צט

I come to bring you good tidings — congratulations facing congratulations — congratulations to you on the divorce document — blessed be G-d — which has been concluded in this manner. And now we see how Hashem Yisbarach can help according to His will, may He be blessed. So may Hashem Yisbarach help your co-parent-in-law, may his candle shine — and also you — in every kind of success and blessing — that there should begin from now favorable times — in the merit of Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple — who are engaged also now in sweetening all the harsh judgments from upon us — and performing miracles with us — and bringing faith into our midst. For the main thing of faith is prayer and supplication — and particularly in Eretz Yisroel — which is here the gate of prayer and the gates of Heaven. And there is nothing that a person cannot accomplish through prayer — even to change nature itself — only one must not be lazy in this — only to strike and not to stop — for Hashem Yisbarach desires the prayer of Israel — and the prayer of the lowly — and particularly the prayer that is bound to the power of the true Tzaddik — the Tzaddik who is the foundation of the world.

And since I studied this night the Laws of Honoring Father and Mother — according to the Torah — "the measuring cords fell to me in pleasant places" [Psalms 16:6 — חבלים נפלו לי בנעמים — "the measuring cords fell to me in pleasant places" — chavalim — measuring cords, the ropes used to survey and mark out one's portion of land; the image is of land-surveying: the measuring ropes have landed and marked out a beautiful inheritance; not merely "lots fell" but specifically the land-measuring cords] — I do not know what we are keeping silent about — that Hashem Yisbarach bestowed upon us such loving-kindness — and illuminates within us a little of such lights — where every Torah teaching and every law and every prayer is a different new creation — and such treasuries — we are so culpably negligent about using them [מתרשלים — "we are negligent, we let ourselves become slack" — from roshel — culpably negligent, slackening one's effort and resolve when one should not; stronger than merely "sluggish" — it is a culpable loosening of the grip on what matters most]. For we must spend in them day and night — to give over soul and body for them — for they can bring us out from the lowest depths of the underworld and bring us to the uppermost Garden of Eden. For it is no empty word — Rabbainu ז"ל and his holy disciple — for they will complete the repair of all the worlds and the repair for all the souls of the dead and the living.

And Rabbainu ז"ל teaches us in such a path — that even people who are engaged in commerce and trade can be complete Tzaddikim — namely through trust and faith in the providence of the Creator, may He be blessed — and not to worry even about tomorrow — and particularly about a year — and particularly about several years. And to be happy with one's portion. And to guard oneself greatly from anger — for it damages the flow of abundance — and not to learn an evil quality even from a proper man who has some evil quality — but accept the good and discard the evil. And to be in joy always — and to be in joy always. [ולהיות בשמחה תמיד ולהיות בשמחה תמיד — the writer deliberately writes this twice in succession — the double repetition is intentional and emphatic; joy is so fundamental to Rabbainu ז"ל's path that the writer repeats the entire phrase twice without qualification] And to direct and aim in every business toward the ultimate purpose. And to fulfill: "in all your ways know Him and He will make straight your paths." And to believe in Hashem Yisbarach that through an easy cause He can provide. And worries and sadness and melancholy and anger avail nothing at all — they only embitter the life of the person and shorten the days of his life. And one who has faith and joy — lives life. And particularly as G-d willing the month of Adar comes in — one should multiply joy every day more and more — until G-d willing on the holy Purim — the joy should be in all the limbs.

And now I come to bring you a good tiding — that blessed be G-d — today there arrived a letter from my daughter Mistress Adel, may she live — that blessed be G-d she is now six months pregnant — blessed be G-d. Therefore I ask of all the Anash to ask mercy for her — that the pregnancy should be easy and the birth should be easy — and a child who will endure — and may she and her husband merit to raise him for Torah and for the wedding canopy and for good deeds. And I ask of my brother my friend Morainu v'Rabbainu Aizikl, may his candle shine — that at every time he goes to the graves of the Tzaddikim and the graves of the righteous Anash — they should pray for her: Adel daughter of Yachte Sarah — and her husband Yehoshua son of Tuvya. And also let him go to the grave of my father ז"ל to pray for them. And I assure him that I will pray for you — for even without this I pray for you — for you are engraved in my heart truly as my own children. And also to pray for my mother, may she live, and my sister, may she live — who are ill — and I still have no strength in my legs to go even to visit them. And also for my wife, may she live — who has fallen into crisis for three weeks.

And your letters from Wednesday of Yisro and from Thursday of Yisro — I received properly. And write to me the day of departure of your co-parent-in-law, may his candle shine.

On both this and that there is no news — only life and peace.

From me — one who truly loves you in truth and in wholeness — who always seeks your welfare, Nussun from Breslov

On both this and that there is no news [זו"ז חדשות אין — "this and this, there is no news" — zu u'zu — "this and this, on both counts, in both directions"; the writer means: on both the matters you might wonder about, there is nothing new to report] — only life and peace and joy — נאר פריליך זיין — only be joyful — for in worries nothing is accomplished at all.

And also I ask of you: if my friend Reb Shmuel, may his candle shine, has not yet traveled — ask of him in whatever place he will be — where my son and the son's wife, may she live, are to be found — for the sake of Hashem — to spur them with alacrity through letters. And if your co-parent-in-law sends letters home — let him receive from them a letter within his letter. And my wife, may she live, assures him that she will pray for him — that he succeed on his way in peace — and may he accomplish the fullness of good. Omain, so may it be His will. Written Sunday night, Parshas Mishpatim, 5641 (early February 1881), from Teverya. Triple congratulations on a completed divorce. A complete teaching. The daughter Adel is six months pregnant.

נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן And my sister Chana, may she live, is not at all in good health — and tell the Anash to pray for her. And she is sending eighteen twenty-para coins as a redemption for the Anash — namely nine groshen — and for the soul of my mother — nine groshen. And make from them your money and distribute to the Anash as follows: