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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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TRUE
DEVOTION
"Make a window in the ark." (Bereishis 6:16)
"The Hebrew word tevah ('ark') also means
[homiletically] 'word.'
'Make a window in the ark': A window allows in light
and illuminates: Your prayers to the Almighty should
be luminous." (Baal Shem Tov)
And it was known that Reb Shlomo was a devout and
learned man who prided himself greatly on his
accomplishments in Torah study. He once found an
obscure holy book in which was written that if one
would refrain from idle talk for forty consecutive
days, he would be granted Ruach HaKodesh (Divine
Inspiration). Reb Shlomo desperately wanted to
acquire Ruach HaKodesh like his Rebbe, the Baal
Shem Tov. So he accepted upon himself the
restriction not to talk for forty days, even with his
wife. Forty long days passed and Reb Shlomo
remained silent. But thereafter, Reb Shlomo didn't
notice even the slightest sign of Divine Inspiration.
Disappointed, he journeyed to the Baal Shem Tov for
an explanation.
He related his story to the Baal Shem Tov. "Rebbe, I
have done my part, why haven't I received even the
slightest amount of Ruach HaKodesh?"
"Did you pray during those forty days?" asked the
Baal Shem Tov.
"Of course Rebbe, three times a day, and at great
length!"
"Did you read any Tehillim (Psalms)?"
"Absolutely. In fact I read the whole book of Tehillim
each day," replied Reb Shlomo.
"Did you recite your prayers and Tehillim
with "kavanah" (meditative intentions)?" asked the
Baal Shem Tov.
"Of course Rebbe! I always pray with the most holy
of intentions!" replied Reb Shlomo.
"In that case," said the Baal Shem Tov, "considering
that you recited the sacred words with the most
devout intentions you have described, it is evident
that your words of prayer and Tehillim must have
been your idle talk."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from A Treasury of Chassidic
Tales on the Torah by Rabbi S.Y. Zevin.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"These are the chronicles of Noah. Noah was a
righteous man, faultless in his generation; Noah
walked with G d." (Bereishis 6:9)
But of Abraham it is written: "G d, before whom I
walked" (ibid. 24:40). Noah needed G d's
help and support, but Abraham strengthened himself
and walked in his own
righteousness.1
One of the Baal Shem Tov's disciples once asked
him, "Why is it that there are times when a person
clings to G d, and knows in his soul that he is close
to Him, that he suddenly loses his devekus and
becomes distant from the Creator?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered with a parable. When
a father wants to teach his infant son to walk, what
does he do? He stands his son between his
outstretched arms so that the boy does not fall, and
the child walks between his father's arms. When he
comes close to his father, his father backs up slightly
so that the child can approach him again. This way,
the child learns to walk. If his father didn't keep
moving back, the child would only walk that short
distance from where his father had first put him to
where his father now stands. However, because the
father moves back, the child walks further.
This is how G d relates to His creatures. When a
person is aflame with spiritual attachment, G d must
distance Himself from him, for if not, his devekus
would be neither strong nor consistent. However,
because G d keeps moving away, the person must
continually renew and strengthen his devekus. This
is what King David alluded to when he said: "He will
lead us eternally," (Psalms 48:15), as Rashi
explains: "Like a man leads his small son
slowly."
Turei Zahav, Rosh Hashanah
For this reason, G d is called "the hidden G d." For a
Tzaddik never feels that he has reached perfection in
serving G d, and always feels far from Him. This is
designed so that he comes even closer. It is the
meaning of "He will lead us eternally." G d is
called "He" when He is hidden.2 This is
in order that "He lead us eternally (al'mus,) - like a
child (al'miah,)3 so that we keep coming
closer.
Kedushas Levi, Shemos
1 Rashi, loc. cit.
2 See below.
3 In Aramaic. In Hebrew, as well, the
word elem means a "youth."
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 38
The Baal Shem Tov told his disciples to learn a
passage from the Zohar before each of the daily
prayers.
Likutey Torah, hadracha 7
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 29
The holy Rabbi of Kaidnov said that the whole path
of the Baal Shem Tov was to learn how to draw upon
oneself the type of worship that will be practiced in
the Messianic Era. 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."1 "Alaphim"
(Thousands) has the meaning of "Teaching," as
in "ve'a'alephcha chochmah" (And I will teach you
wisdom) (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
1Sanhedrin 97a: "The world will
exist for six thousand years: Two thousand desolate
(i.e., without Torah), two thousand of Torah, and
two thousand of the days of the Messiah (i.e., in
readiness for the Messiah)."
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 43
"It was said that whenever Rabbi Yonathan, son of
Uziel, sat down to delve into the Torah, any bird
straying over his head was burnt by his
words."1
"No fly passed over the table of the prophet
Elisha."2
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
A person is surrounded by spiritual worlds that mirror
his thoughts. If his thoughts are holy, then he is
surrounded by holy worlds, but if his thoughts are
impure, then he is he surrounded by impure
worlds.
By the same token, wherever a person's thoughts
are, and whichever worlds surround him, so too he is
surrounded in this earthly world, be it with kosher
birds and animals, or non-kosher birds and
animals.3
There are three categories of worlds: the pure, the
impure, and the in-between. Above these categories
is the world of pure thought, which cannot be
fathomed.
This, then, is why any bird straying above Rabbi
Yonathan son of Uziel was burnt.4 And
because no fly passed over Elisha's table, his host
knew that he his thoughts were holy and that he was
a holy man.
1Tractate Sukkah 28a
2Tractate Brakhoth 10b
3In the source text (Ben Porath
Yoseph 56d-57a), the Baal Shem Tov adds that
whatever happens to a person is also a mirror of his
inner world. Thus, G d is constantly talking to each
and everyone of us, trying to make us aware of what
is going on inside us. Hence, when we see some
human act "out there" that is "non-kosher," we
should look inside ourselves for similar failings, rather
than judge the other person.
4"Straying birds" is an allusion to
straying thoughts, which were "burnt" by Rabbi
Yonathan's Torah study. Similarly, no fly, being a
non-kosher creature, flew over Elisha's table,
because his thoughts were always holy.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua
Starrett
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