|
BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
In Celebration of the Baal Shem Tov's Birthday
|
|
THE SOUL OF THE BAAL
SHEM TOV
And then there was the time that the Tzaddik, Rabbi
Adam Baal Shem, recounted that the soul of
the Baal Shem Tov, was the Gilgul (Reincarnation) of
a simple Jew who lived in Safed, Israel in the year
5333.
Once, this simple Jew had just completed Tikun
Chatzos (midnight prayers for the
destroyed Holy Temple), when he heard a knock on
his door.
"Who's there?" he asked.
"It is Eliyahu Hanavi (Elijah the Prophet)."
He quickly opened the door and when Eliyahu
entered, the room filled with light and joy.
"I have come to tell you the time of the
coming of Moshiach (Messiah) and the Final
Redemption. But first, you must
tell me about the special deed you did on the day of
your Bar Mitzvah. This deed has caused the
Heavenly Court to rule that you are worthy of the
revelation of the most esoteric of all secrets, the
time of the Final Redemption and the coming of the
Moshaich."
The simple Jew answered, "What I did was only for
the glory of G d and I will not reveal it to anyone. If
this means that you won't tell
me the secret of the time of the Final Redemption,
then I'll have to forego that knowledge. I believe
that a man's deeds should be solely for the glory of
G d."
Suddenly, Eliyahu disappeared and returned
to Heaven. There, he found a great commotion
caused by the man's loyalty to G d, a loyalty which
prevented him from learning one of the
most important and deepest secrets of Heaven, the
time of the coming of the Moshiach and the Final
Redemption. The Heavenly Court then decided that
Eliyahu should nevertheless return and teach the
simple Jew the depth and secrets of Torah.
This simple man was unique in his
generation, but as he had wished, no one knew of his
greatness. His deeds were solely for the glory of
G d.
When the time came for him to pass on to
the Heavenly Worlds, his pure soul was brought
before the Heavenly Court. It was ruled that his
reward would be to return again to the earth and be
reborn. This time he would be revealed to the world,
and through him, a
new way of life. He would purify the world with his
spirit. Thus would glorify the Holy One Blessed be He,
fill the earth
with wisdom and thereby hasten the ultimate
redemption and coming of Moshiach.
It was this selfsame soul of the simple Jew
of Safed that was reborn in Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem
Tov on Chai Elul of 1698.
And so it was.
Adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohane (Howard M. Cohn,
Patent Attorney) from a story in HATAMIM as
translated in STORIES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV by
Yisroel Klapholtz
|
|
Baal Shem Tov Story
In Celebration of the Baal Shem Tov's Birthday
|
|
BIRTHDAY WITH ELIYAHU
HANAVI
As recounted by the Baal Shem
Tov...
"I was in a small village on my
sixteenth birthday, Chai Elul of 5474.
The
local innkeeper was a very simple Jew named Aaron
Shlomo. He could
barely say his prayers in Hebrew and certainly had no
idea what the words meant. Still, he had a great
fear of Heaven and when anything happened to him
he would say in Yiddish, "Blessed be He, and may He
be blessed for ever and ever."
"The
innkeeper's wife named Zlota, was also a very humble
woman and would always say, "Blessed be his Holy
Name".
"On that day, I went out to a field to
meditate in solitude. This was to fullfill the
instructions given by our Holy Sages of old that on
your birthday, you should spend time meditating
alone. During my meditation, I recited Psalms
and concentrated on the yichudim of the Divine
Names. ("Yichudim" are a form of kabalistic
meditation based on different permutations and
combinations of the Divine Names and attributes of
G d.)
"While deeply immersed in my meditation, I
lost my sense of time and awareness of my
surroundings.
"Suddenly, I beheld Elijah the Prophet. He was
beaming with light and had a broad smile on his
face.
"I was very amazed that I should merit a
revelation of Elijah the Prophet while alone.
Previously, when spending time with the Tzaddik
Rabbi Meir, and also with other Hidden Tzaddikim, I
had the fortune to see Elijah the Prophet.
But to be privileged to this while alone --
this was the very first time and I was
amazed.
"And this is what he said to me:
'You are struggling with great effort
to focus your mind upon the Divine Names that
are within the verses of Tehillim (the Psalms
composed by King David). But Aaron Shlomo the
innkeeper and Zlota his wife are both ignorant of the
yichudim of the Divine Names that are caused by his
recitation of "Blessed be He, and may He be blessed
for ever and ever" and her recitation of "Blessed be
his
Holy Name". Yet their yichudim cause a
spiritual effect throughout all the Upper Worlds far
beyond the yichudim of Divine Names that even the
great Tzaddikim can create.'
"Then, Elijah the Prophet told me about the
pleasure G d takes from the praise and
thanksgiving of the men, women and children that
praise the Holy One Blessed be He -- especially when
the praise and thanks comes from simple people, and
most specifically when it is done continually - for
then they are continuously bonded with G d, Blessed
be He, with pure faith and sincerity of heart.
"From that time, on I took upon myself a
path in the service of G d to bring men, women and
children to say words of praise to G d. I would
always ask them about their health, the health of
their children, about their material welfare -- and
they would answer me with different words of praise
for the Holy One, blessed be He -- each one in his or
her own way.
"For several years I did this myself, and at one of the
gatherings of the hidden Tzaddikim they all accepted
this path..."
And so it was.
Adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohane (Howard M. Cohn,
Patent Attorney) from a story in SHIVCHEI HABESHT
as translated in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
by Ben Amos and Mintz
|
|
Baal Shem Tov Story
In Celebration of the Birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe
|
|
THE BAAL SHEM TOV AND
THE BIRTH OF
SCHNEUR
ZALMAN
And then there was the time, in a small shtetl in
Poland, there lived what appeared to be a simple Jew
by the name of Reb Boruch, and his wife, Rivkah.
Actually, Reb Boruch was a Tzaddik nistar (
a hidden holy man) and one of the members of a
group of Tzaddik nistars that included the Baal Shem
Tov.
Reb Boruch and his wife Rivkah had been
married for
some years but still had not been blessed with a
child.
At the prompting of his wife, Reb Boruch traveled
many miles in the freezing, snowy winter to Mezibush
to ask his Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, for a blessing
to have a child.
The Baal Shem Tov immediately blessed Reb Boruch
and his wife that they merit to be blessed with a
child. Then he added the words that the
child "should reveal heavenly light hidden in this
world."
Soon thereafter Rivkah became pregnant and
on "Chai Elul" - the eighteenth day of the month of
Elul, twelve days before Rosh Hashanah -the birthday
of the Holy Baal Shem Tov, Rivkah gave
birth to a baby boy whom they named Schneur
Zalman.
On that day, the Baal Shem Tov's Chassidim noted
the particularly jubilant mood of their Rebbe. He led
the daily prayers with deep kavanah (intention), and
afterwards, during a festive meal that was held in
celebration fo his birthay, he sang lively niggunim
(chassidic melodies) and even danced
with unusual joy.
During this festive meal, the Baal Shem Tov
said: "Today a Neshamah Chadasha (a new soul
that had not previously occupied a physical body)
has come into the world. This soul will illuminate the
world by spreading Torah and Chassidus (mystical
explanations of the Torah) to sustain the spiritual
well being of the Jewish people and bring closer
coming of the Moshiach (Messiah)."
After Yom Kippur, as is the tradition of Chassidim,
Reb Boruch visited his Rebbe and requested a
blessing for his newly born son.
The Baal Shem Tov asked Reb Boruch to keep the
news of the birth of their new son secret, and also
gave specific instructions for his care and
education.
In the following weeks, the
Chassidim noted that the Baal Shem Tov mentioned
the name Schneur Zalman three times during his
Torah discourses.
The following year, Reb Boruch again returned to visit
his Rebbe for the Yom Tov holidays. The Baal Shem
Tov was very interested in the development of young
Schneur Zalman, and asked Reb Boruch specific
questions about the child. Again the Baal Shem Tov
warned Reb Boruch not to talk to others about their
son, particularly regarding his apparent intelligence -
as is the nature of parents.
The following year, Reb Boruch again came to the
Rebbe for Yom Tov and the Baal Shem Tov again
asked many questions about the welfare of the
child. Before departing for his home, Reb Boruch told
the Rebbe that G d Willing, on his next visit, when
the child would turn three years old, he would bring
his Schneur Zalman with him.
On the following Chai Elul, Reb Boruch brought young
Schneur Zalman along with his mother Rivkah and his
aunt Devorah Leah to the Baal Shem Tov to
celebrate little Schneur Zalman's upscherinish (the
first cutting
of a boys hair at three years old).
The Baal
Shem Tov appeared very pleased at the joyous
event. He
cut some of the boy's locks, and then placing his
holy hand on the boy's head, he blessed little
Schneur Zalman with the words of the Birchas
Kohanim (priestly blessing).
During their visit, young Schneur Zalman
asked his mother who was the "old" man that had
been the first to cut his hair. His mother told him he
was his Zaide (Jewish for grandfather).
Following the joyous event, the Baal Shem Tov
instructed the child's mother and aunt to return
home and not to reveal the events of the day.
Later that day, there was a special
gathering of the Chassidim in celebration of the Baal
Shem Tov's birthday. The Baal Shem Tov mentioned
that the Torah tells us that at three years of age
Avraham Avinu (The Patriarch Abraham our father)
recognized that there was one G d . The Baal Shem
Tov continued: "There is a great Neshamah (soul) in
Poland that today reached the age of three years old
and has recognized the Creator. He too will undergo
Mesirus Nefesh (great self sacrifice) to reveal a new
teaching of the holy Torah that will touch the souls
of all Jews.
At that time there was a great Torah scholar named
Rabbi Yissochar Dov of Kalbink. The Baal Shem Tov
arranged for him to be young Schneur Zalman's
teacher. He specifically instructed Reb Yissochar
Dov not to tell Schneur Zalman that the Baal Shem
Tov had sent him to be his teacher.
Under the watchful eye of the Baal Shem Tov, the
young Schneur Zalman flourished in his studies. He
later became one of the 'Chevraya Kadisha' — The
Holy Brotherhood of disciples of the Baal Shem Tov,
who would spread the teachings of Chassidus
through eastern Europe, and who would later become
known as 'The Alter Rebbe-the first Rebbe of the
Chabad-Lubavitch.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in SEFER
HATOLDOS.
|
|
HAYOM YOM
Chai Elul the 18th of Elul
|
|
CHAI (18) ELUL
The birth of the Baal Shem Tov in 5458 (1698).
The day his holy teacher Achiya HaShiloni and master
appeared to him in 5484 (1724).
The day
the
Baal Shem Tov became revealed to the world in 5494
(1734).
The birth of the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman)
5505 (1745).
From HAYOM YOM compiled by Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson o.b.m.
|
|
