יט

Date not given — the letter opens mid-sentence. [The text begins with "and we were, blessed be G-d, in Chevron" — the opening of the letter has been lost, or it is a continuation of a longer letter. Context places this in 5637 (1877 CE), during a journey to Yerushalayim and Chevron.] And we were — blessed be G-d — in Chevron, the Holy City [Chevron — Hebron — one of Judaism's four holy cities; the city of the Patriarchs, site of the Cave of Machpelah where Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, and Leah are buried], at the Cave of Machpelah [מערת המכפלה — "the Cave of the Double" — purchased by Avraham in Genesis 23; the burial place of the founding generation of the Jewish people]. And the vitality and joy that I have — from the very marrow of the great kindness [מעצם החסד הגדול — me'etzem ha'chessed ha'gadol — "from the very bone / marrow of the great kindness" — etzem means bone, the solid innermost core, the marrow; not abstract essence but the hard, solid, inmost substance of the kindness — its very bone] that Hashem Yisbarach did with me, by bringing us to such a holiness — is immense. And there is no holy place where I did not mention your names before it. And particularly your son [בנכם בן דוואסי — "your son, the son of Dvassi" — named by his mother's name, following the practice in prayers for healing of calling a sick person "X son of his mother Y"] — who never left my thoughts even for one single moment. And I am confident in Hashem Yisbarach that through the merit of the holy places He has already healed him — in the merit of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple, who were true men and not false men [אנשים אמתיים ולא אנשים שקרנים — a strong, direct defense of the reality of Rabbainu ז"ל's power against doubt or criticism raised in connection with the child's illness]. And what happened to him — this matter — is because your wife attached the matter merely to something else [תלתה הדבר בדבר רק — "she attached the matter to the matter — only / merely" — the word רק — "only, merely" — qualifies and limits the attachment: she linked the child's situation to something else in a partial, misplaced, merely-surface way; the connection was not grounded in the full truth of their bond to the Tzaddikim; this רק is doing important work — the attachment was limited, incomplete, not total]. Only I have already heard from our master and teacher, Moharanat [אדמו"ר מוהרנ"ת ז"ל — Reb Nosson of Breslov ז"ל; another direct personal transmission from him] ז"ל — for we are bound to the Or HaChaim [לאור החיים — "to the Light of Life" — the holy Or HaChaim, Rabbi Chaim ben Attar, buried on the Mount of Olives; their bond to this source of living light is their protection], and this is a blemish of faith in the sages [פגם אמונת חכמים — in Breslov teaching, doubting or reducing the power of the Tzaddik is itself the cause of spiritual harm; the doubt opens a breach]. And it is already explained in the Torah Tiku — the greatness of the matter of faith. And "the Great One" [an adversarial figure who set himself against the Breslov community] who wished to pursue your righteous brother — killed himself [the adversary who set out to destroy the righteous one destroyed himself in the attempt; the power of the Tzaddik turned the assault back upon the attacker]. But in truth the power of Rabbainu ז"ל is very great — for he was subduing all the hard klippos, and he subdues them still.

And now I have come to request of you and of our beloved friend the veteran Chassid Reb Kalman, may his candle shine, and of our beloved friend the veteran Chassid, the Tzaddik, Reb Efraim — that you should see to strengthen yourselves and to actively pursue and make peace [ולרדף ולעשות שלום — "to pursue and to make peace" — the word רדף — lirdof — "to chase after" — echoes Psalms 34:15: baksheish shalom v'rodfehu — "seek peace and pursue it"; peace is not to be passively hoped for but aggressively chased down] — between the grandsons of Morainu v'Rabbainu Nachman, may his candle shine [נכדי מו"ה נחמן נ"י — nekudai — plural: "the grandsons of" — there may be more than one grandson involved, or this refers collectively to Rabbainu's grandchildren; the writer asks them to seek peace with them and find merit in them] — and now when I came on the past Thursday they told me that he is in Tzfas, may it be established and built for good, and peace was made between them. Therefore I ask of you — and Reb Efraim also asks of you — that you should see with all your strength to seek some merit and some good point in him. And the good point that is in him is right there, present and waiting to be found [מצוי למצא בו — matzui limtzo bo — "available / present to be found in him" — matzui means readily accessible, right there; not easy — rather: it is present, waiting; you simply need to look] — for he is the grandson of Rabbainu ז"ל, and this is surely a good point. And Rabbainu ז"ל has already said: איר זאלט ערליך האלטין מייני קינדיר, ווארין עס ועט פין זייא ארויס קימין גיטע פירות

[Yiddish — Rabbainu ז"ל's own words, as he spoke them: "Ir zolt erlich haltin mayne kinder, varin es vet fin zey aroys kimen gite fruchts" — "You shall treat my children with integrity and honor — for from them there will come forth good fruits."] And he did not say that they themselves will be good — only that they will have free choice, and in the final end of all ends [וסוף כל סוף — v'sof kol sof — "and the end of all ends" — an emphatic Talmudic and Kabbalistic phrase meaning the ultimate, final conclusion; not merely "in the end" but the very last end, the end beyond all ends] good fruits will come from them. And I have very much requested of you to write to me in what manner the peace stands — so that I should know how to conduct myself and how to write to our friend Reb Efraim. And also know that his tallis [הטוליפ — der tallis — Yiddish: the prayer shawl] was pawned with the foxes [משועלים במשכון — "pawned with foxes" — a nickname or surname for certain people who held the pledge; the image of foxes suggests cunning, unreliable lenders — like the foxes of Song of Songs 2:15 that spoil the vineyards] as a pledge for a purchase — and I redeemed it on the past Friday for fifty groshen. And it rests with me. Therefore tell Naftali to send it to me through a trustworthy person with a letter — and he will receive the tallis from me. And also I wrote to you that there is with me the sum of fifteen bishlikim sent to me by Reb Yaakov, may his candle shine, which needs to be given to the couple — and then I will send it to you [אזי אשלח לך — "then I will send it to you" — singular; and the "then" is conditional and sequential: first arrange the tallis matter, and then, as a result, I will send the fifteen bishlikim; the two actions are linked in sequence]. Your friend, Nussun from Breslov