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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE MAGIC
MIRROR
"Do not fear them, for Adon·y, your G·d, is the One
Who is waging war for you." (Devarim 3:22)
AND it happened that once while traveling,
Rabbi Shneur Zalman (known as the Alter Rebbe)
was in a city when a house caught on fire. When the
Rebbe arrived at the scene of the fire, a group of
Russian soldiers were trying unsuccessfully to
extinguish it. The Rebbe stood in front of the blazing
house, leaned on his cane and gazed for a few
moments into the fire. Suddenly, the fire died
down.
The exhausted soldiers could barely believe their
eyes. They ran to report the astonishing event to their
General. After hearing their story, he sent a group of
soldiers to ask the Rabbi to come and see him.
When the Alter Rebbe arrived, the General asked
him, "Are you any relation to the Jewish holy man
known as the Baal Shem Tov?"
The Rebbe replied, "Sir, while I'm not a blood relative,
I consider myself to be his spiritual grandson
because I am a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch, the
Baal Shem Tov's successor. Why do you
ask?"
"When I heard how the fire was brought under control
after you gazed at it for a few moments, it reminded
me of a story that happened to my father."
"My father was also a general. Once he was stationed
with his troops in the village of Mezibush. At that time,
my father was deeply troubled because many weeks
had passed since he had received a letter from his
wife. He started to have all kinds of bad thoughts.
This caused him to be in a very bad mood which he
took out on his troops. One of his officers suggested
that he should seek the advice of a local Jewish holy
man, known as the Baal Shem Tov, who was reputed
to be a miracle worker. 'Maybe he'll be able to tell you
some news about your wife,' said the officer."
"My father, still in a foul mood agreed and sent this
very officer to arrange a meeting between him and the
Baal Shem Tov. Much to my father's surprise, the
secretary of the Baal Shem Tov told the officer that the
Baal Shem Tov refused to see him. So my father sent
a higher ranked officer, but the Baal Shem Tov again
refused to see him. By this time, my father was
infuriated that this simple Rabbi refused to see his
officers and of course him, the commanding officer, a
General no less. My father knew about Jewish
customs and your holidays. At that time, it was right
before Passover. So he sent another officer to relay
the threat to the Baal Shem Tov that if he did not grant
him an interview, he, being a General, would quarter
his troops in Jewish homes. This would cause bread
and even unkosher food to be brought into the Jewish
homes just before Passover."
"The threat worked and the Baal Shem Tov sent back
a message inviting the General, my father, to his
home. When my father arrived, he entered a waiting
room and saw the Baal Shem Tov, through an open
doorway, sitting in his study. He was absorbed in a
book which my father later found out was a kabbalistic
book called the Zohar. However, before my father
even knocked on the door to the study, his attention
was caught by a large mirror on the wall in the waiting
room."
"He went over to the mirror to adjust his clothes before
meeting the Rabbi. When he looked into the mirror, to
his astonishment, he saw the road leading to his own
city, instead of his own reflection. As he watched the
road, the scene changed and he saw his own house.
Suddenly he could see inside his house. There his
wife was sitting at a table and writing a letter to him.
He was able to clearly see the letter. She was writing
an apology for having not written sooner. She
explained that it was due to her difficult pregnancy and
delivery of a baby boy. Everything was fine. "
"My father was overwhelmed by the vision in the
mirror. When he met with the Baal Shem Tov, he
thanked him profusely. A few days later, he received a
letter from his wife, identical to what he had seen in
the mirror. My father then wrote down the whole story
in his personal diary."
"I," concluded the General to Rabbi Shneur
Zalman, "am the son whose birth was announced in
that letter! Also, I always carry with me the diary in
which my father recorded this event."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in SIPUREI
CHASSIDIM 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, you are this day as the stars of heaven,
many."(Deuteronomy 1:10)
Were they like the stars on that day? Why, they only
numbered six-hundred thousand! Rather, what is the
meaning of "Behold, you are this day"? Behold, you
are likened to the day, that is, you will always exist,
like the sun and the moon and the stars. (Rashi, ibid.)
It is written: "The path of the righteous is as the
gleam of sunlight, that shines ever brighter until the
height of the day." (Proverbs 4:18) That is,
the sun itself shines in its place equally, both at the
onset of the day and in the middle. The only thing
that obstructs it is the earth, which stands between
us and the sun. Therefore, its light does not shine as
brightly at dawn as when it spreads
across the earth.
The same holds true of the Tzaddik. In himself, he is
always shining; the blockage is only on the part of
the receivers. This too is due to the obstruction of
the earth, i.e. this world. For people are sunk in this
world, and are unable to receive the light of the
Tzaddik. This is as the Talmud said on the verse: "I
lifted my eyes, and beheld a folded scroll."
(Zechariah 5:1) "When you unfold it.. When you
peel it.."1 It comes out that the entire
world is 1/3200 the size of the Torah, which is
exceedingly great and "broader than the
ocean."2 It is difficult to understand
how such a small thing as the world can block such a
great thing as the Torah, which is thousands of times
the size, since the entire world is minute in
comparison.
However, this is like the oft-quoted
analogy
that a small coin held up to your eyes will block out a
great mountain, even though the latter is thousands
of times larger. Since the coin is in front of your eye,
it obstructs your vision, until you cannot see
something much larger. This is similar to when a
person comes into this world, and becomes lost in its
frivolities, such that it seems to him that there is
nothing better. This tiny little world keeps him from
seeing the great and exalted light of the Torah,
which is thousands of times the size. This is the
example of the sun, that the earth prevents us from
seeing its great light, though the sun is many times
larger.
Also, this is the meaning of "The path of
the righteous is as the gleam of sunlight." It is
exactly like the gleam of sunlight! For just as the sun
shines constantly, with only the earth (though it is
much smaller) creating a barrier, so too, Tzaddikim
constantly shine. It is only the earth (the
attractions of this world) that prevents us from
seeing their great light. Even though this world is so
very small and insignificant in comparison, it still
obstructs and prevents us from seeing the gleam of
sunlight.
All this is because the world stands
before a
person's eyes and obstructs them, until he cannot
see the light of the Torah and the Tzaddikim, which is
thousands of times greater. However, if he removes
that small obstruction from his eyes, and turns his
eyes away from this world and does not look at it,
but only lifts his head and raises his eyes to gaze
above this occluding world, then he will merit seeing
the great and exalted light of the Torah and the
Tzaddikim. The light of the Torah and Tzaddikim is
infinitely greater than this entire world and its
attractions.
Likewise, I heard in the name of the Baal
Shem Tov, who said, "Woe, woe! The whole world is
filled with awesome and wondrous lights and secrets,
yet a small hand stands before the eyes and
prevents us from seeing the great light."
Likutey Moharan I:133
1Eiruvin 21a - The Talmud
juxtaposes two
verses from the Books of the Prophets. In
Zechariah 5, the prophet sees a rolled up
scroll of phenomenal size: "Then again I lifted up my
eyes, and saw, and behold; a rolled up scroll. And he
(an angel) said to me: 'What do you see?' I
answered, 'I see a rolled up scroll. The length of it is
twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits.'"
According to the Talmud, these measurements are
not based upon human dimensions, but Divine ones:
Ten of G·d's cubits (as it were). The second
verse is from Ezekiel (2:9-10): "And when I
looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and
lo, a scroll of a book was in it. And He spread it
before me, and it was written on the back and the
front." The Talmud considers these two scrolls as
one, and tries to determine its full size. First, the
scroll must be unrolled and then peeled, so that both
sides face front and can be measured together. The
conclusion is that the scroll is 20 x 40 of G·d's
cubits. The Talmud then cites Isaiah (40:12)
to determine the size of the universe: "Who has
measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and
meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended
the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the
mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?"
According to Biblical measurements, a "span" (zeres)
is half the length of a cubit (amah), and one square
span is a quarter of a square cubit. It comes out
that 800 square cubits contain 3,200 square spans.
Thus, the scroll of the Torah is 3,200 times the size
of the universe.
2Based upon (Job 11:9).
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 77
The root of prayer is to bind the Judgment of Malchus,
and to sweeten the Judgments in their root, which is
Binah.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 116b
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
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THE LIGHT OF THE EYES
On the Greatness of the Baal Shem Tov
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Section 12
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." "17 Alaphim" (Thousands) has the
meaning of "Teaching," as in "And I will teach you
wisdom - ve'a'alephcha chochmah." (Job
33:33) He 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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Section 97
"A prayer of the poor man when he beseeches,
pouring out his words before
G·d."1
The Baal Shem Tov explained with a parable:
A king once proclaimed on a day of his rejoicing that
any request presented on that day would be filled. So
some people requested positions of power, others
requested honor, while others requested wealth, and
each person was given what he requested. There
was one sage there, though, who said that his
request was to have a personal audience with the
king three times a day.2 The king was
very pleased with this, since it showed that speaking
with the king was more cherished by him than wealth
and honor.3 Thus, the king ordered to
have his request fulfilled, to give him permission to
enter the royal palace to speak to the king, and then to
open the royal treasuries for him to also take wealth
and honor.
This is alluded to in the above verse: the prayer of a
poor man is that he be able to pour out his words
before G·d.
1Psalms 102:1
2This of course alludes to the three daily
Silent Prayers, the Shmoneh Esreh.
3As we saw elsewhere (#81), the
purpose of prayer is to reach a state of Oneness with
G·d, and the release from suffering for which we pray,
or the benefits that we seek, are only the catalysts for
us to pray and reach that goal. The wise man thus
goes straight for the goal, by way of which he anyway
attains relief and benefit.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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