פח

On Friday — Erev Shabbas Kodesh Erev Pesach — we made a siyum [completion of a tractate] and ate and drank a little wine. And praised be G-d I was in some joy. Close to midday I laid myself down to sleep a little. And in the meantime — Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer arrived. And greatly enlivened me. And from great joy I kissed him with great love. And I gave praise and thanksgiving to Hashem Blessed be He that I had merited to see him. For such had happened: it was two weeks and more after I had written the letter to Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer mentioned above that he should come. Afterward I told this to Rabbi Yoska — may his light shine. He answered and said: do you not know what happened to Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer? Did there not happen to him a very evil thing? For these several weeks ago — at the time when I was at home and was ready to travel here to Odessa — the report reached our city of Breslov: that a certain lord — some official [zasdatil] — came and beat Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer mentioned above in the village where he lives — beating him and wounding him to the very point of death. And the report was heard that shortly they would bring him to burial — Heaven forbid. But in the meantime I had already traveled from there — and who knows what befell him.