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Thursday, the Torah portion of Korach [Parshas Korach — the portion dealing with Korach's rebellion against Moshe; it falls in late June or early July], 5637 [= summer 1877 CE] — here in Teverya, may it be established and built for good — written from the home [ב"ב — b'veiso]. Omain Selah.

To the honor of my friend — our ohavainu — the wondrous young Torah scholar, the veteran Chassid — the honor of our teacher Reb Nussun, may his candle shine.

Thanks to G-d for our lives — all of us are in life and in peace. May I merit to hear from you too at all times life and peace — forever, Selah, and ever [נצח סלה ועד — here the writer spells out in full what is elsewhere abbreviated as אנס"ו — Omain Netzach Selah Va'ed; the full written form gives it added weight and solemnity].

Your precious letters — through Reb Shmuel Heller, may his candle shine — I received properly, and they were a reviving of my soul. And particularly from the good tidings that the young scholar Reb Naftali, may his candle shine, is at peace with his wife, may she live. And I immediately wrote to Reb Efraim, may his candle shine, and to Reb Yaakov, may his candle shine — to give life to their souls which were downcast from his troubles. May Hashem Yisbarach have mercy on him in the merit of his Torah and prayer. And I am sending you the sum of ten bishlikim. And I have greatly and urgently requested of you [ומאד בקשתי ממך — "and greatly I have requested of you" — me'od — "greatly, exceedingly" — the first of two occurrences of this emphatic word in this letter; each time it intensifies the request beyond ordinary asking]: I had a letter from my brother Zeev, may his candle shine, that in these days he will send me money — and at this time I had expenses, and I borrowed from that money the sum of six and a half bishlikim. Therefore I request of you all [שתעשו — plural: "that you [all] should act" — the writer addresses the recipient and presumably those around him; the shift from singular to plural here is the writer's characteristic way of widening the appeal] to act on my behalf: if I do not send it to you before the sum of ten bishlikim is depleted — then give on my behalf the sum of six and a half bishlikim. And I, as soon as the money arrives, will send it to you by every means [בכל גוני — "in every way / by every color / by every means" — a vivid Aramaic-inflected idiom: I will find a way no matter what route is available].

And Reb Yaakov told me explicitly that the sum of one silver ruble [רו"כ — rubl kesef — "a ruble of silver" — specifying a silver ruble as distinct from paper rubles, which circulated concurrently in this period at a different exchange rate; the metal is specifically named] that he wrote to your father, may his candle shine, to give until the father-in-law of Reb Naftali comes — he can give it to him. And Reb Yaakov will certainly repay it securely — through whoever writes to him immediately. And I am sending the money through Reb Dov, the trusted agent of Reb Chaim Yehoshua. And my expenses for Yerushalayim came to the sum of five hundred and sixty groshen. Only — blessed be G-d, blessed be G-d, blessed be G-d [ב"ה ב"ה ב"ה — the triple blessing, as in Letter 1; three times, as for three worlds — body, soul, and spirit — each one separately blessed] — that I was in the Holy City of Yerushalayim, and I truly gave life to my soul in the holy places that Hashem Yisbarach merited me to visit — as a free gift and a freewill gift of kindness [במתנת חנם ונדבת חסד — two distinct forms of unearned grace: matnas chinam — a gratuitous gift, given with no claim on the recipient's part; and nedavas chessed — a freewill gift of loving-kindness, given from the pure desire of the giver; two qualitatively different expressions of grace].

And if my sister Chana, may she live, had money I would not need to ask you to lend me — but right now she has absolutely no money whatsoever in her house [כלל וכלל — the doubled expression: "at all and at all" — emphasizing that the absence is total and complete, not even a small amount]. Therefore I ask of you — and do not worry at all — for I will repay you quickly by every means, without delay of even one month. And also I greatly and urgently request of you [ומאד בקשתי ממך — the second occurrence of me'od — "greatly" — in this letter; the urgency of this request for Reb Kalman is equal to the urgency of the financial request above] that you should tell Reb Kalman, may his candle shine: he had a pair of shoes and sold them to a certain person for 30 and six groshen — and received no money. And now this person gathered approximately 20 groshen here and fled from here. And now it is heard that he is in Tzfas, may it be established and built for good — and he is sought there [מבקש אותו — "he is sought / they are seeking him" — or possibly "he [Reb Kalman] is asking after him"; the Hebrew is ambiguous between "he is being looked for" and "he [Reb Kalman] is seeking him / asking after him"; most likely the meaning is that Reb Kalman is trying to locate the man in order to receive payment for the shoes] — to see whether he can receive payment for the shoes. And also the document [הצוואה — tzavaa — a written will or legal document; here apparently a document relating to Reb Kalman's legal claims] was delivered by his landlord to a certain gentile from Tzfas — and he wrote to me to give him 20 parises, and I had nothing to give him the said sum. And still that document is with him. Therefore let him retrieve the document from him.

And know, my son my friend — that I studied this past night the Laws of Deposits [הלכות פקדון — Halachos Pikadon — the Laws of Deposits and Guardianship in Likutay Halachos], Law 5 — on the Torah Chadi Rabbi Shimon [חדי רבי שמעון — "Rabbi Shimon rejoices" — a specific Torah of Rabbainu ז"ל in Likutay Moharan dealing with the joy of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the spiritual dimensions of joy in Torah] — and there it explains a resolution [תרוץ — terutz — an answer, a resolution to a difficulty; here: a deep spiritual explanation for why troubles befall those trying to walk in the right path] for all the trials and ordeals [הרפתקאות — harpatakaos — Aramaic: "adventures, ordeals, upheavals" — the turbulent, unexpected turns of fate that befall a person; a Talmudic word for all that passes over a person without his control] that pass over us — because we blemish our faith in the sages [פגם אמונת חכמים — a blemish in faith in the Tzaddikim; the root cause of troubles]. And a hint suffices the wise. And the books are not valued by us as they should be valued in our eyes. Therefore, my children — be strong and strengthen yourselves with fresh desire to study the books, and all the harsh judgments and constrictions will be sweetened, and all goodness will flow upon us. Words of one who loves you, Nussun from Breslov