לז

Sunday, the Torah portion of Metzora [Parshas Metzora — purification from tzara'as; it falls in April], 5638 — here in Teverya. To the honor of my strong friend, our ohavainu, my cherished one — like my heart and like my soul [חביבי כלבבי וכנפשי — "my cherished one — like my heart and like my soul" — two dimensions of inner selfhood: the heart (levav) and the soul (nefesh); the recipient is as cherished as both together] — the veteran Chassid — Morainu v'Rabbainu Reb Nussun, may his candle shine.

Blessed be G-d — here with us is life and peace. May I merit at all times to hear from you life and peace and good tidings and salvations — which in this month surround us — and we must hope for salvation at all times. As the Midrash says in the portion of Vayechi, page 98: Rabbi Yochanan said: everything depends on hoping [הכל בקווי' — "everything is in the hoping / in the taut expectation" — from the root קוה — to hope, to wait with expectant tension, like a cord stretched taut toward something; Rabbi Yochanan's teaching: the entire outcome of a person's life depends on this quality of hopeful, taut expectation directed toward G-d]. And there: look into it deeply and give life to your soul [ושם תעין ותח' נפשך — "and there examine / peer into it carefully and give life to yourself" — the verb ta'ayin is from the root עין — eye; to look into carefully, to examine with the eye's full attention, to peer deeply; not surface reading but contemplative deep-looking]. And particularly we — who are grafted onto the merit of the great tree, the Tree of Life [אילן הגדול עץ החיים — Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple; the great tree from whom all healings and all divine flows descend] — the great lender from whom all healings and all good divine flows are drawn — we must prepare our vessels to receive. And our vessel is prayer and trust and faith.

And we must do as Rabbainu ז"ל told us — the story of two young boys who loved each other so greatly that they were unable to live one without the other: And once one of them became ill — and the second was in very great distress. And he asked what to do so that his companion would recover. And they told him to recite Psalms. And he in wholeness and simplicity began to recite Psalms — and every time he had recited several chapters he asked his companion whether he had recovered. And this was so several times — and they said to him that he was still ill. And he said more — until there was a complete recovery for him.

And everything that Rabbainu ז"ל told in this showed us the path of prayer in wholeness and simplicity: that we must pray and pray in wholeness and simplicity — until the salvation is drawn in fullness. And to believe that with every prayer the harsh judgments are sweetened a little, little by little — until all the harsh judgments are sweetened in fullness. And your letter from Tuesday of Tazria I received on Thursday. And the great grief I have from your brother, may his candle shine, is beyond reckoning and estimating. May Hashem Yisbarach have mercy on our grief quickly and soon — and bring us tidings of his complete health. For he is our brother, our friend from the Anash, who truly wanted to be a fully fit and proper man [איש כשר — ish kasher — "a fit / proper man" — kasher means fully fit, complete, and proper in every dimension; not merely morally righteous but a person who is entirely kasher — fit in the full Jewish sense: complete in practice, in character, in his Jewishness] — but our sins caused all this. Therefore we must appease Him [לרצות — liratzos — to bring oneself into divine favor, to make the relationship desired again; from ratzon — divine will and favor; to restore the divine favor toward us] and conciliate Him [ולפיס — ul'fayeis — specifically to pacify, to win over, to actively conciliate an offended party; from the root used in Talmudic law for pacifying one who has been wronged; distinct from ratzos: the first restores favor, the second actively conciliates; together they describe the full act of repair], may He be blessed — until Hashem looks down and has mercy on him — and draws to him knowledge in fullness and in joy. For we have no other counsel except prayer and supplication on every matter in the world — for Rabbainu ז"ל took upon himself primarily to redeem prayer from exile [לגאל התפילה מן הגלות — "to redeem prayer from exile" — a central and specific teaching of Rabbainu ז"ל: prayer itself has gone into exile; it is degraded, confused, and scattered; Rabbainu ז"ל's primary mission was to restore prayer to its dignity and power; one of the most important formulations of Rabbainu's purpose in all these letters]. For now prayer is in exile — for all the natural means and intermediate causes [כל הסבות — kol ha'sibos — "all the causes / natural means" — in Breslov teaching, sibos refers specifically to the chain of natural causation, the worldly mechanisms and practical efforts through which people try to achieve their goals instead of turning to prayer; this is a specific philosophical term in Rabbainu ז"ל's teaching: the sibos-approach versus the prayer-approach] are pursued with eagerness and energy, while in prayer they grow slow and heavy with laziness. And Rabbainu ז"ל wants the reverse — that from all the natural means there should be laziness, and prayer should be pursued with eagerness and with strengthening — and hope and return and hope again [וקוה וחזר וקוה — "and hope and return and hope again" — hope is not a single act; if it is not yet answered, one returns to hoping again; the active, persistent returning to hope]. For we are all guided from one pasture [כי אנו כלנו מרעה אחד נחנו — "for we are all from one pasture we are guided" — an echo of Psalms 23; all feed from and are guided by the same divine pasture; therefore each person's suffering is everyone's, and each must pray for all the others]. Therefore we all must set our hearts on our companion's troubles and multiply prayer each one for his companion. And the One Who hears the prayer of every mouth will hear our prayers — and save him and heal him together with all the sick of His people Israel.

And for now we are prepared, G-d willing, to receive the holy festival of Passover in holiness. And may Hashem Yisbarach help us and you to receive it in holiness and sanctity and purity and joy and honor — in order that we merit the building of Yerushalayim. And through this one merits prayer in fullness.

Words of one who truly loves you — and truly loves your father — and truly loves all the Anash with strong love, Your friend,

Nussun from Breslov My friend, my beloved — if when a letter arrives to you from your son-in-law and there might also be there some letter from my sons, may they live — surely how good! And if — G-d forbid, G-d forbid — there is no letter for me: I have asked of you to do thus — ask someone to write you a letter in the name of my son-in-law Morainu v'Rabbainu Yisroel — and thus to the hand of my dear father-in-law Morainu v'Rabbainu Reb Nussun, may his candle shine, and to my mother-in-law, the modest one, Miriam Brina, may she live, and to my grandmother Miriam Baila, may she live, and to my aunt Miriam Chana, may she live —

The enclosed letter in Yiddish — written by Reb Yisroel son of Reb Chaim the Kohen, the writer's son-in-law: [The long-awaited letter from son-in-law Reb Yisroel, whose handwriting was in doubt in Letter 31; now confirmed — as the postscript explains — to have been written by a different hand on his behalf; the letter is written largely in Yiddish with Hebrew phrases woven throughout]

אין ר"ה האב איך אייך גישיקט איין בריף — And at Rosh Hashana I sent you a letter. אין בנכם אברהם בער מיט זייני קינדר זענין גיזונד — And your son Avraham Ber with his children is well. אין בנכם אהרן נ"י מיט זיין ווייב מיט זיין קינד זעהן אויך ב"ה גיזינד — And your son Aharon, may his candle shine, with his wife and his child are also, blessed be G-d, well. זייט וויסין — Know that I — with my wife Miriam Figa, may she live — with my son Morainu v'Rabbainu Nachman, may his candle shine — with my daughter Miriam Tovah, may she live — and your son-in-law Morainu v'Rabbainu Shmuel, may his candle shine, together with his wife — she who is your daughter — Miriam Chaikah, may she live — with your grandson Nachman, may his candle shine, with Dovid Yosef, may his candle shine, and Shimshon, may his candle shine — and your son Morainu v'Rabbainu Yitzchak, may his candle shine, with his wife Miriam Golda, may she live — and your grandson Morainu v'Rabbainu Shmuel, may his candle shine — זענין מיר ב"ה אלע גיזינד — we are, blessed be G-d, all well. אין מיר האבין גילובט השי"ת ציא ביסלך פרנסה — And we praised G-d for a little livelihood [ציא ביסלך — Yiddish: "for a little, for a small amount" — a bisl; the praise is specifically for a small livelihood, not abundance; an honest acknowledgment of poverty combined with genuine gratitude for even a little] — אין מיר האבין מקבל גיוועזין אייערי בריף — and we received your letters — אין מיר האבין אייך גישיקט בזה החרף שלשה מכתבים על הפאסט — and we sent you this past winter three letters by post — אין מיר ווייסין ניט פאר וואס האט איהר זייא ניט מקבל גיוועזין — and we do not know why you did not receive them. דא איז גיוועזין ר' נחמן נ"י בן אבי מורי ורבי ז"ל איז גיוועזין בייא אינז — There was here Reb Nachman, may his candle shine, the son of my master my teacher and my Rebbe ז"ל — he was by us. האב איך איהם גיפרעגט האט ער מיר אויך גיזאגט אז זייא זענין ב"ה גיזינד — I asked him — and he also told me that they are, blessed be G-d, well. אין זייא האבין געלאזט גריסין אינז מיט ר' נחמן נ"י — And they sent greetings to us through Reb Nachman, may his candle shine. השי"ת זאל העלפין אז מיר זאלין הערין פין אייך אייער גיזינד — May Hashem Yisbarach help that we should hear from you of your well-being. אין נכדכם נחמן לערינט שוין חמש ביז חמישי — And your grandson Nachman is already learning up to and including the fifth book [chamishi — the fifth book of the Torah, Deuteronomy; a proud educational report: the grandson has reached this level in his Torah studies]. אין בני וועט אויך שוין אן הייבין חמש אי"ה אין גיכי צייטין — And my son will also begin the fifth book, G-d willing, soon. אין דיא מתנות וואס איהר האט מיר גישיקט מיט ר' צבי מקאליבלאד נ"י האבין מיר מקבל גיוועזין אין בייא גיוועזין אן גילובט — And the gifts that you sent me with Reb Tzvi from Kalibulad, may his candle shine — we received them and praised G-d for them. השי"ת זאל אונז גיבין פרנסה ברוח — May Hashem Yisbarach give us livelihood with ease and with spirit [פרנסה ברוח — Yiddish with Hebrew: "livelihood with ruach" — the word ruach means both ease/spaciousness and spirit; the phrase may carry a double meaning: livelihood given with material ease and spaciousness, and livelihood given with spiritual spirit and energy; both dimensions are present] — אין מיר זאלין קענין אייך שיקין מעות אזוי וויא מיר וועלין — so that we will be able to send you money as we wish. זייט גיזינד — Be well. From all of us — words of those who love you, Yisroel son of Reb Chaim the Kohen [ישראל ב"ר חיים הכהן — the son-in-law Reb Yisroel, whose handwriting was suspected in Letter 31; confirmed below to have been written by a different hand on his behalf] And in writing: Earlier — six weeks ago — from the city of Honarad [the writer now identifies the suspicious letter of Letter 31: it came six weeks earlier from the city of Honarad; this is the specific letter whose handwriting the writer's wife could not recognize] — and not his handwriting [און ניט דיין כתב — Yiddish: "and not his handwriting" — explicit confirmation of what was feared in Letter 31; the letter from Honarad six weeks ago was not written in the son-in-law's own hand; it was dictated to another to write on his behalf] — ווארין זוג' קען שוין דיין כתב אפילו אויף איין אנדערע ניר [Yiddish: "for my wife already knows your handwriting even on another sheet of paper" — she knows his handwriting so well that she can identify it on any paper; and she could tell this was not it] — ניט אף אזוי אייניר וויא דיא וועסט מיר שיקין [Yiddish: "not even one like the one you will send me" — the writer asks for a comparable, reliable writer to draft the substitute letter] — ווארין איך קען שוין ניט אויס האלטין איהר צער [Yiddish: "for I can no longer bear her grief"]. איך האב זיך אלין אויך גיניג צער נאר איך בין מיר מחזק נאר איהר צער אין לשער ולהעריך [Yiddish: "I too have enough grief of my own — but I strengthen myself — only her grief is beyond reckoning and estimating"]. אויב ח"ו זיא וועט ניט האבין קיין בריף ח"ו פאר פסח [Yiddish: "If — G-d forbid — she will not have a letter — G-d forbid — before Passover"] — השי"ת זאל מיר העלפין אז איך זאל האבין איין פרייליכין פסח [Yiddish: "may Hashem Yisbarach help me that I should have a joyful Passover"]. אין זאלסט בייהאלטין דיא בריף ביז סע וועט אן קומען דיא בריף או ממחתנכם או מחמיך נ"י וועסט דיא דעמלט זעהן וויא אזוי ציא טיהן [Yiddish: "And you should hold the letter until the letters come — either from your son-in-law or from your father-in-law, may his candle shine — and then you will see what to do"]. The above-mentioned Nussun.