קכ

And also toward evening — Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer went to draw water from the sea for our needs. And a certain sailor came and threw a rope over his head in a playful way. And through this — his hat was knocked into the sea and was lost until today. And also throughout the night the wind went and stormed greatly. And we lay to sleep in great weakness. And added to this was another danger that night — for in our narrow and somewhat long cabin — there was also another man from the ship's company. And he then had a toothache. And he brought fire into our cabin and smoked sugar upon it as a remedy. And before sleep it occurred to me: who knew what would come from the fire he had brought? For the chimney of the cabin was open to the outside air — and the wind was blowing — especially such a stormy wind — so one needed to be very careful from fire there. And in truth the captain at every time we brought a candle into the cabin insisted it not be burning during sleep. And especially on Shabbas night — when we had lit oil — and after the Shabbas meal the oil still remained in the bottle — we were forbidden to sleep until we hinted to a certain sailor to extinguish the candle. And afterward we brought no candle into our cabin and ate at night outside on the ship's deck by the light of the stars. And now the person mentioned above went and brought fire into our cabin at night. And fear was upon me even before sleep — but I could not speak to him — since he did not understand our languages. And also I knew he would not obey me. And I lay to sleep. And it came to pass in the middle of the night — I awakened. And behold — a great fire was burning on the table — and the flame was rising upward — for their invalid books had been placed on the table along with other papers, and they all burned — and also some of the table itself. But at the time I awakened — one had already become aware of this. And they arose and engaged in extinguishing it and said to the one who caused this: do not be afraid. And I too gave them some of our handwashing water. And they extinguished it. And afterward more sailors came down and brought a bucket of water. And praised be G-d — the fire was quenched. And the greatness of this danger was without measure — for the cabin was very narrow — and there was no opening in it except a small chimney at the ship's upper deck. And if — Heaven forbid — the fire had spread further toward the chimney which was very close — there would have been no place for us to escape from the fire — Heaven forbid. And Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer was asleep and knew nothing of all this.

In the morning on Thursday — I told all of this and informed Rabbi Yehuda Eliezer of the entire fire danger we had that night. And we said: was this not a matter — that in addition to the danger of the water through which we were now passing, there was added to us the danger of fire. Blessed be Hashem who saved us from fire and from water. And I told him the humorous saying that Rabbainu zichrono livracha said after he said the Torah of the Nine Tikkunim [Likutay Moharan §20] — which speaks of Eretz Yisroel and discusses fire and water. For it is explained there that one needs all one's words to be like coals of fire, and through this one can receive Torah from the soul — and so on. And then Rabbainu quoted: "the rock was struck and the waters gushed forth" — study there. And afterward he said in Yiddish: "Ich hob haynt gezagt far feyer un far vasser" — "I have today spoken against fire and against water." And through my telling him this — I entered into fine conversation from Rabbainu zichrono livracha and from his awesome Torah. And we somewhat enlivened ourselves through this.

But the sea continued to storm very greatly. And our weakness was very great. And it was very difficult for me to pray. And afterward I wished to pray. And before I put on my talis and tefilin — I was compelled to vomit. And afterward I prayed with great weakness. And while I was wrapped in talis and tefilin — before I had finished saying V'hu Rachum of Monday and Thursday — I became very weak. And I was compelled to quickly remove my talis and tefilin. And I returned and vomited. And I was then very weak. And the sea continued to storm without interruption. Afterward they raised the anchor and began to go by the force of the stormy wind — but they went only a few hours. Afterward — about an hour after midday — they again lowered the anchor and stopped the ship. And the stormy wind had still not stopped. And the ship was rocking greatly in its place. But through Hashem's kindness our weakness eased a little. But our strength had still not returned to us. And the ship stood thus all of Thursday. And the sea went and stormed. Toward evening — at the beginning of the night of Friday — the stormy wind eased somewhat. And so also in the morning on Friday — the wind was not so stormy. But after midday on Friday — Erev Shabbas Kodesh — the stormy wind returned and arose greatly. And on Shabbas night it was very very difficult for us to keep the candle from going out. And we were compelled in the evening at the time of lighting to stand it on the ground in a corner. And all the night of Shabbas night — the wind went and stormed. But the ship was still standing in its place. And this was a great kindness from Hashem Blessed be He — that it was delayed this time. For through this there was some relief and strength to endure. And even so we were somewhat weak from before. And also the great rocking of the ship in its place had weakened us somewhat.