Ramban: Letter to his son from Jerusalem 1267

The letter is from the Ramban, Rabbi Moshe Bar Nachman.

May G-d bless you, my son Nachman, that you may see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life; and see your children's children and may your table be like our Father Avraham’s table.

I’m writing you this letter from the Holy city of Jerusalem. I had the honor of getting here on the ninth day of the month of Elul, and I stayed here until Yom haKippurim; now my plan is to go to Hevron, the city of the graves of our Fathers, to prostrate to them and dig a grave for myself, please G-d.

Ramban Synagogue in Jerusalem

What can I tell you about the Land? Many are its forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The rule seems to be that the more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all, and the land of Yehuda is even more desolate than the Galil. Even in its destruction, it is an exceedingly good land:

There are more than two thousand citizens, three hundred amongst them are Christian, refugees from the sultan’s sword, and there are no Jews amongst them: they went away since the Tartars came in, or they got killed by their swords. There are two brothers, dyers by trade. There are ten men who meet on every Shabbat and they hold services at their home.

We motivated them and we found some ruins of a house built on pillars of marble and with a nice dome, so we made it into a Bet Knesset, since the city’s been abandoned and every person that wants to take advantage of the ruins, can. We volunteered to fix the house, and they already started sending people to the city of Shechem, to get from there Torah scrolls that were once in Jerusalem and got moved from there when the Tartars arrived - so we created there a Bet Knesset, and they davened.

Many people come to Jerusalem, men and women, from Damascus, Tzova and every area of the Land, and they come to see what happened to the Bet haMikdash and mourn it. And may He who let us see Jerusalem in its destruction, let us see Jerusalem rebuilt and restored, when the Divine Presence will return on it. And you, my son, and your brothers, and all the house of your father, may you deserve the good of Jerusalem and the consolation of Zion.

Your father who cares and forgets, sees and rejoys.