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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE HUMBLE
HEALER
"He called (va-yikra) to Moses. G d spoke to him from
the Tent of the Meeting."
(Vayikra 1:1)
Moses was very humble. Therefore, he did not want to
write the word va-yikra in the Torah with an aleph as
the last letter. In this form, va-yikra means "calling"
with the connotation of high status and love. Instead,
Moses wanted to write va-yikar which means calling in
the language used for a commoner. G d told Moses
to write with the aleph because "you have great status
before me." Moses had to write va-yikra with an aleph
because G d commanded him to do so but he wrote it
with a small aleph. And so we find in every Torah
scroll the aleph of va-yikra is small. MeAm
Lo'ez
AND then there was the time that a a poor
couple had a daughter who suddenly became
paralyzed, G d forbid. They took her to a few local
doctors but none could diagnose what was wrong,
much less suggest a cure. Having no choice left, they
decided to take her to the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov,
the legendary holy man, miracle worker and healer.
True, they really didn't believe in the bubba misas (old
wife tales) about the Rabbi being able to perform
miracles, but what else could they do?
Shortly thereafter, the couple learned that the Baal
Shem Tov happened to be visiting a nearby town.
Placing their paralyzed daughter in the back of their
wagon, they traveled to the town. Their hearts were
heavy as their hopes had been dashed before, so they
didn't say much to each other.
Upon their arrival at the inn, they learned that the Baal
Shem Tov was staying in a room on the second floor.
Of course, there was a long line of people winding up
the stairs waiting to meet with the Baal Shem Tov to
get a blessing.
Finally, it was their turn. They carried their paralyzed
daughter into the room. They handed the Baal Shem
Tov a kivitel (note) asking for a complete healing for
their daughter.
The Baal Shem Tov took the note and said, "Before I
give a blessing for your daughter's healing, I expect to
receive one ruble (equal to 100 kopecks)."
The couple looked at each other and reached into
their pockets. All they could find was 27
kopecks. "Rabbi, here are 27 kopecks. We are very
poor and that is what we have."
The Baal Shem Tov took the 27 kopecks and put them
on the table. Then he said, "I'm sorry, but I really can't
help you unless I receive one ruble."
So the couple searched through all their pockets and
found another 12 kopecks bringing the total to
39. "Rabbi, please take these. But it is all that we
have," said the husband.
The Baal Shem Tov
reached out and took the 12
kopecks and put them on the table with the other 27.
Then he said, "As I said, I really can't help you unless I
receive one ruble."
"But Rabbi," pleaded the wife, "it's all we have. Please
give her a blessing. We're desperate with worry about
our daughter."
The Baal Shem Tov looked at them and said, "I'm
really sorry, but I can't help you. And as for this 39
kopecks, it's not enough." Then he picked up the
kopecks from the table and threw them down the
stairs.
Suddenly, the daughter jumped up and ran down the
stairs collecting the scattered kopecks as she went.
The husband and wife looked at each other with
amazement. Then, they looked at the Baal Shem Tov
and he had a big smile on his face.
The couple quickly turned around and rushed down
the stairs yelling to each other, "Let's get out of here
before the Rabbi actually thinks that he was the one
who healed her."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story heard directly from
Rav Shalom Ber Chaikin of Cleveland, Ohio.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"He called to Moses. G d spoke to him from
the Tent of the Meeting." (Vayikra 1:1)
The Baal Shem Tov said that he learned all his
remedies1 from the verse, "And He
called to Moses."2
Heichal HaBracha, Vayikra
The Baal Shem Tov cured only through the use of
Unifications.3 He would uplift the
Shechina and unite it with the trait of
Ayin,4 and the lower world would
automatically be
repaired.
Ma'or Eynayim, Naso
1Besides being a mystic and a
communal leader, the Baal Shem Tov was also a
renowned healer, who used both natural remedies
and segulot — supernatural methods — to affect
cures.
2R. Yitzchok Isaac of Komarno (Heichal
HaBracha) explains that the letter aleph at the end of
the word Vayikra represents the level of Keter (Crown)
and Ayin (Nothingness). (Aleph is the first letter of the
Hebrew alphabet, and in this word, is written small in
the Torah scroll, suggesting the idea of ego -
nullification.) The Baal Shem Tov knew how to uplift
the world to this supernal root and draw down healing
energy. See footnote 4, below.
3Yichudim: These lie at the basis of
kabbalistic meditation, prayer and ritual acts, and
include the mystical recombination of letters, as well
as the uplifting and unification of one's emotions and
intellect with the Divine.
4The Shechina is the Divine Presence
that dwells within creation. Ideally, it receives light
from G d and reveals it in the world, so that Divinity
shines from within creation itself. At times, however,
the Shechina falls into "exile," and a breech occurs
between G d and creation (from our perspective).
This is the spiritual root of all suffering and illness.
When the Shechina is uplifted and united with G d, all
the forces of negativity are annulled. Ayin refers to the
sefirah of Keter, which contains a revelation of the
Divine Being completely beyond human perception,
just as a crown is above the mind of the wearer. Ayin
therefore means "Nothingness," since it transcends
human cognition, and can only be accessed through
mystical self-annulment. The Baal Shem Tov taught
that a person should never pray for his own needs, but
only for the fulfillment and redemption of the Shechina,
for when the Divine Presence is rectified, so are all of
her "limbs," which are the individual components of
creation.
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 59
There are those who are depressed when they pray,
due to an abundance of melancholy.1
Yet they imagine that they are praying with great fear
[of G d]. Others think that are praying out of great love
for G d, though it really due to red bile. However, when
[a person prays] out of love of G d, and suddenly feels
ashamed, and longs to glorify G d and subdue his
own evil inclination for His sake, then it is
good.
A person is not called a servant of G d
unless it is with fear and love. But fear must come
upon him [suddenly], and not through his own efforts,
for that case is the uplifting of the "Feminine waters."
True fear, however, is when it falls upon him
[suddenly], until he no longer knows where he is, his
mind becomes purified, and tears flow by
themselves. If it is not like this, although it may seem
to him that he loves the Creator, it isn't anything. For
this is the gate to G d. Fear is the gate to love, and if
he is not in the gate of fear, how can he be in love? A
person like this isn't even a servant, and certainly not
on a level for fear to descend upon him. He isn't
doing the type of worship that is fit for a Jew at all. He
is merely serving G d by rote. He imagines that he is
serving G d in joy, but it is only a debased form of
happiness. Therefore, he should return to G d with all
of his heart and soul.
Likutey Yikarim, p. 3a
1Marah shechora, literally, "black bile."
This is based upon a medical theory that the body
exudes various types of bile that effect the emotions,
as is clear in the continuation this piece. The point is
that one may feel that they are praying with devekus —
spiritual attachment — whereas their emotions are
merely a product of their physiology.
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 49
The holy Rabbi Yitzchok of Nechshiz, author of Toldos
Yitzchok, said in the name of his father, that he does
not take seriously any stories told about Tzaddikim, for
many are false and filled with mistakes. Not so,
however, the stories told about the Baal Shem Tov,
because even if it didn't actually happen, the Baal
Shem Tov always could have done it.
Zichron Tov, p. 9b
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 79
"He thinks evil on his bed, he stands on a path that is
not good."1
This refers to someone who prays in his illness — "on
his bed" — fooled by the evil inclination into asking
G d's assistance in merit of his good deeds, when in
truth, "he stand on a path that is not
good."2
1Psalms 36:5. This verse follows
the one quoted at the end of the previous teaching,
and is explained as continuing the same idea.
2Not only is a person fooled into acting
improperly and justifying himself by believing that he
acted properly, but he then turns around and expects
G d to assist him in merit of that "good deed."
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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