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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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A PINCH OF
SNUFF
"And G d spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to
the children of Israel and have them bring Me
an offering. Take My offering from everyone
whose heart inspires him to give."
(Terumah 25:1-2)
"Whose heart inspires him," — this is an
expression of voluntary contribution. Rashi
And then there was the time that a poor man
named Reb Shmuel came with a group of
beggars to collect charity at the shule of the
Baal Shem Tov. The shammos (caretaker) of
the shule gave each beggar a few coins but
the poor man declined.
"No, thank you," said Reb Shmuel, "I want to
speak to the Baal Shem Tov."
"Let me ask the Rebbe," said the shammos.
The shammos returned and offered the poor
man a larger sum of money.
Reb Shmuel responded, "No, thank you, I only
want to meet with the Baal Shem
Tov."
After the shammos related what happened,
Reb Shmuel was invited in to meet with the
Baal Shem Tov.
"So," said the Baal Shem Tov, closely studying
the poor man, "you are not satisfied with my
donation?"
"Rebbe," responded Reb Shmuel, "I don't want
a donation. I'm not a beggar, just a poor man
that is down on his luck. I used to be a very
rich man and was known as a baal tzedeka
(philanthropist) that often helped people get
started again if they had a business setback.
Every Shabbos and Yom Tov my table was
surrounded by poor people and wanderers. I
had a large, successful business. Then one
day, everything changed. I lost all my wealth
and finally had to resort to living as a
wandering beggar. Rebbe, why did I lose my
wealth and position so suddenly?"
The Baal Shem Tov thought for a while and
said, "My dear friend, it's just a pinch of
snuff."
(In those days, sharing a pinch of snuff was
common and considered to be of little financial
consequence, like a mint today.)
"What do you mean, Rebbe?" said the poor
man. "It's not just a pinch of snuff. It's my
whole livelihood that's gone. Can't you see,
I'm walking around in rags and I have holes in
my boots."
"You don't understand," answered the Baal
Shem Tov, "I mean your loss of wealth was
caused by a pinch of snuff. Do you remember
one Shabbos when you were sitting at your
table surrounded by many guests and you
took a pinch of snuff from your special jeweled,
silver snuff box and then suddenly closed the
snuff box?"
The poor man started to remember that fateful
day as a clear vision of the incident flooded
his
memory. "Oh my G d," said the poor man to
the Baal Shem Tov, "there was a poor
wanderer sitting next to me. When he reached
over to take a pinch of snuff from my special
jeweled, silver snuff box, I closed it and
said, 'What's wrong, isn't that other snuff
box I
put on the table for my guests good enough
for you to use?' That poor wanderer turned
red with embarrassment and didn't say
another word."
"That's exactly what I'm speaking of," said the
Baal Shem Tov. "That man had also been a
rich man that was down on his fortune. He had
been planning to ask you for a loan to get
back on his feet. But, he was so embarrassed
by what you did that he just left without
speaking to you. And just at that moment,"
continued the Baal Shem Tov, "it was decreed
in Heaven that you would change places with
him. Your fortune would go to him and you
would have to beg from door to door as he
had."
"Oh Rebbe, now I remember so clearly,
moaned the poor man. From that day, all my
business ventures failed and I lost everything
until I reached the state that I'm in, having to
wander and beg. Oh, what I wouldn't do to
take back that thoughtless act. Rebbe, is
there anything I can do to change my
situation?"
The Baal Shem Tov closed his eyes and
thought. After a long pause he said, "Well, if
you were to approach that beggar turned rich
man and ask him for a pinch of snuff and he
would refuse you, then your fortunes would
again be reversed."
The poor man immediately left and started to
wander looking for that man with whom he had
changed places. After many months, he came
to a town that was buzzing with preparations
being made for a big wedding. He learned that
the bride was the daughter of a very rich man.
A huge banquet was planned for the wedding
and everyone in the town was invited. The
poor man went to shule to catch a glimpse of
the rich man. At first he didn't recognize him
because of his fancy clothes and new stature.
But, finally the poor man realized, "Oh my G d,
that's him!"
The poor man began to plot a plan as to when
to confront the rich man and ask him for a
pinch of snuff. He decided to wait until
just the
right time, the night of the wedding.
At last, the night of the wedding arrived.
It was
a huge celebration as only such a rich man
could afford. After the wedding ceremony,
everyone was in the banquet hall eating and
drinking and dancing. And right in the middle
of the party, the rich man was dancing
surrounded by his friends and well wishers.
Just at that moment, the poor man broke
through the crowd and approached the rich
man.
"Excuse me," he said to the exuberant rich
man, "could I please bother you for a pinch of
snuff?"
The rich man, immediately broke away from
the other dancer's and took out his jeweled,
silver snuff box and offered the poor man a
pinch of snuff. The poor man fell down in a
swoon. Everyone started to run over to see
what happened. The rich man told
them, "Move back, give him air!" Then he said
to the poor man with great concern in his
voice, "What's wrong? Do want a drink? What
can I do for you?"
The poor man started to cry. "Why did you
give me the snuff? If you had just refused, I'd
be rich again," continued the poor man. Then
he told the rich man the whole story of how
they changed places.
"Oh yes, I remember that day. And it is true,
from that day on, everything I touched turned
to gold. I became richer and richer. It almost
seemed to be heaven sent. In some way you
are my benefactor and I'm not going to let you
suffer any more. Your wandering days are
over. I have a great idea. Why don't you join
me in the business? There's much more than I
can handle by myself. You can move your
family to this town and we can work
together."
And so it was.
Freely adapted from a story in NOTZER
CHESED 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 the L rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak
to the children of Israel, that they take for Me
an offering; of every man whose heart prompts
him, you shall take My offering."
(Terumah 25:1-2)
A person should seek ways to transform his
mundane desires1 — all that "his
heart prompts him" — into good qualities. From
his habitual, bad traits, he should learn how to
serve the Creator with the same passion and
desire, even more intensely.
Tiferes Shlomo, Toldos
I heard from my Master [the Baal Shem Tov],
in the name of Rabbi Sa'adiah Gaon, that it is
appropriate to desire all kinds of material
things, and through this, to come to a desire
for Torah and serving G d.
Ben Poras Yosef, Vayechi, p.
85b
I heard a parable from my Master. A king had
a son whom he wanted to teach the various
subjects that were required for a prince to
know. He hired several scholars, but the boy
failed to grasp even a single area of
knowledge. The king finally gave up on him,
and only one sage remained. One day, the
king's son saw a beautiful, young
woman,2 and desired her. The
sage complained about this to the king, but the
king replied that since the boy shows some
desire, even a physical one, it is possible for
him to learn all the fields of knowledge. The
king ordered that the young woman be
brought to the palace, and told her that should
she must not listen to the prince's
solicitations,
unless he agrees to master one branch of
knowledge. Afterwards, she should demand
that he learn yet another branch. This
continued until he mastered all the areas of
study. But when he finally became a wise
man, he rejected the young woman and
married a princess, as was fitting for
him.3
The meaning of the parable is
obvious.
Ben Poras Yosef, Vayechi, p.
88a
1Literally, "external desires"
(tava'ot chitzonim). See below, where the Baal
Shem Tov explains that within every mundane
desire the love of G d can be found.
2According to another version of
this parable, the girl was a harlot.
3The other version
concludes, "for what connection should a
prince have with a harlot."
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 55
Don't think, "I will pray enthusiastically
when I
can, but I will not push myself when I cannot."
The opposite is true! For when a king enters
the battlefield, he changes his clothing [to be
unrecognizable].1 Yet, his
servants nearby can recognize him by his
gestures, and those who are afar can still
discern that the troops are guarding a certain
place, and that the king is probably
there.
This is also true of prayer. The [distracting
thoughts and emotions] are guarding the King
so that you cannot see Him. You should
therefore push yourself even more, for the
King is there; they are merely hiding Him from
you.
Tzava'as HaRivash, p. 10a
1So that the enemy will not
recognize him and try to kill him.
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 45
Continued from last week — the story of the
Baal Shem Tov's cantor.
Afterward, as the conversation continued, the
cantor told Rabbi Elimelech how the Baal
Shem Tov could gaze from one end of the
earth to the other. Once, when his students
were sitting before him, the Baal Shem Tov
chuckled a little, as he was wont. They asked
him why he chuckled, and he said that in a
certain city in a very distant land, a nobleman
spent several years building a beautiful
castle. Just now, a Tzaddik went to pray the
afternoon prayers, and it started to hail very
heavily, so that he had to run and take shelter
in that castle. When the Tzaddik left for the
synagogue, the palace collapsed. "How can I
not laugh over how much G d's direction of the
world is hidden? The main purpose of this
great building was only to give shelter to this
Tzaddik for a short while, and through this, the
Tzaddik rectified all of the stones and all
of the
sparks [of holiness] that were in them. Why,
then, did they need to remain standing? That
is why they immediately collapsed."
Later, we saw in the newspaper the story of
this building, and its unexplainable collapse.
And it happened exactly at that hour [the Baal
Shem Tov laughed].
From the Manuscripts of R. Yitzchok Isaac
of Komarna
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 72
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:1
Regarding thoughts, there are many different
types of thoughts, some good, some evil. But
even within falsehood there is truth, for the
numerical value of falsehood — SheKeR — is
600, which is inclusive of truth — EmeTh — the
numerical value of which is
441.2
1Ben Porath Yoseph
126c
2This teaching is found in the
quoted source immediately after the teaching
of #71, and continues the same idea. All evil
and falsehood conceals within it the good and
the true, as alluded to by the numerical
values — the numerical value of evil (280) is
also greater than of good (17), the large
difference perhaps implying that good is
frequently extremely hidden within evil,
whereas falsehood must contain a large
amount of truth in order for it to be
accepted.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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