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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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EATING FOR
ATONEMENT
"They will gain atonement by eating."
(Tezaveh 29:33)
And then there was the time that a simple Jew, who
lived in
the holy community of Medzibush, became
desperately sick.
Fortunately for him, the Baal Shem Tov, already
famous as a
holy man and miracle worker, lived in that same
town.
Naturally, many of the sick man's friends suggested to
his wife
and children that they go to the Baal Shem Tov and
ask for a
Brocha (blessing) that their father have a speedy
recovery.
The family was G d fearing and they respected the
Baal Shem
Tov. However, they were not the type to have a Rebbe
(a
spiritual master), or believe in modern day miracles
for that
matter so they refused to consult him. Instead, they
arranged
for a well-known doctor to travel all the way from
Vienna to
treat him.
Even after the doctor carefully examined and did many
tests
on the sick man, he still was not able to diagnose his
disease,
much less heal him. Even worse, several days
passed and the
sick man was getting progressively sicker. In
frustration, the
doctor gave up. "I'm sorry," he said, "there is just
nothing else I
can do." With that, he picked up his bags and
prepared to
leave.
Hearing the doctor's words, the whole family became
very
upset. "What will become of our beloved husband
and father?"
they thought in despair.
Just at that moment, the Baal Shem Tov came by to
visit the
sick man. Perhaps it was a coincidence that he
stopped by just
then to fulfill the mitzvah of "bikur cholim" (visiting the
sick).
He found the man in a horrible state, lying in bed, pale
and
barely breathing. The Baal Shem Tov sat down by the
side of
the bed, staring at the sick man in a meditative
silence.
Suddenly, the Baal Shem Tov looked around and said
to the
family, "Quick, cook up a meat broth and feed it to him,
spoonful by spoonful. As soon as he sits up, make
him
comfortable and with G d's help, he will soon fully
recover."
While the wife rushed out to prepare the meat broth,
the others
recited Tehillim (Psalms). Everyone, except for the
doctor,
released a great sigh of relief upon hearing the Baal
Shem
Tov's words. The doctor, with a sour face, said, "I do
not
believe for a second that he's going to
recover."
As soon as the meat broth was prepared, the man's
wife fed
him one spoonful at a time. At first, the sick man
could hardly
open his parched lips. But slowly he sipped the
soup. Soon
he started to breathe more easily, and began to drink
down the
broth with each spoonful. Almost miraculously, color
returned
to his face. Within a few minutes he was sitting up,
talking to
his family with a bright smile. Everyone was amazed
at the
how fast the sick man recovered.
The doctor said in a bewildered tone of voice: "Rabbi, I
can't
believe what I just saw! One minute, my patient is on
his
deathbed and the next minute he's sitting up eating
soup and
smiling! How did you do it?"
The Baal Shem Tov explained, "Honored doctor, you
think of
healing as a physical function, while I consider it a
spiritual
undertaking. It is true that the man was physically
beyond
help, but spiritually he was still capable of being
healed. A
person's body has 248 organs and 365 vessels,
which together
correspond to the 613 mitzvahs (commandments) of
the Torah. When a person
transgresses a particular mitzvah, the portion of his
body
corresponding to that mitzvah is afflicted and prevents
the
spiritual vitality of the soul from flowing through that
particular
part of the body. Eventually, other parts of the body
become
affected, and the whole body begins to deteriorate. A
person
is then in mortal danger. I did not heal this man's
body. I just
spoke to his soul asking if it was willing to repent for
its
transgressions of the Torah. Once the soul accepted
upon
itself Teshuvah (return to its connection to G d), the
physical
body was easily healed and the man returned to his
former
health, as you just witnessed."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn,
Patent Attorney) from a story in NIFLAOS BESHT 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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"And Aaron shall bear the names of the
children of
Israel on the Breastplate of Judgment upon
his heart,
when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial
before the L rd continually. And you shall
put in the
Breastplate of Judgment the Urim and the
Thummim;
and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he
goes in
before the L rd." (Tezaveh
28:29-30)
It is known that the Breastplate barely
contained all
twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as
our
Sages have said.1 Therefore, when
they
had to ask a question2 that used
several
of the same letters, such as "Should I go to
Bavel,"3 how were they answered?
There is a very great mystery in this. I
heard from my
grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov], that each of
the
twenty-two letters [of the Hebrew alphabet]
contains
within it all the other letters of the
alphabet4 (except for the letter
mem).5 Since G d commanded that all
twenty-two letters be inscribed on the
Breastplate,
when the priest would be enwrapped in Divine
inspiration, the letters would shine in their
expanded
forms. This enabled them to receive
everything they
needed to know. Understand this!
This is the meaning of "onyx stones, and
stones to be set,6 for the ephod,
and for
the breastplate." (Exodus 25:7)
Ephraim, Likutim
1Yoma 73b. There were twelve
precious stones set in the Breastplate of
Judgment.
They were engraved with the names of the
Patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the names of the
twelve
tribes, and the words "tribes of Yeshurun."
Certain
letters, such as the gimel or the zayin, were
written
only once.
2The Breastplate of Judgment was a
prophetic device, worn by the High Priest,
through
which questions could be asked of G d. When the
king or the High Court (Sanhedrin) would ask a
question, the Priest would see various
letters sparkle
or bulge out. Using Divine Inspiration, he
would then
be able to combine the letters to spell out
the answer.
See Aryeh Kaplan, Handbook of Jewish Thought,
vol. 1 (New York: Moznaim, 1979), 6:36 and fn.
110, for more on this subject.
3The question "Should I go to Bavel?"
contains two letters beit, and three lameds.
However,
it is likely that the author was only using
this as an
example of a phrase with repeating letters,
because
there were at least five beits and four
lameds in the
Breastplate — enough to spell out these
words.
4These can be attained by spelling
out
each letter in full. For instance, writing
out the letter
aleph in full provides a lamed and a phey.
Furthermore, each of these letters can further
expanded, to produce even more letters, until
the
entire Hebrew alphabet is reconstituted.
5The letter mem, when written in
full, will
not produce any additional letters. (Original
editor's
note.)
6"Avnei miluyim," read alternatively
as "stones that are filled out" — meaning
that the
engraved letters shone in their expanded forms.
In a number of other lessons on this theme,
the Baal
Shem Tov explains that additional letters can be
derived from a single letter by using the
techniques of
gematria (numerical value of the letters), or
by dividing
the letters into their component parts. It
is possible
that those approaches were originally
mentioned with
this lesson, since there are a number of
other letters,
such as the gimel, zayin, ches, tes and
samech that
could never be derived from the other
letters, no
matter how many times they are spelled out. See
Baal Shem Tov on the Torah, Parashas Yisro,
fn. 11,
for more on this subject.
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 56
Even when one is in a state of constricted
consciousness, he should still be in a state of great
attachment to the Shechinah. Afterward, in one
second, when one thinks about the Supernal Worlds,
you will be there, for a person is where he places his
thought, and if he was not in the Supernal World, he
would not be able to think [of them] at all.
Tzava'as HaRivash, p. 5a
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 46
Continued from last week — the story of the
Baal Shem Tov's cantor.
Then, the cantor stood up and swore that he once
learnt Torah from the Baal Shem Tov, and fired burned
around them until they were so purified that they heard
the Torah from our Master like Israel received it at
Mount Sinai, with thunder and lightening and the
mighty blasts of the shofar. It was exactly like Mount
Sinai! For the sounds [of Mount Sinai] never ceased,
being Divine; however, a person needs holiness and
purity [to hear them].
Rabbi Elimelech replied, "I have not
achieved that, though it comes as no surprise, for the
service and holiness of our Master Israel [Baal Shem]
was extremely great. Especially, in that his holy
practices were in that pure place, the Nestir river, and
from Achiya HaShiloni.1 Fortunate is the
person who merits this."
The G d-fearing person who hears this
will understand that all of the above mentioned levels
were attained by Rabbi Elimelech, or ones similar to
them.
From the Manuscripts of R. Yitzchok Isaac
of Komarna
1The Baal Shem Tov learned Torah from
the prophet Achiya HaShiloni, who lived in the land of
Israel during the First Temple Period.
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 73
The Baal Shem Tov told this
parable:1
There was a king who had three servants. Once, a
rumor reached the king that they were not loyal to him,
so he ordered that each of them should choose one of
the dogs in the royal courtyard and feed and support
it.
One of the servants was wise, and made a crown for
the king with the money that could have gone to
support his dog. The second servant only fed his dog
enough that it shouldn't die. The third servant, though,
fed his dog very well.2
The king provoked the dog to attack the third servant,
but not the one who made him a
crown.3
1Ben Porath Yoseph 126d
2This parable is a metaphor for G d's
intention regarding the evil inclination, similar to the
metaphor in the Zohar of the king who hired a
prostitute to entice his son. Here, the king wants to
test the loyalty of his servants, so he orders them to
feed a dog — the evil inclination. The king's intention,
of course, was not that they really feed the dog, which
the wise servant understood. So this servant takes
the money that he would have put into the dog and
puts it into glorifying the king. By the same token, our
task is to take the energy that we could put into
fulfilling our evil inclinations and transform it into
glorifying G d. We "crown" G d when we are able to
see through the veil of evil and to recognize how G d is
hidden even there. We have then coronated G d over
all corners of existence. This is the path of
transformation spoken about in #69 (see there, n. 2).
The second servant, though, followed the path of
overcoming and subduing — he virtually starved the
dog, a method of mortification once commonly used to
overcome the evil inclination. The third servant, of
course, is the one who fulfills his desires and evil
inclinations, and thus only increases their hold on
him, as represented by the king provoking the
dog.
3The parable only speaks about the
king's response to the first and third servants, but the
second servant seems to be ignored. Indeed, as said
in the previous note, the second servant represents
the one who tries to serve G d, but his path is not what
G d really desires.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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