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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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KORACH
A SIMPLE
MISUNDERSTANDING
"Now Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of
Kohath, (who was) the son of Levi -took (issue with
Moshe. ---- They confronted Moshe ---
(Numbers 16:1-2)
And then there was the time, in the town
of Tarnopol, that the only son of a wealthy Jew by
the name of Reb Yitzchak and his wife Sheindel,
suffered from mental illness.
They had consulted with all the best
doctors without any success. The boy was prone to
wild ramblings, and would scream out for no reason.
They lived in a community of misnagdim (those
opposed to the new chassidic groups, and to their
leader, the Baal Shem Tov.) It was therefore with
great trepidation that the boy's mother approached
her husband and begged him to take their son to the
Baal Shem Tov for help. She felt that was their
last resort. Reb Yitzchak immediately rejected her
suggestion, despite his wife's pleadings and
tears: "Please Yitzchak, I can no longer bear to look
at my precious son in his present state. Please
disregard your feelings for the Baal Shem Tov's
chassidic followers and their customs, and beg him to
heal our son."
At first Yitzchak couldn't see himself
begging the Baal Shem Tov for anything. The
community had branded the Baal Shem Tov a fraud
and a charlatan. But after hearing his wife's tearful
cries, he realized there was no alternative, and he
agreed to see the Baal Shem Tov.
As his son was too unstable to travel, Reb
Yitzchak decided to approach the community leaders
with whom he had some influence, and ask them to
invite the Baal Shem Tov to Tarnopol. At first, the
town leaders were vehemently opposed to Reb
Yitzchak's request. To invite the leader of the
chassidim would rouse the ire of their Rabbi and the
community in general. They all agreed it was a
waste of time. But the town leaders had a great
deal of sympathy for Reb Yitzchak and his wife
because of their ill son. Also, being a successful
businessman, Reb Yitzchak was a pillar of the
community and held great influence with all its
leaders. Finally, after much discussion, the
community leaders agreed to pen an invitation to the
Baal Shem Tov to come to Tarnopol for a
Shabbos.
Reb Yitzchak traveled to Medzibush for an
audience with the Baal Shem Tov and to extend the
invitation. Reb Yitzchak tearfully told the Baal Shem
Tov of his son's illness, and begged the Rebbe to
come to Tarnapol.
The Baal Shem Tov sat in deep thought for
a few minutes, then raised his head, smiled and
nodded his head. He called Alexei, his driver, to
prepare his carriage.
When the Baal Shem Tov arrived in
Tarnapol, Reb Yitzchak promptly brought him to his
home to meet his son.
The Baal Shem Tov smiled as he slowly
stroked the boy's cheek. He turned to Reb Yitzchak
and his wife and said: "Your son is not ill. It is simply
a misunderstanding. Allow me to talk to him for a
few minutes, and then allow me to do so again
privately for about an hour each day for the next few
days. I am absolutely sure your son will
recover."
Reb Yitzchak and his wife were
dumbfounded! How could the Baal Shem Tov say
their son's illness is "simply a misunderstanding" after
the best doctors couldn't help them? Nevertheless,
they were encouraged by the Rebbe's words, and
agreed to allow the Baal Shem Tov to talk to their
son each day, as he requested, on condition that the
boy's caretaker stay with them in case their son
reacted violently, as he was known to do.
The Baal Shem Tov then sat down and
spoke to the boy. He, in turn, sat quietly as
he looked into the Baal Shem Tov's holy eyes and
listened to his whispered words. The Baal Shem Tov
asked the boy some questions to which the latter
calmly responded. For the next few days, the boy
was brought by his caretaker to meet with the Baal
Shem Tov. The parents were amazed at the calming
affect that the Baal Shem Tov had on the boy. After
a few days, it seemed as if the boy was cured! He
behaved normally whenever he sat with the Baal
Shem Tov. Reb Yitzchak and Sheindel were
elated.
For Shabbos, Reb Yitzchak asked his
guest, "What type of meat shall we prepare for you
this Shabbos?" The Baal Shem Tov asked for lamb
and that the shochet (slaughterer) be brought to
him. The Baal Shem Tov watched as the shochet
correctly slaughtered the lamb, but just as the
shochet was about to cut it open, he stopped him. "I
will inspect the lamb." He inserted his hand into the
lamb's body and felt for any lesions on the lung that
would render the animal as being unkosher. When he
removed his hand, the Baal Shem pronounced the
lamb Kosher.
The Baal Shem Tov then left for the
mikveh. Meanwhile, the shochet proceeded with the
preparation of the lamb. He was called away briefly
but when he returned and withdrew the lung from
the animal he found to his dismay a round
puncture.
He waited for The Baal Shem Tov to return,
and then told him the story of how he had briefly left
and returned to find a hole in the lung. The Baal
Shem Tov didn't seem disturbed and told the
slaughterer to continue with the preparations since
he considered the lamb kosher. "I want it to be
cooked for my Shabbos meal," be
announced.
The shochet was stunned, and immediately
rushed to tell the townspeople about the treif
(unkosher) lamb that the Baal Shem Tov planned to
eat on Shabbos! The town elders, who were all
opponents of the Baal Shem Tov, planned to
confront him in front of the entire congregation over
the matter.
The next morning, after the Shabbos
prayers, the Rav of Tarnopol accompanied by a group
of townspeople went to Reb Yitzchak's house to
confront the Baal Shem Tov with his guilt. The Baal
Shem Tov had not returned from the morning
prayers, so the Rav took a seat at the head of the
table to await his arrival. Meanwhile, the boy's
caretaker brought him for his daily session with
the Baal Shem Tov. The non-Jewish caretaker did
not realize that the man seated at the head of the
table was not the Baal Shem Tov. So he brought the
boy into the room and left assuming that he would
act properly as he always did in the
presence of the Baal Shem Tov. The boy began to
give a rambling account of his activities. He circled
the group at the table in a mad shuffle and began to
relate how after the Baal Shem Tov had gone to the
mikveh, the shochet had returned and made a round
hole in the lung.
The townspeople were astonished at these
words. It seemed the boy was telling the
truth. There was no reason for him to fabricate such
a story and he was lucid enough to understand what
had transpired. They now realized their error in
judging the Baal Shem Tov. One by one they rose
and quietly left. They were now convinced of the
Baal Shem Tov's honesty.
As the town's Rav left Reb Yitzchak's
home, he encountered the Baal Shem Tov returning
from the Sabbath prayers. The town's Rav was so
embarrassed; he couldn't speak, and began to
mumble some words of apology. The Baal Shem Tov
smiled and lifted his hand in an expression of
assurance. "Don't worry", he said, "its simply a
misunderstanding".
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Emunas
Tzadikim as translated in Stories of the Baal Shem
Tov by Y.Y. Klapholtz
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"Now Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kohath,
(who was) the son of Levi -took (issue with Moshe.
He was
joined by Dathan and Aviram, the sons of
Eliav, and On the son of Peleth, and Reuvain's
descendants. They confronted Moshe together with
two hundred and fifty men from the children of
Israel.
(Numbers 16:1-2)
A Tzaddik's enemies are his very spirit. For instance,
Moses was the root soul of the "mixed
multitude."1However, they were the
dross of the purification process. 2
Thus, they accused him of every terrible deed in the
world. We have a tradition from the Baal Shem Tov
that they even suspected him of adultery, for Balaam
was a spark of Moses, and whatever he did, they
suspected and accused Moses of doing.
Do not be surprised, then, if thoroughly wicked
people — the mixed multitude — accuse a perfect
Tzaddik of doing things that he never even
imagined. For this is by accident, as they are often
describing
things that they did themselves. Being from his root,
though, they do not see the fault in themselves, but
blame it on the Tzaddik. Or, perhaps, the Tzaddik
did something akin to this sin, on a very subtle level,
in a previous life.
Yet, the Tzaddik takes all of their words to heart so
that he may rectify his accusers. He accepts their
accusations in love, and begs for mercy upon both
himself and them, and he draws down on them all
manner of blessing. Notzer Chesed, Pirkei Avos
6:5
1Exodus 12:38.
2Just as the process of purifying silver
and gold leaves behind a dross, so did Moses, in the
process of purifying his own soul.
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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The Status of the Letters, as they are in this
World
The letters are merely vessels and garments, and
one needs to draw into them, while pronouncing
them, the spiritual effluence of the Sefirot [Divine
Attributes] and the Presence of the Infinite One Who
gives life to all things.
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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The holy Rabbi of Kaidnov said that the whole path
of the Baal Shem Tov is to learn how to draw upon
oneself the type of worship that will be practiced in
the Messianic Era. For from the time of the Baal
Shem Tov onward, sparks of the Messiah's soul are
manifest in the leaders of each generation. This is
as the Talmud says: "Two thousand years of the
days of the Messiah. "Alaphim" (Thousands) has the
meaning of "Teaching," as in "And I will teach you
wisdom - ve'a'alephcha chochmah" (Job 33:33)
. One should teach himself the path of devotion
that will be practiced in the days of the Messiah. In
general, the entire path of Hasidism revolves upon
these two wheels: humility and
joy. Zecher Tzaddik,
p.10a
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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"There are three types of favors: The favor of a
dwelling place in the eyes of those who dwell there;
the favor of a woman in her husband's eyes, and the
favor of merchandise in the eyes of the
purchaser."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When G d told Jacob, "I will give to you -- the Land
upon which you are lying," 2 He had
folded the entire Land of Israel underneath
him.3 This alludes that he would not
have to travel from one place to another in order to
find his sparks, but would be able to find them
wherever he would be.4 Hence, "Noah
found favor in G d's eyes." 5
1Tractate Sotah 47a.
2 Genesis 28:13.
3 Tractate Chulin 91b.
4 This alludes to the teaching that
everything we
come in contact with, everything that belongs to us,
even everything we eat, are all part of our own
souls. These parts have been separated from us and
we
must reunite and elevate them within ourselves. But
how
do we know what things are really part of us? The
answer is, to those things to which we are
attracted are really part of us. These include, things
we are attracted to eat, the
items we are attracted to purchase, and the person
we are attracted to marry. The attraction is G d's
way of telling us, Look here, these are the parts that
are really apart of you! This is why the sages
said in the opening teaching that there are three
types of favor — the favor is our attraction to those
things, which includes our attraction to live where
we do, because that is where most of those things
are to be found. Some people, though, travel around
a lot, whether for their livelihood or for other
reasons. This is because their sparks are
scattered around in those places. But G d's blessing
to Jacob was that He would bring those scattered
sparks to him.
5Genesis 6:8.
The
connection of this verse here is not clear. Perhaps
the allusion is that Noah also merited that his sparks
come to him, as indeed happened when the
designated survivors of all life on earth came to him
to enter the Ark. Furthermore, it may also allude that
Noah found favor in G d, just as the three things find
favor in the eyes of their beholder. That is, Noah
represents the righteous person, the tzaddik, who
reunites his soul with G d, and is thus with G d
wherever he is, which is another way of representing
G d folding the Land of Israel under Jacob.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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