קב

On Tuesday, at the time when I was writing all of this, the German-speaking scribe came to the cabin and did not disturb me at all. Afterward he showed me the sea chart [the world map] of the sea we were traveling on. And he showed me the location of Odessa, Kherson, Nikolayev, Otchakov, Istanbul, and other places. And he showed me that we were now about one third of the way from Odessa to Istanbul. And this was around the tenth hour. May Hashem Blessed be He lead me onward in peace — until we merit to come to Eretz Yisroel in peace. And all of that Tuesday mentioned above — praised be G-d — we had ease. And we returned to our strength little by little. At the beginning of the night of Wednesday — the captain began to play on some musical instrument. And he asked me whether I could play. I answered him: no. And he spoke with me about musical instruments. And I began to speak with them about dancing — that among us we dance on the festival and at a wedding. In the meantime I went down to the cabin. In the meantime they became aroused among themselves, and one of them began to dance greatly. And then Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer was also aroused to dance somewhat. And afterward he went down to serve me at the meal — for I was already seated to eat and he had not yet eaten. And I completed my meal alone. And afterward Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer said he had a desire to dance more. And we went up on the ship deck. And the captain with another person were playing some simple musical instruments. And Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer danced greatly — until afterward I too danced greatly with Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer. And also two sailors danced — they danced and rejoiced — but they did not know what their joy was. And we — praised be G-d — danced and rejoiced that we were meriting to go to Eretz Yisroel, to the Holy Land, to recognize He who spoke and the world came into being. As the parable brought in the name of the Baal Shem Tov zichrono livracha in the book Toldos Yaakov Yosef — about a prince who was in captivity, and a letter reached him from his father, and he wished to rejoice. He gave drink to all who were with him until they were drunk, and they danced and rejoiced in wildness and drunkenness. And he danced and rejoiced among them over the word that had come to him from his father. And this was a great wonder in our eyes — that we merited to dance and rejoice on the ship where all were Gentiles, and there was no Jew among them except us two alone. For it is known to us that the essential strengthening is joy — for "the joy of Hashem is your strength" — as is explained in our words many times without measure. And also all of Wednesday — the ship went properly with the help of Hashem Blessed be He.