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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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A JEWISH
KING
"You must then appoint the King whom G d your L rd
shall choose."
(Devarim 17:15)
And then there was the time that the Baal Ketzos
Hachosen (Rabbi Aryeh Leib) asked the Rabbi Tzvi
Hirsch, Rebbe of Ziditchov, "Why are these times so
different from the time of the earlier generations,
even just a few hundred years ago?"
"I've noticed," continued the Baal Ketzos
Hachosen, "that since the Baal Shem Tov has arrived,
he has attracted a large number of followers to
beliefs that were primarily the teachings of Ari
Hakodesh (Arizal). So Rebbe, how did the Baal Shem
Tov attract such a multitude of followers to his
teachings when the same teachings weren't
accepted before?"
The Reb Tzvi Hirsch responded, "Let me explain with
a parable."
"There was a country where the King died and left
without designating someone to assume the position
of King. The people searched everywhere in the
Kingdom for a replacement but couldn't find anyone
of suitable stature. Finally, they heard of a man from
a distant land that had the characteristics of a great
King. He was described by all who saw him as
handsome, strong, brilliant, wise, and of exceptional
character. There were no other men close to this
person, especially in brilliance, wisdom and
character. Although, the people of this country were
seriously considering appointing this man as King,
they still hadn't met him and were reluctant to make
such an important decision based on
rumors.
Then, a highly respected man returned from traveling
to that faraway land and reported that he had seen
the candidate with his own eyes. He described how
special the candidate was, especially his wisdom and
character. After hearing the account of the traveler,
some people were ready to accept the man as their
King. However, most of the people were still
reluctant to make such a decision without actually
seeing the man themselves.
A wise man, living in the country without the King,
finally took the initiative to bring the candidate to his
country for everyone to see. He took the long,
arduous journey to the far away land and convinced
the candidate to personally come to his country
where the people were desperate to find a King.
When the man arrived and the people of the country
had the opportunity to meet him and see with their
own eyes that he was in fact as handsome, strong,
brilliant, wise and of exceptional character as they
had heard, they immediately crowned him to be their
King."
Then Reb Tzvi Hirsch continued, "Rabbi Shimon Bar
Yochai and his students were like the ones that
spread the rumor of the greatness of the man in the
parable. They were the first to reveal secrets of
G d's glory in the Holy Zohar to the general
population. But, the Zohar is still a very esoteric
book
and most people simply couldn't understand the
meaning of its teachings."
"Then, the Arizal, as the highly respected man who
returned from traveling to that faraway land in the
parable, began to expound on the esoteric
teachings that were first publicly taught in the
Zohar. But his explanation of these lofty spiritual
matters still couldn't be appreciated by most people
since they couldn't see or understand
them."
"Finally, the Baal Shem Tov came, like the wise man
in the parable who took the initiative to bring the
candidate to his country. The Baal Shem Tov
revealed G d by showing that G dliness exits in
everything, even this physical world, without
exception. Then the Baal Shem Tov went even
further by
teaching us how we can embrace G d's Holiness with
our thoughts and even our everyday speech and
action."
Thus the Baal Shem Tov, just like the wise man in the
parable, was able to bring the King of Kings before
the eyes of all people.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Divrei
Tzadikim and translated in STORIES OF THE BAAL
SHEM TOV by Klapholtz.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"You must then appoint the King whom G d your L rd
shall choose; from among your brothers you
shall set King over yourself."
(Devarim 17:15)
The King of Israel is the heart of Israel. This explains
the verse: "How can I go, for Saul will hear and kill
me?" (I Samuel 16:2).1 Why
was he
scared to go? He could have gone in secret. What
he should have said was: "How can I return, after I
have anointed someone else as King? Saul will kill
me."
The reason is because the King is the heart of Israel,
and the heart hears,2 that is, it
understands.3 This is what Samuel
meant: "How can I go, for Saul will hear?" Since he
was still the King of Israel before David's
anointment, "he will hear." That is, he will
understand the purpose of my going, "and he will kill
me." However, he was not afraid to return, because
by then David had been appointed King, and Saul
would not understand or hear,4 for
certainly Samuel acted in secret.
Degel Machane Ephraim, Va'eschanan
1When G d told the Prophet Samuel to
go to Bethlehem and anoint David as King instead of
Saul, Samuel expressed fear that Saul would hear of
his trip and try to kill him.
2Based upon I Kings 3:9, where
King
Solomon prays: "And now, O L rd my G d, You have
made Your servant King instead of David my father;
and I am but a little child; I do not know how to go
out or come in..Give, then, Your servant a listening
heart, to judge your people.."
3In a related teaching, the Teshuos
Chen writes in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: "The
king is the aspect of the head of the world, and is
able to know the thoughts of people."
4The Teshuos Chen writes: "Since he
anointed David, so that he would be the head, Saul
immediately lost the power to know people's
thoughts."
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 27
If your prayers are pure and clear, the holy breath
that leaves your mouth will attach itself to the
Supernal breath that clings to you and enters you
constantly. This is as our Rabbis have
said: "Everything that has a soul, praise G d!"
(Psalms 150:6).1 That is, over
each and every
breath a person takes, [he should praise G d]." For
the breath leaves him from below to above, and
returns to him from above to below. Surely, it is
easy to attach your inner portion of G d to its
root.
Likutim Yikarim, p. 12a
1Midrash Rabbah, Bereishis 14:9. The
word "soul" (neshama) and "breath" (neshima) are
related. The entire passage from the Midrash
reads: "Rabbi Bisni and Rabbi Acha and Rabbi
Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Meir, 'The soul
fills the entire body, and when a person sleeps, it
rises to draw down life from above.' Rabbi Levi said
in the name of Rabbi Chanina, 'Over each and every
breath that a person takes, he should praise the
Creator.." (I.e., G d renews one's breath every
minute, not just during sleep.)
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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A soul like that of the Baal Shem Tov comes into this
world once in a thousand years.
R. Yisroel of Koshnitz, in the name of the
Tzaddikim of Karlin
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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"You are He — G d our Lord."
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When a person assumes that he is in G d's presence,
and can address Him as, "You," he is then very
distant from Him — G d is then "He." But when a
person assumes that he is distant from G d, and can
only address Him as He, then he is indeed close to
Him and in His presence — G d is then, "You are our
G d."
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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