BAMIDBAR
When the Tabernacle is to be moved, the Levites
shall take it down, and when it is to remain in one
place, they shall set it up." Numbers 1:51
* * *
THE BANQUET
When Rabbi Adam the Tzaddik creates a mystical
banquet for a ruler and his entourage, both the ruler
and his anti-simetic advisor learn valuable lessons.
Before the time of the Baal Shem Tov, there lived
a saintly, holy Jew, known as Reb Adam The
Tzaddik. Rabbi Adam had mastered Torah and
secrets of Kabbalah, but was still not satisfied. He
pleaded with The Almighty: "Father in Heaven! I beg
of You to open the innermost secrets of so that I
may bring honor and glory to Your name." One night,
Rabbi Adam had a dream in which he stood in The
Ma'aras Ha'Machpelah — the burial cave in
Hebron of
Adam and
Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and
Jacob and Leah. He saw lying before him 'HaSefer
HaAdam — THE BOOK OF ADAM', in which is
contained the TETGRAMATON — the secret,
mystical
name of the Eternal Being. Only six others were
worthy of its secrets: Adam, Abraham, Joseph,
Moses, Joshua and King Solomon.
Rabbi Adam studied the Book and its
secret knowledge was revealed to him. He then
asked: "After I am gone from this world, to whom
should I pass on these secrets of The BOOK? A
heavenly voice replied:"Seek Rabbi Israel,
son of Rabbi Eliezer, who lives in Okup. He is worthy
to receive it". The next day, Rabbi Adam called his
son and said, "When I take leave from this world,
take this
BOOK to Yisrael, son of Eliezer, who lives in
Okup. The Book will belong to him. After Rabbi Adam
departed from this world, his son followed his father's
request and gave the holy manuscript to Yisrael ben
Eliezer, later known as the Baal
Shem Tov.
* * *
And then there was the time that Rabbi Adam,
known in his time as a holy man of great wisdom, had
an
encounter with the ruler of an adjoining country. The
ruler, a Kaiser, occasionally sought his advice and
counsel.
Once, as Rabbi Adam was leaving the Kaiser's
castle after offering his opinion on a certain matter,
he invited the Kaiser to a banquet in his home. To
the surprise of the ruler's attendants, the Kaiser
accepted the invitation. A date for the banquet was
set for the following week.
Rabbi Adam immediately returned to his home, a
very small, modest house-hardly suitable to entertain
royalty. To prepare for the Banquet, he first purified
himself by immersing in a mikveh and then entered
into a deep state of meditation using secret powers
entrusted to him through the Book.
He envisioned a king who lived in a large
palace. This king wished to invite the ruler of the
neighboring land for a banquet. So the King
instructed his servants to prepare a grand banquet in
the banquet hall of the palace. In the center of the
hall was a large dining table covered with gold
dishes. The king arranged for the neighboring king to
attend his banquet on a
certain date-the same day the Kaiser would visit
Rabbi Adam.
Among the Kaiser's ministers was one
who was well-known for being an anti-semite. He
tried his best to dissuade the Kaiser from visiting
Rabbi
Adam: "Your Excellency, the Rabbi lives in a tiny
house in a village. It is not fitting of your honor to
dine in such a place." But the Kaiser recognized
Rabbi Adam's wisdom and enjoyed their discussions,
so he paid no attention to his minister. As the royal
entourage traveled towards Rabbi Adam's town, the
minister tried again to convince the Kaiser to
abandon the
idea and return home to the palace. During the
journey, the Kaiser began to wonder how he and
all his attendants would be able to dine in such a
small house. He instructed one of his guards with the
fastest horse to ride ahead and to report back as to
the banquet preparations.
The messenger soon returned and
reported that Rabbi Adam's house was a small
cottage and he did not see any special preparations
being
made.
The Kaiser was now unsure, but as they
were almost at their destination, decided to continue
towards Rabbi Adam's home.
As the royal carriage entered the small
town, the residents stood in disbelief: The Kaiser
himself was in their town! When the Kaiser's carriage
turned onto the street where Rabbi Adam lived, he
beheld magnificent palace! The Kaiser stepped out of
his golden carriage with a great smile. Servants took
the horses to the stables, while palace waiters
silently escorted The Kaiser and his attendants to the
banquet hall.
Rabbi Adam awaited the Kaiser in the
banquet Hall, and soon the Kaiser and his court were
sitting with Rabbi Adam enjoying the lavish
feast.
Rabbi Adam then said, "I welcome you
my King to this palace, and I invite you all to
eat and drink to your fill! But I have one request.
Please do not remove any of the table settings from
the room."
Following the feast, Rabbi Adam turned
to the Kaiser: "Any person among you who has a
particular wish should say to me — 'I want
this, or I
want that' — and then put his hand in the
pocket of
his coat, and he will find the object what he wished
for." The Kaiser was first. He wished for a gold
watch — and found it in the pocket of his
coat. The
ministers were beside themselves with excitement:
They each told the Rabbi their requests, and each
received his specific request.
When it was the turn of the minister
who hated Jews, after telling Rabbi Adam his wish, he
preached into his pocket, but screamed as he felt
something disgusting! He quickly pulled out his hand
covered with putrid slime! The smell was nauseating!
He ran to wash his hand, but try as hard as he could,
he could not rid himself of the foul smell that
overtook his whole body. The minister turned to
Rabbi Adam: Pleas help me! I am going to faint from
this stink!"
Rabbi Adam the said: "If you will swear
to me in front of the Kaiser never to
express your hate for the Jewish people again, I will
help you. If not, you will bear this filthy odor for the
remainder of your life." The minister began to wail
—
and then swore never to express hate for the Jewish
people again.
Then Rabbi Adam told him: "There is
only one remedy. To take the urine from a Jewish
person. You
will wash in it and this will take away the smell." And
so it happened.
The Kaiser decided to test the Rabbis
request, and hid two gold cups from the banquet
table in an inner pocket of his coat. The Kaiser
thanked their host, and departed. As soon as they
left the town, the palace and all that it held,
disappeared. Only two gold cups were
missing.
Word of the strange events spread
throughout the land — That a palace and all of
its
contents had disappeared and suddenly reappeared,
except for the two missing gold
cups and all the food and drink.
Sometime later, the Kaiser sent a letter to
the king in which he wrote: "I know the Rabbi who
brought us to your palace, where we ate and drank
your fine food and wine you prepared. As a sign of
my respect, I am returning to you your two gold
cups."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in
Shivchei HaBesht and translated in Tales of the Baal
Shem Tov by Mintz and Ben Amos.
