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Thursday, the Torah portion of Eikev [Parshas Eikev — the weekly Torah portion containing Moshe's charge to Israel to keep the commandments; it falls in late July or early August] — the Holy City [פעה"ק — p'as ha'ir ha'kedoshah] of Teverya, may it be established and built for good — written from the home [ב"ב — b'veiso — "in his home"]. Year not stated — context places this in 5635 (1875 CE). To the honor of my friend — our ohavainu — why, it is none other than the wondrous one himself! [הלא הוא המפלא — an exclamation of warm, affectionate recognition: "is he not — he is none other than — the wondrous one!"] — Morainu v'Rabbainu Reb Nussun — along with my friend, the young Torah scholar Morainu v'Rabbainu Reb Aizik, may his candle shine. Behold — my sister, Miriam Chana [מ' חנה — the letter מ' abbreviates Miriam], may she live — travels every year for the yahrtzeit [the anniversary of a person's passing, on which it is customary to visit the grave and pray] of our father [זללה"ה — may the memory of the holy and righteous be a blessing] — the 22nd of Menachem Av, which is coming upon us for good. But now, on account of the quarantine [karantin — a quarantine in force at the time, preventing travel between towns; Ottoman Palestine suffered periodic outbreaks of cholera and typhus, and the Turkish authorities would impose strict quarantines], she is unable to travel. And also she has no companion except one person, and my mind does not agree to her traveling in this manner. Therefore I said that she should send money into your hands — and you will see to it that a minyan [a quorum of ten Jewish men — the minimum required for communal prayer] goes to the grave of my father ז"ל on the day of the yahrtzeit, to request of him on her behalf that he grant her forgiveness [שימחל לה — sheyimchal lah — from the root mechilah: to grant pardon, to forgive fully; a daughter asking her deceased father's forgiveness on his yahrtzeit — a moment of great intimacy and gravity]. And she is also sending — through Dov, the trusted agent of Reb Chaim Yehoshua — the sum of 30 groshen, to give to the said minyan — for going to the grave of my father to pray for us, and for our brothers, and for our sister, and for our sons, and for our daughters. And I myself will write [ואני ארשם — first person singular: it is the writer himself who will inscribe the names, not someone else] all the names on the tzettel [a small slip of paper bearing the names, placed at a holy grave — a widespread Jewish practice of requesting spiritual intercession through a written note], and it should be placed at the grave of my father ז"ל. And first — beforehand — [ומקדם — a ritual instruction specifying the order: this step must come first, before anything else] let them read out all the names aloud. And only afterward let them place the kvittel [the Yiddish word for the same written note — kvittel and tzettel are used interchangeably] there. And please write me a letter of acknowledgment of receipt. And also write to me whether you are still dwelling in the house that you purchased with a good omen [l'mazel tov] — and if not, G-d forbid. And perhaps you have with you any news from Troyits — what is heard there. And also — whether you received the letter in the envelope that I sent you through a certain woman. I have no more time to write, on account of the urgency. Your true beloved, Nussun, son of our teacher Yehuda I and my friend Reb Kalman convey greetings of peace to your father, may his candle shine, and peace to all the Anash — each and every one — with strong love. For we all depend upon, we are all suspended in, this love [כי אנן בחביבותא תליא' — Aramaic from the Zohar: "for we are suspended in, we hang upon, love" — our entire connection to holiness is held together by the love between us; not a pleasantry but a theological declaration]. And may they pray for us, and we pray for you always. Nussun, the above-mentioned. 📜