לב

And behold, the Rav of Savran pursued Moharan"as each time more intensely; and in the winter of 5596 he himself made a journey to Kaminetz in order to prevail there with his followers and arouse them to prevail with the regional governor to have Moharan"as seized, exiled, and expelled. But Hashem Yisborach in His compassion arranged wondrous circumstances for Moharan"as's zatzal salvation; and on that very journey, on the way, the matter of the informer from Litnevitz became entangled in the affair, and through this, fear and dread fell upon him afterward from pursuing Moharan"as further. And also when he arrived in Kaminetz, Hashem Yisborach arranged wondrous circumstances for Moharan"as's salvation. For when he came there, he encountered the honored Rav, the Gaon, the mara d'asra (local rabbinic authority) of Kaminetz, R' Aharon Moshe of that place. And there was also a legal dispute between two wealthy and powerful men of the city which came before him for judgment; and the one who emerged liable in the ruling became furious at him. And all this brought about wondrous circumstances until he was unable to do any further harm to Moharan"as; on the contrary, fear and dread of pursuing him further fell upon him, and he returned home and began to quiet the quarrel and seek peace, and warned his people to cease informing against Moharan"as. Moharan"as then replied: "I am at peace, and certainly the anash will not harm him at all. All I desire is that they cease informing against me." And the Rav of Savran did not long survive — for he passed away soon after, in the winter of 5597 (1837), from his illness of the intestinal rupture, and died a most shameful death: for his innards issued forth from him. And also Boruch Dayan, through whom the dispute had begun, also died at the beginning of the year 5591 [Translator's note: The source reads תקצ"א (5591), but contextually — given that Moharan"as returned to Breslov only in 5599 and the events described place Boruch Dayan's death after the height of the persecution — this appears to be a scribal error in the manuscript for תקצ"ח (5598). The date is preserved here exactly as written in the source.], in a most shameful death. And also the aforementioned Moshe Hinkes died a sudden and completely unexpected death in the house of the gardinitshe in the year 5598 (1838) — in the very place of his informing against Moharan"as za'l, in which he was striving to prevent him from returning to dwell in his city of Breslov. And nearly all his enemies suffered a great downfall; and then the enemies themselves repented of their deeds, and they themselves began to prevail for Moharan"as to return to Breslov. And through G-d's kindness, a decree of salvation came from the governor at the beginning of the year 5599 (1839), for him to return to Breslov; and he returned there at the beginning of 5599. And many of his enemies came to appease him. And on Purim of the year 5599, when Moharan"as was in Breslov, the aforementioned Sneior of Breslov — through whom all the informings had passed — came to him. His wife was then deathly ill. And so it was: she passed away at that very moment, while he was still in the lower room of Moharan"as's house before ascending to the upper. When he ascended to Moharan"as's upper room — the moment he came in, he fell upon the feet of Moharan"as and kissed them with great force, until Moharan"as felt the force of the kissing in his feet. And so he did again and again — falling upon his feet, kissing them abundantly, weeping a great and mighty weeping. And he said to Moharan"as za'l: "I have sinned. All the informings passed through me. What can I do? Forgive me!" And Moharan"as gave him two rubles as a pidyon [redemption offering] — for he did not yet know of his wife's death at home. And he promised then that he would strive to repair what he had damaged. And behold, to relate in detail about this dispute — the parchment would be too short. See in the letters of Moharan"as, printed in Jerusalem, in the letters of the year 5595; and in the unpublished letters from the first day of Kedoshim; and also see in the letter he wrote upon leaving the terma [prison], and in the letter he wrote on the Sunday after he was expelled from his home to Nemyrov. And also see in the letters in the book Alim LiTerufah from the years 5596, 5597, 5598, 5599 — and there you will see a tiny fraction of the murderous persecutions with which Moharan"as was pursued, the like of which was never heard of in the world. And you will come to know how Hashem Yisborach does not abandon His devoted ones, even when enemies grow as powerful as they did; for in him was fulfilled the verse: "They shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you" [Yirmiyahu 1:19] — "and You, Hashem, are exalted forever" [Tehillim 92:9]. And kushta ka'ai — truth stands and endures. And our teacher Moharan"as za'l did his part — drawing many people to Hashem Yisborach, arousing them through his holy ways until they became G-d-fearing and wholehearted; meriting to attain many novel Torah insights which he wrote in books, and they were published. And even now, after his passing, his holy words live and endure forever. Whoever looks upon them with a true eye is greatly aroused toward Hashem Yisborach; he engages greatly in Torah and prayer and yearns deeply for Hashem — until he becomes truly G-d-fearing. And the truth of Hashem endures forever. — Thus far.