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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE DEFECTIVE
MEZUZAH
"[Also] write them on [parchments affixed to] the
doorposts of your houses and gates."
(Va'etchanan 6:4)
AND it happened that once, the Baal Shem
Tov was visiting the home of a member of the Holy
Community of Nemirov. While going from one room
to another room, the Baal Shem Tov "inadvertently"
opened the door to the cellar. He reached out to kiss
the Mezuzah affixed to the cellar doorway. (It is an age
old Jewish custom to touch a Mezuzah with your finger
tips and then kiss them.) But before he actually
touched the Mezuzah, he suddenly stopped.
Rabbi Israel looked over to his host and said, "This
Mezuzah should be checked." [Mezuzahs need to be
checked every few years because the inked letters
can break or peel off, or even touch each other due to
shrinkage of the klaf (animal skin) on which it is
written. Even a slight imperfection in the letters
renders the Mezuzah defective and non-kosher.]
The host replied, "Rabbi, just because you opened
the wrong door, does that mean you need to justify
your mistake by questioning the kashrut of my
Mezuzah? Maybe you just accidentally opened the
door to the cellar?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "As far as I'm
concerned, there is no such thing as an accident. In
reality, everything, without exception, is directed by
Divine Guidance and is not a matter of
chance."
Later, the man found that the
Mezuzah was in fact posul (not kosher).
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in SHIVCHEI
HABESHT and translated in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL
SHEM TOV by Ben Amos and Mintz
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"Behold, I have taught you rules and laws, as the
L·rd G·d has commanded me, that you should keep
them, in the land to which you are coming to
possess. You shall observe them and do them."
(Devarim 4:60)
"Observe them" - this is
Mishnah.1 "And do them" as it implies.
Rashi
You should be pure-hearted in your service of G·d.
The main thing is not to forget [the essential] things,
to study a certain amount of mussar every
day2, and to see
that you are always attached to good character
traits and proper behavior. Do not let a day go by
without doing a mitzvah, whether it is easy or
difficult to perform. This is alluded to in [the
Mishnah]: Be as careful (zahir) in the performance of
a minor mitzvah as of a major
one."3 "Zahir" as in the words:"And the
wise shall shine
(yaZhiRu) as the brightness of the
firmament."(Daniel 12:3) That is, the soul
should shine
and radiate [in the performance] of a minor mitzvah
just as it does with a major one. For G·d desires
the heart.4
Tzivos HaRivash, p. 2a
This is a very great thing. For then, a person knows
that he did [a mitzvah] on that day, and created one
angel. "And if there is for him an angel, an
intercessor, one among a thousand5 to
vouch for a man's uprightness, then He will be
gracious to him, and say, "Deliver him from
descending to the pit, I have found a ransom."
(Job 33:23)
This is alluded to in [the verse]:"He who keeps
(shomer) the commandment will not know an evil
thing." (Ecclesiastes 8:5) That is when a
person commits himself to being constantly
attentive from morning till eve for a mitzvah to
present itself to him. This is the meaning of shomer,
as in "And his father watched out for the matter
(shomar et hadavar)." (Genesis 37:11)
Then,
the result will be that he "will not know an evil
thing." That is, he will not have an improper seminal
emission, which is called "evil," G·d
forbid.6
This is alluded to in the verse: "The
kindness of G·d is all the day." (Psalms 52:3)
That is, each and every day, you must do kindness
to G·d.
Tzivos HaRivash, p. 3b
1I.e. the study of the Oral Torah, so as
not to forget it.
2A general term for inspirational and
ethical literature, such as Sha¡arei Teshuva
or
Reishis Chochmah. (The Baal Shem Tov
predated the mussar
movement of R. Yisroel Salant by about a hundred
years.)
3Pirkei Avos 2:1.
4Sanhedrin 105b.
5A thousand accusers.
6The Torah considers the act of spilling
seed as one of the most grievous sins possible, so
much so that it is given the unique title of "evil" (ra).
(As in the verse: "And Er, Judah's first-born, was
evil
in the sight of G·d," (Genesis 38:7), on
which Rashi comments that he intentionally spilled
his
seed on the ground.) According to Kabbalah, this
act was part of the sin of Adam, and causes damage
even when it happens unintentionally, such as during
sleep. Much of Chasidic thought deals with rectifying
this sin on the personal and cosmic level. In addition
to the mystical power of mitzvah observance to
engender purity, the Baal Shem Tov may have meant
that constant attentiveness to fulfilling the will of
G·d protects a man from impure thoughts during the
day, so that his dreams will be pure at night. This is
as the Talmud states: "A person shouldn't think
about illicit things during the day that will bring him
to impurity in the night."(Kesuvos 46a)
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 78
And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of
the north, a great cloud, with a fire flashing up, so that
brightness was round about it; and out of the midst
thereof as the color of electrum (chashmal).
(Ezekiel
1:4)
At times they were silent (chash), and at times they
spoke (milel) - chash mal.1
First you must be silent, until you cut away
(mal1) the
kelipos. Then you can speak and cling [to G·d], in
order to sweeten the Strict Judgments in their source.
This is the mystery of prayer, as my Master explained
it in the name of his teacher.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 29c
1Chagiga 13b
2From the word "milah."
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 13
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 98
One should always praise G·d before
praying.1
One should always pray before praising
G·d.2
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
These two Talmudic sayings do not contradict, but
both are actually expressing the same idea.
The power of the Creator is in the Creation, and the
world can be compared to the shell of an insect that is
an integral part of its body. Thus, a spark of G·d can
be found in all types of physical or spiritual pain, albeit
hidden within a veil. This is alluded to in the
verse, "The seven maidservants fitting to be given to
[Esther] from the royal
palace."3
Thus, when one deeply understands that G·d is with
him right there and then, the veil is removed and all
suffering ceases. This is what the first teaching
means by saying that one should first praise G·d,
because G·d's praise is that His Glory fills all the
earth, and that He can be found amidst all pain.
When one realizes this, the suffering ceases, as said,
and one can pray, because the suffering will
automatically cease, since one knows how to praise
G·d in this manner.
The other opinion, though, says that one should pray
first, that is, by believing that G·d is with him wherever
he is, and then one is able to express G·d's
praises.4
1Tractate Brakhoth 32a
2Tractate Avodah Zarah 7b
3Esther 2:9
4Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, VaYechi
#1
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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