סו

It is a wonder in my eyes — that for more than two weeks I have had no letter at all from you. And particularly since I sent you several letters sealed together in one wrapped bundle — and I have no reply whether you received the letters. And surely I have great suffering from this. And particularly — that you wrote to me that our friend Reb Aitzikel, may his candle shine, is lying on a bed of languishing pain — may the Merciful One protect him — how great is my suffering from this — very much. My eyes are consumed yearning to hear from him life and peace. And I go nearly every day to Reb Ber, may his candle shine, to ask him about letters from you — for believe me — the life of my soul depends on your love. And the sealed letter I sent you through the patron Reb Chaim Yehoshua, may his candle shine — and I do not know what to think.

And it is further a wonder in my eyes — how Reb Eismar, may his candle shine, the one appointed by the Kolel of Vizhnitz, came to excuse and justify himself before me [התנצל לפני — hisnatzzel lefanai — "excused and justified himself before me" — hisnatzzel specifically means to offer one's excuse and justification, to explain one's conduct; not simply to apologize but to account for oneself and explain why things went as they did] — explaining that as it had been agreed with your co-parent-in-law, may his candle shine, concerning the match with his son, may his candle shine — he only needed to come here to see the daughter and to conclude matters. And in the end — someone from his acquaintances wrote to him that your co-parent-in-law, may his candle shine, has already made a match — congratulations — with his son at a propitious hour — with a certain person — and they call him Zivenberger. And this is a wonder in my eyes — that your co-parent-in-law, may his candle shine, did not write to me in order to bless him with a congratulations-blessing — for we are as beloved brothers forever and ever — and G-d forbid your grief is my grief — may the Merciful One protect you — and your joy is my joy. Therefore I ask of you to write to me whether you received my letters — and also about your health — from each and every one of the Anash — and about the match. And I have greatly asked of you to pray for my wife — may the Merciful One protect her — daughter of Figa — for what grief she has — eye pain — which is impossible to bear the sound of her crying and her moaning. In the daytime there is a little relief — and also I am not fully in good health.

And the sister-in-law Miriam Sasia, may she live — blessed be G-d — her illness has eased a little — the cough — and she is drinking goat's milk and also legumes and eating meat. But not through a doctor. But her mother-in-law, the wicked one [חמותה המרשעת — "her mother-in-law the wicked one" — marshais — genuinely wicked, from the same root as rasha — the wicked person of the Passover Haggadah; the strongest possible moral characterization; she is not merely difficult but truly wicked in her conduct], is full of anger — that I do not give her all the money together. And to spite her she does not accept the infant even for a single moment.

And now let us begin to speak from the great business and the partnership that is between us. In this month we must draw upon ourselves the holiness of Mordechai and Esther — in order that we have the power to erase the memory of Amalek and the wicked Haman. And this task was done for us by Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple. But we must in any case bind ourselves with good desires and with very great prayer and supplication — and not to forget that in every generation and generation they arise against us to destroy us — and the Holy One Blessed be He saves us from their hand in the merit of the Tzaddik the foundation of the world. And the holy days of Purim draw near and come — may Hashem Yisbarach merit us to fulfill all the Purim commandments in great joy — and to merit to receive the festival of Passover in holiness, sanctity, and purity — and to be careful from any trace of leaven — and the work of righteousness is peace.

Words of one who truly loves you — and whose desire is bound to you at all times, Nussun from Breslov

Undated — approaching Purim, 5639. Over two weeks without letters. Reb Aitzikel gravely ill. The match concluded with Zivenberger. Miriam Sasia improving but the mother-in-law is wicked. The wife's eye pain severe.

נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן First I inform you — that blessed be G-d — in another three days there will come upon us and upon all Israel the illumination of the miracle that was performed for us at this time — through the illumination of the holiness of Mordechai and Esther — which is called by its holy name: Purim. There is no land [אין לאנד — ayn land — Yiddish code-switch: "no land" — meaning no country in the entire world; the Yiddish word land embedded within the Hebrew sentence to convey universality] where all the Tzaddikim of every generation and generation spoke so highly about the true depth of the essential holiness of the day [עצומו של יום — atzmo shel yom — "the essence of the day itself" — the specific Halachic-liturgical term from the laws of Yom Kippur [Yoma 85b]: "the essence of the day itself atones" — atzmo shel yom mechaper; applied here to Purim: the Tzaddikim spoke about the inherent intrinsic sanctity of the day of Purim itself, independent of any actions — the very substance of Purim as a holy day]. And particularly Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple spoke at very great length — and revealed many holy secrets from every single thing that happens on Purim — and particularly about the joy of Purim. Therefore I ask of all our beloved to pray for me as well — that I merit to rejoice in the joy of Purim. For I have a great pain — for more than two months — such that when I am sitting I cannot stand — and when I am standing I cannot sit. But I have much relief in this — for there are sometimes such and such days when I do not feel the pain as much. Blessed be the Good One and He Who does good.