My dear, beloved son.

My love for you compels me to write you now, during the Intermediate
Days of the Festival, on Erev Shabbat and the Eve of the Seventh Day
of Pesach. I really have no time, with the guests to attend to and
other preparations. I ask you, my dear son, to be joyful on this holy
festival, that God has done such miracles for us! He took us out of
Egypt and split the sea for us! All for us! And because of this, in
this generation, I and you and everyone in Tulchin and everyone here
in Breslov and in all the places where Jews are living; because of
this, these people, all of us in this generation, are here alive today!
Therefore we are obliged to rejoice over the splitting of the
Red Sea, when the Divinity, Lordship and Hegemony of the Infinite
One was revealed, the Master of Will, in an amazing and fearsome revelation
that was absolutely unprecedented. A servant girl at the Red Sea saw
what the Prophets did not! Infants and suckling children said, "This
is my God and I will glorify Him!" (Rashi, Exodus 21:5).

Fill yourself with this joy, my son, that you nonetheless have the
merit of believing in this and of being a member of the Jewish Nation,
the Chosen People, for whom all these miracles were performed! Had
He not seen the good in us, He would not have performed all these
miracles for us. So the message here is: Summon your strength and
always be happy! It is written, "Let Israel rejoice in its Maker!"
(Psalms 149:2), "Let Jacob celebrate, let Israel rejoice!"
(Psalms 14:7). And especially on this holy festival, the day
of the splitting of the Red Sea. For we can, thank God, take joy in
even the most basic of facts, that God selected us out of all the
peoples and elevated ours above all other languages. What's more,
we have merited, in this generation, to not be among those who oppose
the true master of joy, the source of joy, the source of holiness,
the source of faith, the source of true life forever, the source of
wisdom! Happy are we to have been worthy of this!

And so we must praise the Master of All for all the incredible good
that He has seen fit to bestow on us. It is absolutely beyond belief,
that we, lowly as we are, have been able to hear and understand such
wonders! The verse (Psalms 136:23), "Who remembered us
in our lowliness, for His kindness is Infinite" undoubtedly applies
to us. We are therefore obliged to rejoice and to dance each and every
day, regardless of what happens to us. How much more is this so on
one of the holy festivals! And do not feel the least bit bad about
your inability to be with us as much as you would like. This too is
for the best. Your being with me once every three months, and overcoming
such tremendous barriers to do so, is thousands of times more valuable
than if you were to be with me every week with no encumbrance at all.
Thank God that at least you manage to be there on Rosh HaShanah every
year, and we see each other a few additional times during the year
as well. Be happy, my son! Do not be sad! Bring yourself to joy over
every single point of good you can find in yourself, and especially
with silliness!

Beyond this I cannot continue. I am sure you will carry out my words.
May the One with Whom joy dwells send us joy, so that we may rejoice
in the approaching holy and awesome festival, especially since it
is the holy Shabbat and festival combined! Let us be glad and rejoice
in His salvation! Amen.

Noson of Breslov