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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE
BLESSING
"I will bless you and make your name great (by adding
a letter to it) and you will (have the power of)
blessing (other people)." (Bereishis 12:2)
The blessings are entrusted to you. Until now they
were in My hand. Rashi
"At the age of eight days, every male among you will
be circumcised." (Bereishis 17:12)
And then there was the time that a wretchedly poor
couple were sitting with
their infant in a house set aside for indigent
beggars. The mother, Rachel, was rocking the baby,
and lamenting to her husband, "Mottel, it's such a
blessing to have a baby. I love him so much. But,
losing all our wealth at one time, it's very
difficult."
"It really did happen quickly," answered Mottel, "just
as the Baal Shem Tov predicted. As soon as we told
him that we agreed to give up all our wealth to be
blessed with a child, our mazel changed.
After giving
away all our money to the people standing outside
the Baal Shem Tov's door, we heard from our
neighbors that our house
had burned to the ground and nothing was left.
Then, when we got home and saw the destruction,
word came that my ship filled with merchandise had
sunk. My dear wife, do you regret the decision to
have the baby instead of our wealth?"
"Oh no!" said Rachel as she hugged her child even
tighter. "But perhaps we don't have to be so poor.
We barely have enough food to keep us alive! Why
don't you go to the Baal Shem Tov and tell him about
our baby and then ask him if there is something we
can do to have at least the bare necessities of life?
What do we have to lose by doing so?"
Mottel hated to see his family in such poverty so he
followed his wife's suggestion and arranged a private
audience with the Baal Shem Tov.
"Rebbe, mazel tov. Your blessing for a child was
fulfilled! And as you predicted, we lost all of our
wealth. We are so happy with our baby, but Rebbe,
is there something we could do to at least have the
basic necessities of life?"
"Yes Mottel, there is a saying of our Sages, "'change
your place - change your mazel (luck).' So I
recommend
that you take your family and move far from here to
a place where they have never heard of me. Go with
my blessing."
Mottel took his family and traveled to a village far
from Medzibush where no one ever heard of the Baal
Shem Tov.
As soon as they arrived, they passed the house of a
very rich man. Mottel stopped to ask the rich man if
he had any work that needed to be done. When he
knocked on the door, he heard sobbing in the house.
The rich man opened the door and had tears
streaming down his face.
Mottel asked, "Excuse me, what's wrong? Can I be
of any help?" The rich man answered, "Sir, I only
wish you could." Then he explained, "The problem is
with my wife. Even though she is a true Daughter of
Israel, and uses the Mikveh accordingly, it seems
that her purity is lacking. I'd give my whole fortune
to help her."
"There is a holy Rabbi that lives in the far away
mountains. For many years my wife and I were
childless. Then he gave us a blessing and less than
a year later we had our baby."
"I must go and meet with him." The man called his
servant to harness a team of horses to his carriage.
So the rich man, his wife and Mottel sped off to
Medzibush to meet with the Baal Shem Tov.
Although the husband and wife had never heard of
the Baal Shem Tov or of the many miracles he was
constantly performing, they started to feel that
perhaps this might be the answer.
When they arrived in Medzibush, they immediately
went to meet with the Baal Shem Tov. The husband
explained the situation with his wife.
"Quick, we have no time to waste!" answered the
Baal Shem Tov. "Alexei (the Baal Shem Tov's wagon
driver), prepare the wagon. We're going on a trip
immediately."
They all got into the Baal Shem Tov's wagon and
took off. As soon as they were out of town, Alexei
dropped the reins and let the horses travel
unguided. After a few "sips" from a bottle he kept
tucked away in his pocket, he was soon sound
asleep. Meanwhile the wagon seemed to fly along
the road. They could barely hear the wheels
turning. After a few hours they arrived in a town far
away from Medzibush.
It was late at night and the wagon stopped in front
of a house that was lit up. There was a minyan of
men studying around a table. It was the wachtnacht
(watch night) evening before the bris of a baby just
born to the householder's wife. Everyone could hear
the wife sobbing in another room. After some
discussion, the gloom in the house became
understandable. The householder and his wife had
several babies before and always on the seventh
day, just before the bris, the babies were
mysteriously taken from their beds even though there
were a number of people vigilantly watching. This
baby was no different.
The Baal Shem Tov asked one of the men studying in
the house to follow him into the nearby forest. Once
they got there, they took up positions at different
trees. Suddenly the Baal Shem Tov yelled, "Throw
the baby to me!" An invisible voice was then
heard, "No throw him to me first!"
At that moment, the Baal Shem Tov was holding the
baby in his arms. He gave it to his companion and
asked him to return the baby to the house and to his
father. He cautioned the man, "Be sure to tell him to
prepare for the bris but don't begin before I
arrive."
While the man returned the baby to the house, the
Baal Shem Tov took Reb Mottel, the rich man and his
wife to the local mikveh. He took his walking stick
and struck the pool. A scream was heard and the
water suddenly turned blood red. The Baal Shem
Tov asked the mikveh attendant, "Please remove the
water from the pool and throw it away. Then add
some fresh rain water."
Once the water in the pool was changed, the rich
man's wife entered with a mikveh lady and
immersed. After a time, it was clear that everything
was fine with the rich man's wife.
The rich man said to the Baal Shem Tov, "Rabbi, I
can't thank you enough. I'm a wealthy man, what
can I give you?"
The Baal Shem Tov inquired, "Tell me, how did you
become a wealthy man?"
"Well Rabbi, it actually happened recently. I was
offered the opportunity to buy the contents of a
shipwreck. I bought the merchandise cheaply and
sold it for a large profit."
The Baal Shem Tov explained, "Actually, the ship
that was wrecked was Reb Mottels' and the
merchandise you bought belonged to him. If you
want to do the right thing, give half of the wealth
you acquired from the ship wrecked merchandise to
Reb Mottel."
"It will be my pleasure," said the rich man. I will
divide up the wealth as soon as Reb Mottel and I
return to my house."
"Wonderful," said the Baal Shem Tov, "Let us
celebrate all of our good fortune at the bris." The
Baal Shem Tov was honored as sandek (holds the
baby during the circumcision), and it was a joyous
celebration.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Adas 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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"And Avram went up out of Egypt." (Bereishis
13:1)
I heard a parable from my Master (the Baal Shem
Tov):
A road passed through a forest where a den of
thieves lurked. Anyone traveling on the road was in
great danger. Once, two men went through the
forest together, one completely drunk and the other
sober. The thieves attacked them both, robbed
them and beat them. They barely escaped with their
lives. Afterward, they encountered a group of
travelers. Some of the travelers asked the drunk
man if
he had passed through the woods safely. He replied
that he had, and that it was not dangerous at all.
But when they asked him to explain his wounds and
bruises, he could not. Others asked the sober man,
and he told them at length just how they must be
careful because of the robbers.
There is a difference between these two individuals.
The sober one could warn others as to how to pass
through quickly, with guns, etc., but the drunk one
could not warn them at all.
This is how a tzaddik serves G d. He knows the
battle with the evil inclination, and the danger that
lurks on the way. He realizes that the path is
dangerous, and he is always alert to escape its trap.
And he knows how to warn
others of this dangerous thief, for "He that increases
knowledge, increases suffering" (Ecclesiastes
I:18). This is not the case of a wicked person,
who rejoices in the pleasures of the evil inclination,
and declares "Peace! There is no danger in this
world."
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 203c
A human being is called a "riser and faller," for it is
impossible to stand always on one level. However,
there are two types of people. There are those
who "go down and come up,"1 as it
says of Abraham: "And Abraham went up from
Egypt." He descended and rose up with all the
lowest levels. The second type, however, descends
but does not arise, G d forbid.
This is like the parable I heard from my Teacher, of
the two men who passed through a dangerous area.
One was drunk and besotted, and the other was
alert. The latter felt the blows of the thieves, and
was able to warn others of how to be cautious on
the way.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 41a
1Literally, "who enter and exit." Based
upon the Zohar, 292a: "Fortunate is the lot of
him who enters and exits. For one who does not
enter and exit would have been better not to have
been born."
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 39
Be careful to always pray before sunrise, both in
summer and winter. One should recite most of the
morning prayers, until Keriyas Shema, before
daybreak. It is known that the difference between
praying before or after sunrise is like the distance
between east and west. Before sunrise, it is still
possible to easily annul the Severities, as is alluded
to in the verses: "He has set a tent in them for the
sun. which is like a bridegroom coming out of his
canopy, rejoicing like a strong man . . . there is
nothing hidden from its heat" (Psalms 19:5-7).
Do not read the word as "heat," chamaso,
but "wrath," chemaso. For when the sun is already
out, it is impossible to hide from the Severities that
come from the angels of wrath.
Do not take this lightly, for it is extremely important.
The Baal Shem Tov was so careful with this that he
would even pray alone, if he did not have a sunrise
minyan.
Tzava'as HaRivash, p.3a
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 30
The great sages from the time of the Baal Shem Tov
until the complete revelation of the Messiah are an
illumination of the Messiah, as is
known.
She'eris Yisroel, Sha'ar Hiskashrus
4:43
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 44
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The letters of Torah study and prayer are the
vehicles for dveikut (union) with G d. One must
concentrate one's thoughts and one's deepest being
on the deepest spirituality that lies within the
letters.1 This is the meaning of the
verse, "May He kiss me with the kisses of His
mouth."2 This verse
refers to the dveikut (union) of souls,3
as alluded to in the verse, "If you lie down between
the lips."4 Thus, when one extends the
pronunciation of a word, this is a sign that one has
become one with it, since he does not want to leave
that word.5
1The Hebrew letters are actually
symbols of the
deepest spiritual secrets in Creation, and serve as
conduits to transmit those spiritual energies into the
world. All these different energies symbolized by the
different letters ultimately come from G d, and are
thus different expressions of the One. If one is able
to enter into a deep meditative state where the
letters and the words are experienced as different
expressions of the Divine wisdom and love, one
then "unites" with G d, as if with a
kiss, since his human mouth uttering those words is
then one with G d's "mouth."
2Song of Songs 1:2
3Zohar II 124b. This refers to
both the uniting of
two human souls in this manner, and to the uniting of
man's soul with G d. The intense experience of union
on the human level is a metaphor for the union of the
human soul with G d.
4Psalm 68:14. This verse is
interpreted this way in
the Tikkunei Zohar, quoted by Rabbi Moshe
Cordevero, in his Pardes Rimonim 8:13.
5Rebbe Nachman of Breslov expounds
on this idea
and says that while one must continue from one
word of prayer to the next, each word begs the one
who expresses it to remain with it in dveikut. The
solution, says Rebbe Nachman, is to make the entire
prayer into "one," which means that the dveikuth
state achieved with each word be maintained
throughout the prayers, so that even when has
reached the last word, one is still with the first
(Likkutei Moharan I 65:2). This state of
consciousness can only be achieved when one has
indeed reached a certain level of "Oneness," when
one's mind and entire being are "at one" with G d,
and the individual letters and words are experienced
as different manifestations of the One, as said in
note 1.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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