayei Moharan — at the time of Rabbainu ז"ל's journey from Breslov to Uman — paragraph 2. And surely He will not abandon you. And "emunah" in numerical value equals "banim." [ואמונה בגימטריא בנים — "and 'faith' in numerical value equals 'sons'" — emunah [aleph-mem-vav-nun-heh] = 1+40+6+50+5 = 102; banim [beis-nun-yud-mem] = 2+50+10+40 = 102; the same numerical value; faith itself — the practice of complete trust in G-d — is numerically the same as the children one prays for; faith in G-d is itself the merit and the channel through which children come]

And I ask of you — that you write to me at all times about your situation — from the controversy — for my suffering is very great over what passed over you from the unprovoked enemies. Therefore my eyes are consumed [עיני כלות — "my eyes are consumed" — from Psalms 69:4; eyes utterly spent by constant watchful waiting] — to hear from you at all times about your peace. And also I asked to write to me whether you rented your dwelling. And also to write to me whether Reb Aizik, may his candle shine, dwells in the dwelling he bought — for congratulations. And also to write about how your co-parent-in-law, may his candle shine, wrote that he received three rubles from my daughter Chaike, may she live — and gave to Reb Dov. And you sent me a letter from my son Moshe Efraim — and in his letter he wrote that Reb Dov sent money to his daughter — perhaps he also sent the three rubles of mine — for I need them urgently. On both this and that I cannot write to you — for my mind is confused.

Words of one who truly loves you — who shares in your suffering, Nussun from Breslov Words of the above-mentioned.

And to Reb Avraham Hirsh, may his candle shine. And I convey greetings of peace to Reb Meir, may his candle shine.

And know — that I delayed the wagon from today. And afterward I settled my mind — how yesterday on Shabbos I studied the Torah in sign 72 [Likutay Moharan, sign 72 — a Torah discourse about the evil impulse and its various manifestations; the writer studied it in response to the persecution news and found guidance for how to strengthen oneself] — there are several aspects of the evil impulse — and when there are harsh judgments — one must strengthen oneself against the evil impulse — whose root is harsh judgments. And afterward I studied Likutay Halachos, Laws of Handwashing, law 6 — in it the Laws of Slicing the Bread are explained — based on the Midrash "you are beautiful, my beloved, like Tirzah" [Song of Songs 6:4 — the verse about the beauty of the beloved; used here as the basis for a law in Likutay Halachos about inner beauty and divine service] — and look in it from letter 46 until letter 61 — and there you will find repose for your souls — in this time — and in all times that pass over a person in this world. And how we must strengthen ourselves in great joy — that we are not opponents of such a Rebbe and such a disciple. And this law is built upon the Torah "for He who has mercy upon them will lead them." [Isaiah 49:10 — "He who has mercy upon them will lead them — and by the springs of water will guide them"; the verse of divine compassionate guidance that underlies the entire law] And there it warns us not to be sluggards who are called shlimazalnikim [שלימזאלניקיס — shlimazalnikim — Yiddish: bunglers, chronically unlucky and hapless people who stumble through life; from shlim — bad + mazal — luck; those who give up and collapse under difficulty] — not to be frightened by anything. And that we are reckoned among the Tzaddikim and the early Chassidim — who had pursuits involving mortal danger — all the Chassidim who were in the days of the Baal Shem Tov and in the days of the Maggid. And Rabbainu ז"ל restored the ancient crown [החזיר עטרה לישנה — "restored the crown to its original ancient state" — a Talmudic expression for restoring something to its original glory; Rabbainu ז"ל restored the practice of serving G-d with total self-sacrifice — mesirus nefesh — to its ancient standard] — that one must serve Hashem Yisbarach with total self-sacrifice. And we must pray greatly to Hashem Yisbarach — to bring out the honor from the brazen-faced ones — and to restore the honor to those of understanding. [להוציא הכבוד מעזי פנים ולהחזיר הכבוד למביני מדע — "to bring out the honor from the brazen-faced ones and to restore the honor to those of understanding" — a specific prayer-formulation; the brazen-faced (azei fanim) who have seized honor that belongs to the wise and understanding (mevinei da'as)] But through this — we must give ourselves life and give joy to our souls — that at least we are not from the brazen-faced — against such a light — the Light of Lights — a pure and sparkling light [אור צח ומצחצח — "a pure and sparkling, brilliantly clear light" — from **צח** — bright, clear, pure; and **מצחצח** — polished, sparkling, dazzlingly bright; the light of Rabbainu ז"ל is described with a doubled intensity of purity and brilliance] — which studies together with the dwellers above and the dwellers below — and awakens them all to His service — and will awaken forever and ever — and his fire will never be extinguished. [ואשו לא תכבה — "and his fire will never be extinguished" — an echo of the eternal fire on the altar: "a fire shall burn on the altar — it shall not be extinguished" [Leviticus 6:6]; the fire of Rabbainu ז"ל's teaching is like the eternal altar-fire — never to be put out]

And blessed be G-d — these forty-eight years — they have wanted to overwhelm us with the insolent waters of the disputants. [מים הזידונים — "the insolent, boiling, presumptuous waters" — from Psalms 124:5 — "then the insolent waters would have overwhelmed our soul"; the writer uses this verse to describe the opposition that has raged for forty-eight years since Rabbainu ז"ל's passing in 5571 (1810); forty-eight years = from 1810 to 1858... more likely from the beginning of Reb Nosson ז"ל's activity, reckoning from approximately 5583/1823 to 5642/1882] And where are these disputants? And the books of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple have multiplied greatly — very greatly. And the assembly of Rabbainu ז"ל has also multiplied. And woe to the pursuers — and how fortunate are the pursued. And everything that passed over us — at least we must snatch some dancing and joy over our good portion — which distinguished us from those who err. And why are you ashamed? You have nothing to be ashamed of at all — and "my forehead I made hard — as strong as their foreheads." [Ezekiel 3:8 — "behold I have made your face hard opposite their faces — and your forehead hard opposite their foreheads" — G-d's command to the prophet to match the brazenness of those who oppose him with the equal strength of holy boldness]

And why are you worrying — that they are pushing you out of the synagogue of the holy Ari? Wherever you pray — the holy Ari will be with you. And surely he will not be with them — for Jacob our patriarch already prayed: "let not my soul enter their council — and in their assembly let not my honor be joined." [Genesis 49:6 — Jacob's blessing over Shimon and Levi; applied here to the opponents of Breslov: their council is one that the holy should not enter] And they will be as Korach and his congregation — and as Dathan and Abiram. And we know the truth — how they fabricate lies and falsehoods about Rabbainu ז"ל and his followers who are attached to him. And they are fulfilling: "and they looked after Moses" [Numbers 12:8 / Exodus 33:8 — the verse about those who stared at Moses with hostile eyes; applied here to those who stare at and slander Rabbainu ז"ל] — and they are the ones who killed Chur son of Miriam [Midrashic tradition: Chur, son of Miriam and Caleb, was killed by the mob who demanded the golden calf when he rebuked them; those who killed him are identified in Midrash as the troublesome element within Israel] — and they are reincarnations of Dathan and Abiram and the mixed multitude [ערב רב — the mixed multitude — the non-Israelites who joined the Exodus and were the source of the golden calf sin according to Kabbalistic tradition] — and from the 974 generations that were pressed out of time [מתתקע"ד דורות שקמטו ולא עת — "from the 974 generations that were pressed out and not in time" — a Kabbalistic concept: 974 pre-creation generations of souls whose time was compressed and who did not receive their proper spiritual portion; these unrefined souls reappear throughout history as sources of opposition to holiness]. And G-d willing tomorrow I will go with the letter to all the holy resting places — and there I will pour out my conversation and my suffering. And "the righteous one will rejoice when he sees vengeance — he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked — and all the horns of the wicked I will cut off — the horns of the righteous will be exalted." [Psalms 58:11 and 75:11 — combined verse of divine justice for the righteous and punishment of the wicked] Words of the above-mentioned. Nussun the above-mentioned Undated — autumn 5643. One of the most powerful letters in the collection. Severe persecution in Tzfas — they are being pushed out of the Ari's synagogue. Forty-eight years of opposition and the books of Rabbainu ז"ל have multiplied greatly. Emunah = banim in numerical value. A call to holy boldness. Laws of Handwashing, law 6, from letter 46 to 61. נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן