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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE SUDDEN
AWAKENING
"Let G-d's community not be like sheep that
have no shepherd" (Numbers 27:16)
And then there was the time, on the afternoon of
Shabbos Shuva (The Shabbos between Rosh
Hashono and Yom Kippur), in the year 1755 that the
Baal Shem Tov was enjoying his "shabbos menucha" —
his Sabbath rest, as he slept in his bed. Suddenly, he
gave out a loud cry that shook Rebbetzyn Chana
from her sleep.
"Yisrael, Yisrael! Wake up. What's
wrong?"
The Baal Shem Tov sat up with a start, and
then sighed with relief. "Thank G d you woke me!
Another moment, and I wouldn't have awoken at
all!"
"What?" gasped the Rebbetzyn. "Why did
you scream out in your sleep?"
The Baal Shem Tov composed himself and
asked that the Rebbetzyn go to the homes of his
close chassidim and ask them to come to the Beis
Medrash. When they were all assembled, he related
the following:
"Each Shabbos, when I recite the silent
Mussaf prayer, my soul ascends to the heavenly
worlds. There, I listen to the Torah being studied in
the Yeshiva above, and I am later able to transmit
part of what I have heard to you, my chassidim,
during shalosh seudos (the third meal).
"I have always yearned to encounter my
close friend, the great Tzaddik, Reb Nachman
Kassover, who has passed on to the World of Truth,
but I have been unable to find him."
"Today, as my soul ascended, I soared to
heavenly realms that I had never visited before. I
saw towers of gold and palaces of diamonds. The
sounds of Torah burst forth from within. As I
entered, the souls within shone with brilliance and
beauty, each one occupied in the study of the holy
Torah.
I asked one soul: "To whom belongs this
glory? "Who is your Rosh HaYeshiva?"
"Our Torah study is in the honor of the chosen of
G d, Reb Nachman of Kassover," the soul
responded.
"And where is his resting place?" I asked.
One of the holy souls led me to Reb
Nachman's Beis Medrash. There I saw Reb Nachman
aglow with fire and glory. His countenance shone
like the sun. He was dressed in white, his tallis
covering his holy head and he was surrounded by
numerous other souls. I humbly approached, and
asked, "Reb Nachman, I have been searching for you
for quite some time. Who are all the souls I see
around you?"
"My dear Reb Yisrael," he answered, "these
souls belong to those to whom I showed the path of
truth and righteousness while on earth. Some were
righteous men who had transgressed, and others
were evildoers whom I was able to guide to the path
of repentance. It is these souls who praise and extol
the Creator of All Things."
"Dear Reb Yisrael," he continued, "Do you
wish to remain here with me? You simply can
relinquish your soul. You will not even have to
experience the pangs of death. The tzaddikim will
take you to your eternal resting place. The decision
is yours."
"How I was tempted to remain in the
heavenly realms! But I could not decide. I went
back and forth in my mind. On one hand, I desired to
be buried in Eretz Yisrael, for a soul buried in the Holy
Land ascends higher than one buried outside its holy
boundaries.
When I spoke this desire, Reb Nachman
revealed to me, "Your fate is not to be buried in the
Holy Land but in the land where you were born. I
cannot disclose the reason, but if you decide to
remain here with me, I will be then able to reveal to
you this and many, many other secrets."
Then my thoughts turned to those whom I
would leave behind. Could I leave loved ones, my
holy Rebbetzyn and my dear children? My students?
My Chassidim? Could I leave them without directions
and without guidelines for the future?
I decided I could not. Each person has his purpose
to fulfill on earth, and I felt that I had not yet
completed my assigned avodah (service).
I told my beloved Reb Nachman that I was not yet
the time for me to leave the physical world. He did
not agree. He begged, cajoled, over and over until I
could stand it no longer, and screamed with all my
might.
"That scream woke my Rebbetzyn from her
sleep, and thank G-d she woke me just in time. I
could not have withstood Reb Nachman's pleadings
any longer. She succeeded in returning my soul to
its rightful place in my physical body."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Sifrei Besht
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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"Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of
peace." (Numbers 25:12)
According to the Zohar and Likutey Torah, Nadav
and Avihu were "two halves of a
body."1 Therefore,
Pinchas took both their souls, so that they are
considered as one. Thus, it is written: "Behold, I
give him My covenant of peace," for when two things
are united, it is called peace. Thus, Yesod is called
Peace, etc.,2 and "From my flesh, I will
behold G d."3
Likewise, when there is division among
people, the one who can unite them is called "a
pursuer of peace." The reason Nadav and Avihu
sinned was because they did not ask each other's
advice [before entering the Holy of Holies]. As it
says: "And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron,
each took his censer. . ." (Leviticus 10:1)
4. There
was no peace between them. But Pinchas rectified
this when he was given the covenant of peace, in
order to unite the souls of Nadav and Avihu in one
body.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef,
Acharei, p. 96d
1 See Zohar 3:57b; Likutey Torah, parashas
Vayikra,
by the Arizal. Nadav and Avihu never married, thus
the Zohar considers them as only half a person.
When Pinchas smote Zimri and Kosbi during their illicit
act, the souls of Nadav and Avihu united with his
own.
2 Yesod is the ninth Sefirah, from Keter down, and
serves to unite the upper Sefiros with the tenth
Sefirah of Malchus. Thus, it is
called "Peace."
3 Job 19:26. Chasidic writings cite this verse
often,
to support the idea that the physical, emotional and
mental constituents of a human being parallel and
reflect the workings of the supernal Sefiros, through
which G d directs the world. The Sefirah of Yesod
corresponds to the male member, which is the organ
of union. Yesod also corresponds to the Tzaddik,
whose consciousness unites heaven and
earth.
4 I.e. each one took it alone, without consulting the
other.
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 Effect of Contemplative Chanting in Torah-study
I heard from my teacher [the Besht], an exposition
that explicates the meaning of Torah study with pure
motive. Thereby we may understand why it is that
[BT Avot ch. 6:1] "The person who studies Torah
with pure motive merits many things." He explained
that the entire work of creation, all things great and
small, were created by means of the letters in their
231 possible binary letter-
combinations.1 Now
through the blemish of sin a person causes the
potential expressions of holiness, which inhere within
the letters, to descend from their place in the Realm
of Life into the realm of obscuration [kelipot] -
Heaven forefend. These may have incarnated in the
realm of inanimate existence or
higher.2 When one
repairs one's deeds and studies with pure motive, it
is for the sake of the very [souls and] letters that
s/he had caused to descend. By studying with awe
and love, one intends to elevate them from their
places of obscuration, so as to reunite them with
their roots. Thus, being that from the realms of
obscuration up to the root of the letters there are
thousands of myriads of levels, accordingly, in the
process of elevating the 'letters' one elevates all of
the levels whose roots are comprised of the very
letters that one is elevating, back to their roots.
Therefore the Talmudic sage was correct in declaring
that one who studies with pure motive merits 'many
things', since many things were created by these
letters and all of them are being elevated. Thus such
a one is called [BT ibid.] 'beloved', etc.
1 This is the number of possible 2-letter
combinations of the twenty two letter Hebrew Alef-
Bet, whose significance derives from the early classic
of Jewish mysticism, the Sefer Yetzirah Chapter 2
Mishnah 7.
2 i.e. in the vegetable, animal or human
realm; see in the Lurianic Corpus, Likutei Torah
Ta'amei haMitzvot Parshat Ekev.
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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From the year 17751 and onward, most
of the world
was still groping in the dark [over the study of
Kabbalah] and many opponents challenged its study.
Many of those who did study this wisdom were
unaware as to how to deal with its abstract
concepts, and they even stumbled in
anthropomorphism, G d forbid.2 Until
G d sent us the
holy soul of the Baal Shem Tov, who enlightened us
as to how to study these concepts, and derive a
pure and whole-hearted service of G d from their
wisdom, for he clothed the details of this wisdom in
the intellectual faculties of the soul. Furthermore,
know well that the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov
directed their words only to a person who toils in this
holy wisdom in order it to deepen his understanding
of the service [of G d].
Notes on the sefer Sur M'Ra holy soul of the Baal
Shem Tov, who enlightened us as to how to study
these concepts, and derive a pure and whole-
hearted service of G d from their wisdom, for he
clothed the details of this wisdom in the intellectual
faculties of the soul. Furthermore, know well that the
disciples of the Baal Shem Tov directed their words
only to a person who toils in this holy wisdom in order
it to deepen his understanding of the service [of
G d].
Notes on the sefer Sur M'Ra
1 Three years after the death of R. Isaac Luria, the
Arizal.
2 I.E., they began to imagine that the spiritual
concepts found in Kabbalah, many of which are
explained in images drawn from human physiology,
were actually describing the physical proportions of G
d, G d forbid.
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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"One who learns one chapter of Torah from his
companion, or one law, one verse, one phrase, or
even just one letter, is obligated to treat him with
honor, as we find that David learned only two things
from Achitophel, and he called him, 'My teacher, my
mentor who enlightens me.' Thus, if David gave
Achitophel this honor for just teaching him two
things, all the more so is the one who learns a
chapter, a law, a verse, a phrase, or even just a
letter from his companion is obligated to treat him
with honor."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
This Mishnah is difficult to understand. Firstly, what
does it mean by, "only two things?" Secondly,
whatever it means, the teaching derived from that
instance cannot be more extreme that that instance
itself [, and how can we learn from here even "one
law, or one letter?]
The answer is that whatever one learns from a fitting
Torah teacher, that teaching will bear further fruit
within the student, but if one learns from a wicked
person, that teaching will not bear fruit, but will
remain within the student the same as when he
learned it.2
Thus, if David learned from the wicked Achitophel
only two things — because they bore no fruit and
remained only two things, as he had learned them
from him — yet David called him his teacher, one who
learns from his companion, that is, that they are
both righteous people, in which case the Torah
transmitted will bear fruit, is certainly obligated to
treat him with honor.
This also explains why the sages taught Torah "in
the company" of Torah3, so that the
Torah being
transmitted would multiply within the students].
1 Tractate Avoth 6:3
2 Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, addendum #19-
20
3 Tractate Berakhoth 63b
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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