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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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The
DEFECTIVE MEZUZAH
"Bind [these words] as a sign on your hand, and let
them be an emblem between your eyes."
(Devarim 6:8)
And then there was the time that the Baal Shem Tov
was studying Torah in the Bais
Medrash (study hall) with his close disciples.
Suddenly, he became so sick that he was unable to
speak.
The disciples became very alarmed. "Rebbe, Rebbe,"
they asked, "What's wrong? Can we get you
something?"
The Baal Shem Tov motioned to his Tefillin bag.
Quickly, the students took out his Tefiilin and
wrapped one around his arm and put the other on his
head.
By this time, the Baal Shem Tov was so weak that he
just lay down on a bench. He closed his eyes and
didn't move. The disciples sat by his side unsure of
what to do. After a long time passed, the Baal Shem
Tov sat up and began speaking to the
disciples. "Thank G d, I'm feeling better."
The disciples asked in a concerned voice, "Rebbe,
what happened?"
The Baal Shem Tov explained, "In my youth, I
committed a sin. An accusation was made against
me before the Heavenly Court and the Court decided
that I deserve to die. At first, I wasn't aware of
what was happening to me. All I knew was that I
started to feel very, very weak. Just then, my
teacher, Achiya HaShaloni (a spiritual Being and
teacher of King David), came and told me the
situation. Then he said to me, 'Reb Yisrael, quickly
put on your Tefillin.'"
"After you put my Tefillin on," continued the
Baal Shem Tov, "the Accuser (the Satan) came in the
form of a Russian peasant carrying an iron shovel in
his hand. He wanted to chop off my head. But
because of the power of the Tefillin, the Satan could
not get close to me. He started yelling, 'Take off
that leather (Tefillin are made of leather)!' But I
didn't pay any attention to him and he continued
yelling until, thank G d, the accusation was
nullified."
The Baal Shem Tov continued, "During that time, my
brother-in-law, Rabbi Gershon came to testify for
me. But the gates to the Heavenly court were
closed and he couldn't get through. That didn't stop
Reb Gershon though. He took a heavy wooden pole
and started banging on the Gates until they were
finally opened. Then, he ran in and started yelling
before the Court in an angry voice, 'Will you sentence
Rabbi Yisrael to death, G d forbid, for a trivial thing
that happened in his youth?' The court wasn't able
to overcome the defense of Reb Gershon and revoked
their original sentence."
The Baal Shem Tov continued, "It says in the Tikune
Zohar (book of Kabbalah): The commandment of
Matronita (the Schechina, the female aspect of G d)
places a man under her wings and protects him from
the hand of the Accuser. So it is with the
commandment of wearing Tefillin."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in
SHIVCHEI HABESHT and translated in IN PRAISE OF
THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Ben Amos and Mintz.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"All the commandments which I command you this
day shall you observe to do."
(Devarim 8:1)
There is one great principle — that a person must
attach himself to the inner dimension of the Torah
and the commandments. One must bind one's
thoughts and soul to the root of the Torah and the
mitzvos that one fulfills. If not, one cuts and
separates the "shoots."1
I received this from my Master, and I also found it in
the book Chesed l'Avraham, nahar 14.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 21a
1A Talmudic term implying that one
posits a division between G d and creation. In this
case, the Baal Shem Tov applies it to a separation
between the soul of the Torah and its outer
manifestation. The Talmud states that the Elisha ben
Abuya "uprooted the shoots" when he became an
apostate.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer
Shore
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THE PILLAR OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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Section 24
I heard from the Baal Shem Tov that every word
contains the entire world.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 55a
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr. Menachem
Kallus
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THE LIGHT OF THE EYES
On the Greatness of the Baal Shem Tov
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Be very careful what you say [in the morning, before
praying]. Our Sages were strict even regarding
permissible words, such as greeting someone before
prayer,1 because this can also cause a
blemish. It is known that the world was created with
thought, speech and action. The first level is
thought. Speech is an offshoot of thought, and
action an offshoot of speech. When a person rises
each morning, he is also a new creation, as the verse
says: "They are new every morning"
(Lamentations 3:23). If his first words are
mundane (and all the more so, if they are
forbidden2), everything he says later will
be influenced by them, even his prayers and Torah
studies. Since speech follows from thought, so to the
second word follows from the first.
This is similar to the teaching of the
Zohar3 and the Arizal on the obligation
of siblings to honor the firstborn.4 The
firstborn takes the main portion, whereas all other
siblings are like offshoots from him. In our case too,
one must be very careful to sanctify and purify his
first words and thoughts, and attach them to
holiness, so that all subsequent words should follow
them. Then, when he starts to pray, amidst the joy
of having fulfilled the mitzvah of sanctifying his
speech and thoughts, his words will surely be
answered.
Kesser Shem Tov, 20b
1Berachos 14a
2Such as profanity, gossip or
slander.
3Zohar 3:83a
4The Arizal writes that just as children
are obligated to respect their parents, so must they
respect their firstborn sibling. For the firstborn
represents the initial creative act of the parents,
from which all subsequent births draw their vitality.
Thus, Jacob said about Reuben: "Reuben, you are my
firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength"
(Genesis 49:3).
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer
Shore
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KESER SHEM TOV
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
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The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Since the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence)
encompasses all worlds — the inanimate, the plant,
the animal, and the human worlds — including all
types of creatures, good and evil alike, and the
Shekhinah is the Absolute Unity, how can two utterly
opposite entities exist in one thing? For good and
evil are complete antitheses, while the Shekhinah is
an Undifferentiated One.
However, evil is actually a vehicle of good. For
example, regarding Pharaoh's pursuit of the Israelites
to the Red Sea, the verse says that, "Pharaoh came
close" which translates literally as "brought them
close." Another example is when one sees how the
wicked behave, and then is grateful not to be that
way, the evil actually brings him the pleasure and
satisfaction of being righteous. In fact, evil is
virtually elevated in this way, only that as soon as
the evil is thus elevated, its evilness is dissipated.
An evil thought is also a vehicle in this
fashion.
Also, sometimes a soul descends from the world of
Atziluth [the one closest to G d] into the world of
Asiyah [representing the physical world] and sees
how people are not respecting the honor of the King
of world. This soul is greatly distressed by this lack
of respect for the King's honor, but then he has
pleasure that he is not among those people.
This explains the verse, "G d said to Abram" (Abram
symbolizes the soul, as stated in the Zohar). "Go
away from your homeland," that is, from the world of
Atziluth to the world of Beriah [the world immediately
below Atziluth], "and from your birthplace," that is,
from the world of Beriah to the world of Yetzirah [the
world below Beriah, "and from your father's house,"
that is, from Yetzirah to Asiyah, which is, "the land
that I will show you." There you will see how the
people of the world of Asiyah disrespect G d's honor,
and you should rebuke them.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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