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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE CURSE
"It will happen if you do not listen to G d, your
G d, to be careful to observe all His commandments
and all His decrees which I am commanding you
today, then all the following
curses will come upon you and overtake you."
(Devarim 28:15)
And then there was the time that the Baal Shem Tov
was sitting with a group of his disciples discussing
esoteric teachings of the Torah.
Suddenly, the Baal Shem Tov was visibly disturbed
and he called his servant Alexei.
"Alexei, quickly run outside and stop the
next man who passes by our door. Force him to
come inside, even if he adamantly refuses."
Alexei was perplexed by the mysterious
request, but he nevertheless rushed outside. Sure
enough, he saw a man passing by and he ran to
approach him.
"Excuse me, but would you please follow
me
inside the synagogue for a moment?" he asked
politely.
"Certainly not," spat the man with
disdain. "I have more important things to do than
spend any time with the likes of you."
"I am asking you at the request of the Baal
Shem Tov," the servant responded harshly. "He is a
man
who makes miracles, and it would be very unwise for
you to ignore his wishes."
The man remained unimpressed. "I couldn't
care less who wants to see me!"
"That's it," said Alexei. "You're coming with
me!" With that, he grabbed the insolent man by his
shirt and dragged him inside. As he pulled him, the
man resisted, but Alexei was very strong and was
able to bring the man before the Baal Shem Tov.
The
moment the Baal Shem Tov saw the man his eyes
flared with anger.
"You had the nerve to strike your father
today!" the Baal Shem Tov screamed.
The students looked at each other in
shock. They had never seen their normally joyful
Rebbe lose his temper.
The Baal Shem Tov continued, "You asked
your father to get you a bottle
of liquor from the kitchen, and when he did not
return
immediately, you went to check on him. You saw
him
drinking the liquor and you hit him in the
face."
The man was shocked. The Baal Shem Tov
had just described, in great detail, what happened
between him and his father. There was no way that
the Rabbi could have known that without the use of
supernatural power. The man began to weep and
begged the Baal Shem Tov to show him how to
repent.
"If you are truly remorseful, you must
commit to fast every Monday and Thursday and
stand in synagogue in the area designated for
mourners. If you do these things for a year, you will
be forgiven. If you do not, you will die before the
end of the year."
The man promised to repent, and he went home with
a conviction to follow the instructions of the Baal
Shem
Tov. However, as time passed, he began to lose his
resolve. He slowly stopped fasting and attending
synagogue. Sure enough, he died before the end of
the year.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Shivchei
HaBesht as translated in STORIES OF THE BAAL
SHEM
TOV by Y.Y. Klapholz.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"The L rd whom you have glorified today to be your
G d . . . and the L rd has glorified you today to be
His special nation." (Devarim
26:17-18)
It is written: "Israel, in whom I will be glorified,"
(Isaiah 49:3), and "the glory of Israel"
(Lamentations 2:1). That is, G d cannot laud
Himself, for who can comprehend His essence?
Therefore, He exalts Himself in His children, like a
father prides himself in his son. With this love, G d
created the Children of Israel, in order to be
exalted through them. It comes out that [spiritual]
delight is revealed in this exaltation.
Kisvei
Kodesh, p. 24c
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 30
If a person reads the Torah and sees the lights of its
letters, though he does not properly understand the
cantillation marks and fails to pronounce the words
properly, G d is not judgmental, since he reads with
great love and passion. This is like a child who asks
for something from his father, who loves him greatly.
Even though he stutters and doesn't say the words
correctly, his father doesn't insist that he say them
properly. This is like what our Sages said: "'His
banner over me is love' (Song of Songs 2:4). Don't
read the word as 'His banner over me is love'
(diglo alai ahava); rather, read it as 'over the
mistakes I make, there is love' (laglago alai
ahava)."
Likutim Yikarim, p. 1
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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Section 21
The Baal Shem Tov had one disciple [who was so
great] that anyone who came within four feet of him
when he prayed would die because of the great
holiness of the Shechinah that rested upon
him.
From the personal manuscripts of Rabbi Yitzchok
Isaac of Komarna
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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Section 31
"And now, Israel, what does G d ask
of you — only to
have awe of G d your L rd."1
That is, G d asks "what" of you — "what" implies
humility and selflessness. When a person reaches
this level, awe of G d will be easily attainable for him,
just as it was for Moses, as the verse
concludes, "only to have
awe."2
With this we can understand the verse, "His
concubine,"3 which refers to false
humility. "Whose
name was Re'umah" — that is, re'u mah, which
means,
see that I am "what," that I possess
humility. "[Re'umah] gave birth to Tevach" [tevach
literally means slaughter]. That through this, the evil
inclination will eventually kill the person's
soul.4
Similarly, the names of the Tribes, Reuben, Shimon,
Levi, Judah, which have holy connotations, can also
have unholy connotations. For instance, Re'u ben —
which
means, see that I am a son (of G d); Shim'on —
which
means, his fame, that is, one who acts properly so
that fame becomes universally known; Levi and
Judah —
which means accompaniment and praise, that is, one
who accompanies the righteous so that he receives
praise.
1Deuteronomy 10:12
2The level of a
person's awareness and experience of G d is
intimately connected with the level of his
selflessness.
3 Genesis 22:24.
4G d is the Source of all life and of
Truth, and thus, any type of falseness inevitably
dissociates one from G d and leads to spiritual
death.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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