The Praises of Rabbi Nachman - part 2 - His Voyage to Israel 24-25

HH

24.

And on the first day of Chol Hamo-ed (-intermediary days of Passover) the man went to the Chacham, and the Chacham instructed him to take surreptitiously all their money and to bring it to the city, in order that they would not steal their money. And he did so. Afterwards the Chacham went with two wealthy men, and they said to the captain: "Give us these two souls." And he replied to them: "What business do you have with these souls? I won (-acquired, got) them from hefker (-abandoned or otherwise ownerless property)!" And he told them all the troubles that they had encountered on the way. And he said: "And not only this that I am telling you, but there was almost no moment without calamity. And these souls, we could already have drowned them at sea or sold to the Ishmaelites, and all their money and possessions would all have been ours without anyone uttering a word or making a peep (in protest) whatsoever. However, what can be done, because their mazal (-luck, fortune) is great to the heart of the heavens, because not only did Hashem Yisburach perform such a miracle for them, that with their mazal the boat suddenly arrived here, but moreover a miracle within a miracle was wrought for them, that Hashem Yisburach diverted/unsettled my heart and dulled my mind so that I took one of them into this city. And now certainly I am no longer permitted even to take their money, just in order that my slaves shouldn't complain, give me 200 thaler, and take them from aboard the boat. And so it was, that they gave him immediately as he said, and they saved them from the hands of the pirates, from death to life, from servitude to redemption.

25.

And then they both came to the city, Rabbainu o.b.m. with the aforementioned man who was his shamish (-attendant). And upon their arrival at the city the Ishmaelites said that they were spies, and great fear fell upon the Sephardim (-the locals) themselves. And immediately they brought them their (style of) clothing, and they were forced to dress themselves in their (-the local Sephardic) dress in their fashion. And Rabbainu had great anguish from this, and the aforementioned man was gleeful, and Rabbainu o.b.m. was angry at him, and said to him: "You do not know of the kitroog (-accusations) that are upon us in supernal world," and he then said a wondrous thing to the aforementioned man, and he (-the man) doesn't want to reveal it.

And Rabbainu was received before the Chachumim, and he was very fine in their eyes, and they held him to be a great novelty. And afterwards Rabbainu o.b.m. himself came with/to happiness and said: "Baruch (-blessed is) Hashem Yisburach that we merited to this salvation. And he was there (accorded) with very great honor until after the holiday. And the people of the city themselves gave from their (own) pockets the 200 thaler mentioned above, and afterwards they did not want to receive them in return from Rabbainu there, even though he had a lot of money there.

And after the holiday they purchased fares for a boat to Istanbul. And they (-the people or Chachumim of Rhodes) gave them a letter (of introduction), perhaps Heaven forbid there would occur to them some induction, that they (-the people of that place wherever it may be) would rise to their aid in every single city. And they went with this boat. And there were many Grekin (-Greeks) there and they harbored an epidemic. And they didn't know, but they saw that people were dying on the boat. And Baruch Hashem (that) there was a storm wind and it carried the boat speedily to the holy community of Istanbul. And even though they suffered from the seething of the sea and from boat's flying so fast, however, even still it was beneficial for them that they traversed quickly and they came on the third day to the holy community of Istanbul, and they were there for ten days.

And also in Istanbul they were in danger because they didn't show their passports there (on the way in) when they traveled there, therefore they did not want to allow them now to leave there. And they levied on them a heavy fine to give an enormous sum to entitle them to attain the passports from the Tugar (-Turkish government as explained previously). And the amount that they ordered to give was a very enormous sum that was not in any way in their ability to discharge. And Hashem Yisburach had mercy on them and summoned for them a man that they did not know (him) and did not recognize (him), and he went to some official of the Ishmaelites and deceived him, and they have no idea how much he gave him. And he received a kvitel (-note, in Yiddish) to allow them out of the gate of the aforementioned holy community. And he warned them, for the sake of Hashem, to conceal the matter very, very well. And through this they escaped from there safely.

And they went on the sea from Istanbul to Galutz. And they reached some city in the islands of the sea, and there they were taken to the prison, and they were forced to give four adumim for every soul. And from there on forward nothing happened to them, just the seething of the sea occurred some times. And one boat full of Grekin (-Greeks) broke and sank, and there were no survivors except a scant few. And Hashem in His mercies led them to their desired destination, and they traversed safely until they came safely to Galutz for the holiday of Shavuos.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman

The Praises of Rabbi Nachman - part 2 - The Order of His Voyage to the Land of Israel 8-9

HH

Shivchay HuRan

Part 2

8. And on the 18th of Eyar (Lag BuOmer, Friday, 4 May, 1798) he embarked from his house, from the holy community of Medvedivkuh to the city Nicoalayev, and there was a boat there for wheat, and he traveled with that boat by way of Odessa, because previously the fundraisers and other people feared traveling by way of Odessa, because they said, that the sea (-the Black Sea) is dangerous in that way, and he in his great wisdom understood immediately that it was better for many reasons to travel by boat from Odessa, because it shortens considerably the distance that there is from our country to Galutz (-name of the coastal city in Romania), (and) also one is saved from the danger that there is when traveling from Galutz, for there is great danger when descending from the River Tuna (-Danube) unto the sea, as is well-known, therefore he did not pay any attention to what the world says, and he traveled from Nicoalayev by way of Odessa to Istanbul.

9. And he ordered the man that was with him to buy a lot of paper and ink, and immediately upon their arrival on the boat he began to write Torah (-his own holy insights). And he warned the aforementioned man that he should not read at all from his writings, and the man was forced to give him his word, and then he (-Rabbainu) trusted him, and gave him the key to the chest. And on their way out from Odessa, very many people escorted them there with great honor, and many wagons rode after him, and they accompanied him with song, beverages, and very great joy. 

And upon their arrival at the boat, and they put out to the Black Sea, immediately in the first twenty-four hours there was a huge "partina," that is, a stormwind, until the waves leaped upon the boat, and they were forced to be in a tightly sealed room because of the water, that they shouldn't come upon them, and there was lightning, and thunder, and immeasurably strong winds, and there was great fear from the din of the thunder, and the rain, and the crashing waves, and because of (the) fear it was not possible to sleep at night etc..

And after four days they came to Istanbul and they stayed by the shore, because they did not know which house to enter, because they couldn't differentiate between Ishmaelite and Jew, they couldn't ask because they did not know their language. And when they saw there that they are staying by the shore, they went and found a man who was a translator, who knew our language as well, and he was the interpreter between them, and promptly they rented a good lodging in the section called Galeetuh. And when they went in there, after an hour or two, he said, that he does not want to stay there. And the interpreter asked him: "Perhaps it is good before you to be in Istanbul proper, that is, in the Royal City where the residence of the Togar is (-The Jews originally called Turkey after the name of the grandson of Yefes son of Noach - Togarmah (Genesis 19:3) brother of Ashkenaz. Later this was redacted to Togar, and hence the Ottoman Sultan is referred to as The Togar)," and there no married couple was allowed to go (there), except for males alone. And he replied, that there it is certainly good before him. And he (-interpreter) reveal to him, that there is a "sha.du.r." (shiloochuh - messenger i.e. a fundraiser, dirabunun - of the rabbis) from the Land of Israel, and with them (-perhaps a mistake and should be: him) another two men from our country, that were in the land of Israel, and now they were returning to their homes, and they were traveling from the land of Israel to outside of Israel; and when he heard this, he o.b.m. said to the aforementioned man that was with him: "I am warning you, not to reveal me whatsoever, and do not say at all who I am, if they ask about me."

And they went out from there to the aforementioned city, and upon arriving there, immediately one of the two aforementioned men that were traveling from the Land of Israel to their homes, recognized the man that was traveling with Rabbainu o.b.m., and he asked him: "What are you doing here?"

He replied (to him): "I am traveling with this youngster to the Holy Land."

And he asked him: "Who is he?"

And he replied (to him): "He has a passport from the Consulate (-the official) of the Ki.yr.u. (Kaiser, may his eminence be raised) of Austria." 

And he did not want to reveal to him who he (Rabbainu) himself was, like Rabbainu o.b.m. had warned him as mentioned before. And it entered their hearts regarding Rabbainu o.b.m. that he's traveling from the consulate to oppose the famous chasid (-very pious) holy luminary, our teacher Avrohom Kalisker o.b.m. and his company (-Rabbi Avrohom was the main disciple of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitipesk, and he declared the newly published book of the Tanya, of the first Lubavitch Rebbe Shneur Zalman, unfit to be printed and necessitating gineezuh - respectful disposal of holy worn out or faulty items, the author threatened in retaliation to withhold all the charity for the Holy Land collected in Russia and Europe which he was appointed over and would normally send to R.A.K. who was in charge of distributing the funds in Israel),  and they entered (further) into this error until they had great proofs for this, according to their mistake, and it seemed to them as if he o.b.m. was sent by many people in order to oppose him (R.A.K.).

And they began to probe by the aforementioned man who was with Rabbainu o.b.m. if he has a letter (-of introduction), and he replied that he does not. And they asked him: "What is his intention with this trip to the land of Israel?" And he replied, that he does not know his intention. And they did not want to rely upon the aforementioned man anymore, and they said, that also he is tricking them, and they said: "Even though we knew you in the past to be a kosher man, but now we no longer know if you are still holding to your sincerity. And they asked him: "Did you ask your Rebbe, Rabbi Nachman of Medvedivkuh (-Rabbainu) whether to travel with this man?" He said to them, "Yes." However, they already did not rely on his words anymore as mentioned above, because it seemed clear to them regarding Rabbainu o.b.m. as if he was a man of deception Heaven forbid, and he is traveling to oppose the people of the land of Israel.

And they went to him o.b.m. in person to probe by him who he is, and from where he is, and from what family - but he did not want to reveal anything. And they spoke to him with their cunning and they wanted to probe by him in many ways in order to extract from him some word to understand from him through this who he is, and he replied to them on all the questions with his wisdom, and they couldn't extrapolate anything, and he confused them very, very much, and deceived them and warped their minds, until they couldn't get any bearing on him whatsoever to understand from him not a thing nor a half a thing.

And every time he made himself appear to them as someone else. For example, when they asked him if he was a Cohen (-from the progeny of Aaron the Priest), he replied, "Yes." Afterwards, on the next day, they asked him suddenly if he was a Yisroel (-that is from the other tribes of Israel who are not priests), (and) he replied, "Yes." They asked him, "Yesterday you said, that you are a Cohen, and now you say that you are a Yisroel (?)." And he replied, "Cohen  - this is the attribute of kindness, and Yisroel - a different attribute, and Baruch (-blessed is- used in thanking) Hashem I have in me this attribute and also this attribute." And they said to him, "It is apparent that you are certainly from the antagonists, and you don't want to reveal it."

And they began to hate him in the acme of hatred, and they degraded him with all types of degradation, and they cursed him with searing invective immeasurably and incalculably for many days, and most of the shaming was from one of the two aforementioned men, and he o.b.m. began to request of them, and said to them, "This you should know, that's certainly I will not reveal the main intention of my voyage to the Land of Israel, because from my heart to my mouth I did/will not reveal (-Tikunay Zohar 21 page 50b), and even still 'how good and how pleasant is the dwelling of brothers even in unison (Psalms 133:1),' even though one does not know the main intent of his friend." 

And they replied to him, "If you reveal to us your intent, certainly you will be afforded very great benefit."

And he replied to them: "I don't want to receive benefit from you, and I will not reveal to you my main intention in anyway, on the contrary, you can receive benefit from me, if you desire."

They replied to him: "It is apparent from your words, that you speak in the dialect of the greatly renown, like Rabbi Baruch (-of Mezhbizh, the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, and the uncle of Rabbainu), and Rabbi Shalom (-of Provisht, son of R' Avrohom Malach, son of the Maggid of Mezritch), and Rabbi Nachman (-Rabbainu), etc., whose way is to speak grandiosely in third person (/hidden meaning), however, certainly you are not one of them, because it is apparent that you are certainly from the opposers of the aforementioned tzadik (-R.A.K.)."

And they told him that before he arrives in the Land of Israel there will be a letter there in the Land of Israel that he is from the opposers and the spies, so that he cannot trick them. They also went to the agent of the boats, and he was from the men of Poland, and he married a woman of the Franks (-Sephardim), and his mother-in-law was a regular visitor ("exited and entered") in the house of the Togar (-Sultan), and this man was an important personage there; and these aforementioned men went to this agent, and requested of him, and they said to him: "For the sake of Hashem, do not allow this man to travel there, because he is from the opposers, and he wants to make a banishment there Heaven forbid, and if you can do him some evil, your reward will be twofold from Heaven." And Rabbainu o.b.m. and the man who was with him did not know about this.

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