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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE EXTINGUISHED
WESTERN LIGHT
"Three times each year, all the men shall be seen in
the presence of G d your L rd in the place that He
will choose."
(Devarim 16:16)
And then there was the time that it was revealed to
the Baal Shem Tov that if the two
great lights of the world were to meet, they together
could bring Moshiach and the final redemption. From
that time, The Baal Shem Tov desired greatly to go
to Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) to meet the great
Ohr Hachayim
(Rabbi Chaim ben Etar).
Finally, the Baal Shem Tov
traveled from his home in Medzibush to fulfill his long
held desire to visit Eretz Yisrael and meet the great
Ohr Hachayim. By Pesach, he reached Istanbul.
There he prayed at the gravesite of Rav Naftali, a
Tzaddik (righteous man) who had attempted the
same trip at an earlier time but had only reached
Istanbul. That night, Rav Naftali appeared to
The Baal Shem Tov in a dream.
"Reb Yisrael, it has been decreed in Heaven that you
are not destined to dwell in Eretz Yisrael. If you are
stubborn and attempt to continue your journey, you
will die here as I did. You must return
home."
The Baal Shem Tov accepted the decree and
embarked upon a ship headed homewards. His ship
was captured by pirates, who let him off at the port
of Kilya, from where he continued his journey to
Medzibush.
Three months later, during shalosh seudos (the third
meal)
on the Sabbath of Parsha Pinchas, immediately after
washing his hands and taking a bite of challah, the
Baal Shem Tov said with a sigh, "The Western light
has been extinguished."
At the Melave Malkah (meal of the departing Sabbath
Queen) on that motzoei Shabbos (Saturday night),
his closest followers gathered their courage and
asked, "Rebbe, what did you mean when you said
that 'The Western light has been
extinguished?'"
The Baal Shem Tov replied, "The Ohr Hachayim has
died. He was known in heavenly realms as the
Western light."
"How does the Rebbe know that?" one Chassid boldly
asked.
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "There is a particular
kavannah (intention) for the recitation of the
blessing
for washing hands which I have always wanted to
know. However, this kavannah was hidden from me
since only one person in each generation can know
it,
and the Ohr Hachayim had preceded me. This
afternoon, as I washed my hands for shalosh seudos,
I suddenly became aware of a new kavannah. I
immediately understood that the Ohr Hachayim had
passed from this world and now I become the
guardian of that kavannah."
One other time, the Baal Shem Tov told his Chassidim
of another incident related to the Ohr Hachayim. On
the Sabbath that the great Ohr Hachayim departed
this world, his friend in Tiberias, Reb Chayim Abulafia,
mysteriously fainted, and remained unconscious for
half an hour. When he finally was revived, he
announced to his students, "Today the Ohr Hachayim
left this world. I accompanied him until the gates of
Gan Eden."
"What Reb Chayim of Tiberias did not know," the Baal
Shem Tov told his Chassidim, "was that the Ohr
Hachayim's saintly neshamah (soul) remained in Gan
Eden only for the duration of the Sabbath. The next
day it descended once more to this world." "The
souls of tzaddikim," he explained, "receive greater
satisfaction from being in this physical world. Here
the soul can serve the Almighty on the lowest
physical plane, through performing mitzvos and good
deeds. This service brings far greater benefit to this
world,
and is far more pleasurable to the soul than being in
Gan Eden. When Moshiach arrives, and G dliness will
be seen and felt by even the most common man, we
will yearn for the previous days when we were able
to serve the Almighty on the lowest physical
level."
The death of the Ohr Hachayim occurred just two
days before Reb Leib Sorahs' Bar Mitzvah. It was
years later, however, that the Chassidim understood
from the Rebbe Reb
Dov Ber (The Mezritcher Maggid)
that it was the Ohr Hachayim's soul that Reb Leib
Sorah received at the time of his Bar
Mitzvah.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in GEVUROS ARI
and 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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"Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a
curse. The blessing, if you obey the commandments
of the L rd your G d, which I command you today.
And the curse, if you do not obey the commandments
of the L rd your G d.."
(Devarim 11:26-28)
There are aspects of blessing and curse. They occur
when a person's attachment to the inner dimension of
the Torah and the mitzvos is only by means of
the "bejeweled woman" — in ways that are pleasing
to each one of Israel, according to his nature and
desire.1
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Bo, p. 51a
1The compiler of Sefer Baal Shem Tov
writes: "When Torah study is for the sake of any
material end, this itself is a blessing and a curse.
The very study is a blessing; however, the
extraneous intention is called a curse. Therefore,
this type of study is called a blessing and a curse
together. Thus, the verse continues: 'The blessing,
if you obey the commandments..' That is, a person
must separate the blessing from the curse, and study
Torah in a way that will only be for blessing."
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 26
When a person prays with mystical intentions, he can
only use those intentions that he knows. However,
when he recites each word with great passion, all the
mystical intentions are included in his words
automatically. Every letter is a complete world, and
when he says the words with great emotion, he
arouses those worlds above. Therefore, a person
should pray with great attachment and fervor. This
will definitely have a great effect in the upper worlds,
because every letter makes its mark above.
Tzava'as HaRivash 14b
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 soul of the Baal Shem Tov was so high that it
would have been impossible for it to enter this world
had his father had any physical desire. Therefore,
his
father was one hundred years old when the Baal
Shem Tov was born. His desires had already been
annulled, and the Baal Shem Tov was only born with
G d's help.
Imrei Noam
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 was a famine in the Land."
This means that the people lacked faith in G d, in
that they were lax in honoring Him.
Therefore, "Abram went down to Mitzraim (Egypt),"
which means that Abraham was distressed [mitzta'er]
by this laxity in honoring G d in the World of Action.
However, as a result, "Abram went up from
Mitzraim," which means that he became spiritually
elevated and was able to derive even greater
pleasure from serving G d. This was by virtue of the
fact that he was not like the Eyptians, since light
can
only
be discerned in contrast to darkness.
Therefore, "Lot (who symbolizes the evil inclination)
was with him." Because the existence of evil allows
one to derive even greater pleasure from serving
G d, evil thus became a vehicle to good, and
becomes encompassed in it.
"And Abram was heavily laden with cattle, silver and
gold." This means that he was able to extract the
sparks of holiness, similarly to, "Joseph collected all
the money in Egypt."
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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