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We are presenting collected letters of Reb Noson ,
the outstanding disciple of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. (Letters printed in Eternally Yours )
With God's help, Wednesday, Taanit Esther, 5603, Breslov. Let happiness and joy take over! To my dear, beloved son, the learned Reb Yitzchak, may he live - peace, life and all good. How glorious is this day, on which I received the good news that, praise God, our project is completed! What can I give back to God for all the good He has bestowed upon me?! If our mouths were filled as the sea with song...! Praise God, the good news arrived at just the appropriate season - at a time of "happiness, joy, celebration and festivity for the Jews." So may it be with us, and may we merit to rejoice in His salvation this Purim and on all the coming Festivals! May He instill in us true knowledge of how to thank Him joyfully and bless Him for all that He has bestowed upon us in His compassion and abundant lovingkindness. Let my mouth be filled with His praises! In light of the aforementioned letter which I received, I have decided that we cannot cause anguish to Reb Nachman like this, when he is expecting to receive money any day. As he wrote in his letter, he was expecting to receive money that very same day. I am therefore sending you the enclosed sum of money. The remainder - what is needed in the sum of ten half proilen [a certain coin], which is the equivalent of fifteen new rubles - you should lend from your own pocket. This is besides what I owe you for the merchandise. Be sure to send him this sum, along with the letters enclosed here, right away with tomorrow's post. You may add to the letter to Reb Nachman as you wish. As you can understand for yourself, you will thus be doing a great mitzvah for him. The primary reason that I am moving so quickly with this is because of our work on the book Likutey Eitzot which I wish to begin immediately. It is a project for the benefit of the greater community, and "a mitzvah for the community takes precedence." God forbid then that we should be remiss in this matter and the faster we do it the better. If you want to, you may add another two half proilen and send him twelve; and I will send you ten new rubles this coming Friday or at least on Sunday, after Shabbat. I do not want to become involved with this now, as I am busy with preparations for Purim. The money is all ready though, and it is as if it is already in my hand. I simply have to send for it. Write me a response immediately, as quickly as you possibly can, because I want you to send the aforementioned sum, along with the letters, with all possible speed. You see that I am being extremely easy on you with this loan, since you have not yet lent even the thirty rubles that you promised. I trust God that you will not need to lend much after this because I hope to God that you will soon be receiving money from Tcherin and Kremenchug. I have borrowed here the money that I sent you. This is in addition to the money that I already gave the sofer, what I need to give him every week, and what I need for my own living expenses. My money as well is invested in this project, as you know, and I am going out of my way to borrow from others in order to alleviate your burden. But, my dear, beloved son, you are really being overly particular about lending money for such an important project, when you write in all your letters that your burden must be lightened. There is no time to discuss this now. As I said, I made it easier for you now and I will continue to do so in the future. It could even be that you will not need to lend any more at all, and you can rest assured that you will certainly be reimbursed soon for what you have lent. Due to the preparations for Purim it is impossible to elaborate. I am confident that you will carry out my words quickly and exactly as I have asked. God Who is good will finish for us. May you and I enjoy the celebration of Purim, and may you merit to rejoice that on Purim you are engaging in bringing the Rebbe's holy Torah teachings into the world. This is the essential meaning of "they upheld and accepted" (Esther 9:27) in which the tzaddikim are involved in every generation, particularly on Purim. May God allow you and all of us to merit this Purim to accept upon ourselves anew to uphold the Torah, so as to fulfill, "they upheld what they had already accepted" (Shabbat 88a). The crucial thing is that you and I should merit to constantly receive and understand the profound advice and hints, "the hands in the sea of wisdom" (Likutey Moharan II, 7:10) - which are the holy, original Torah teachings of our master, teacher and Rebbe, of holy, sainted memory. For these are hints of great profundity, and they are meant for you too, my dear son. They address the person "before the act and after," and deal with "depart from evil" as well as "do good"; for example, when a person needs to pray but is assailed and buffeted on every side by impediments and extraneous thoughts. Everyone is familiar with this phenomenon and it is referred to in the lesson "The depths covered them" (Likutey Moharan I, 9) which explains that when a person stands up to pray, the kelipot, the barriers, surround him, etc. The lesson also gives a sound piece of advice: that the person should endeavor at least to say the words of the prayers in truth according to who he is, as is written there on the verse "Make a window for the ark." Happy are the ears which hear words such as these! But the essence of this advice in its totality must be understood through subtle indications made with the hands which cannot be articulated. The same thing applies to the advice the Rebbe wrote on how to shake off the heaviness and downheartedness which prevent a person from praying with concentration and enthusiasm. This is the lesson "Azamra! - I will sing to God with the little that I have left!" which teaches that a person must inspire himself with the tiniest of good points that still remain in him. This simply-stated advice is highly beneficial for everyone, "sweet to the soul and healing to the bone" and many souls have already been inspired by it. But there are many occasions when it is difficult for a person to inspire himself even with this, unless God helps him understand the hints through which He signals the truth to every single person no matter where he is, that "God's affection is still upon him" (Shabbat 88b). We find the same thing in connection with the lesson about "the son and student" (Likutey Moharan II, 7) which informs all the lowly and inferior people in the world that God is still right there with them - for "the whole world is full of His glory!" The essence of this holy message, though, must be received in the form of hints, because "thought cannot grasp Him at all"; rather God "is known to each person according to his own estimation" which is in the category of hints (Zohar I, 103b). Therefore, each person must endeavor to understand these hints, until he draws Godliness upon himself in all places, and indeed comes to understand that "the whole world is full of His glory." This is why it is written, "And every creature will understand that You created him"(High Holy Days Liturgy). It is impossible to elaborate on this any further. A hint is sufficient for the wise. Similarly, "after the act," i.e. after praying, if he still could not concentrate on his prayers and bad thoughts ravaged them, God forbid - then all the more so must a person understand the countless hints which the Rebbe conveyed to us with his holy hands, that it is absolutely forbidden to become discouraged for any reason. Even in the matter of "avoiding evil," through these hints it is possible to understand how very much a person must strengthen himself not to begin thinking bad thoughts at all, not to enter into debate with temptation (The Aleph-Bet Book p.152, #10), but to flee from bad thoughts by "sitting and doing nothing" (i.e. not getting involved with them at all). He will thus escape from all evil. But if, God forbid, God forbid, his evil urge does overcome him, God save us, he must fortify himself and not succumb any further, as the Rebbe cried out (Likutey Moharan II, 78), "There is no such thing as despair!" While the Rebbe revealed his paths of encouragement and advice explicitly - and it is necessary to have faith in his words and to fulfill them straightforwardly - the essence of his encouragement must be understood from a distance by means of these hints, in particular the hints about the enormous greatness and power of the elder of holiness, the elder of elders in whose shade we take shelter. For it is from him that we understand the greatness of the Fashioner of Creation and His enormous lovingkindness which is absolutely without limit. I have already spoken about all this extensively, but beyond this a person must strive to understand these hints - and they are without limit or end! So now you will understand anew that there is no such thing as despair and that even I, you, and all of us must strengthen ourselves with great, boundless joy every day - especially on days of joy, and even more so on Purim! Ashreinu! Ashreinu! Happy are we that we merit to write words such as these, which emanate from the hints within "the sea of wisdom," and through which one merits "an illumination of yearning" during eating, provided that one is not a shlamazelnik, a loser! This is for me the whole underlying meaning of Purim. For the subjugation of Amalek, may his name be obliterated, was accomplished by "and when Moshe lifted his hands, Israel would win - i.e., when Israel looked upward toward Heaven" (Rosh HaShanah 29a). In other words, Moshe, our teacher, raised up his hands and hinted to Israel that they should look upward. Amalek is an extremely tough kelipah; it includes all the other kelipot and the entire Other Side. And when Amalek spreads himself out and makes war with Israel, it is impossible for the tzaddik to speak and to rebuke Israel directly. Rather he lifts up his hands and hints to them, "Look upward! God is still with you! `The whole world is full of His glory!'" The page is coming to an end and time is short, so it is impossible to continue. This will suffice for now. You also received this letter because of my desire to have you send money to Reb Nachman quickly. Were it not for this matter, I would not have dreamed of writing you a letter today. Therefore do not allow the celebration of Purim to prevent you from sending the money and the letter, as I requested above. To the contrary! Through this you can celebrate and rejoice with the song that Reb Nachman, may he live, is singing there - "Rose of Yaakov, merriment and joy!" - and merit to perform this mitzvah on Purim! The words of your father, Noson of Breslov Really and truly be happy! |
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