נט

And then I heard from the man from Eretz Yisroel mentioned above the entire order of his journey. And he told me that the city of Akko was closed because of this rebellion. And they hired a ship outside the city of Akko and traveled a short distance. And on the way a certain lord from another ship turned them back. And he told them it was very dangerous to travel now. For they themselves had heard the sound of the screaming of the people of the ship that had been killed. And according to their words — that was the ship — from which it was reported that people had been killed — and in which were the son of Rabbi Ze'ev of Traistinets and our companion Rabbi Shimon and many more Jews — about sixty-five. And the man from Eretz Yisroel mentioned above said that the people who were in his ship said that they knew and remembered fifty-seven people from among them. And then the ship in which the man mentioned above had sailed returned to Akko. And they asked the lord of the ship — who had remained at home himself. And he commanded them to go and not to pay attention to this. And they returned and traveled up to a certain place — it seems up to Rodes. From there some of them hired horses as far as the city of Istanbul itself. And some of them — since they were poor — went and circulated from city to city — partly by land and partly by sea — until they came to Istanbul. And he told me that those who went through Jewish towns — Israel helped them in every place they came to — and gave them for travel expenses and for food and drink — in the manner of our brothers the children of Israel — merciful ones — children of merciful ones. And the time of their journey was prolonged — from Rosh Chodesh Iyar when they left Eretz Yisroel — until the days of Tishrei — when they stood in quarantine in Odessa.

And all these matters were somewhat a great obstacle for me — since I heard the greatness of the commotion and the danger. But afterward I was further strengthened through this. For I turned to one side and reflected: behold — they nonetheless traveled from Eretz Yisroel to the Diaspora — and risked themselves for livelihood — because of their great hardship. And Hashem helped them and they came in peace. How very much more so am I obligated to risk myself for the repair of my soul — to travel from the Diaspora to Eretz Yisroel. And Hashem will help me in His kindness to come there. For it is impossible to come to Eretz Yisroel except through sufferings. And also Rabbainu zichrono livracha traveled in a time of great war. And even if who am I to compare myself to Rabbainu zichrono livracha — for there is no one who comes close to him — and certainly not someone as lowly as I — even so: for a matter of holiness — even the most lightweight of the lightweights is obligated to seek great things — as I heard from his holy mouth himself zichrono livracha. On the contrary — I am obligated a thousand thousandfold more to give my soul to come to Eretz Yisroel. For Rabbainu zichrono livracha — even before he came to Eretz Yisroel — his holiness and his separation and his level and his righteousness were very very high and exalted and sublime to the ultimate degree. And he only traveled to Eretz Yisroel in order to accomplish and attain sublime attainments ever higher and higher. For His greatness has no reckoning. But we — orphans of orphans — we must wallow in mud and mire and crawl on the earth among serpents and scorpions — until we merit to kiss the dust of Eretz Yisroel — and to roll in its holy soil — and to breathe from its holy and awesome air. And even though we know nothing at all about what Eretz Yisroel is — behold — we also know nothing about what tzitzis is and what tefillin is — and what a sukkah is and a lulav — and similar other mitzvos. For the reasons of the mitzvos were not made known to any human being — and certainly not to us. And as it is written: "wondrous are Your testimonies" and so on. And as it is written: "all Your commandments are faithfulness" — study elsewhere about this. And would we — Heaven forbid — excuse ourselves from doing the mitzvos because we do not know their reasons? Likewise we are obligated to roll to Eretz Yisroel — even though we do not know what Eretz Yisroel is. For the holy Torah itself has already informed us — and our Sages of blessed memory in the Talmud tractate Kesuvos and in other places and in the Midrashim — and in particular Rabbainu zichrono livracha in his awesome Torah teachings — all of them revealed to us the greatness of the level of Eretz Yisroel. And that all the holiness of a person of Israel depends on Eretz Yisroel.