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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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WE'RE IN THIS
TOGETHER
And now, if You would, please forgive their (the
Children of Israel) sin. If not, erase me (Moses)
. . . . . (Exodus 32:32)
One Saturday night at a Malave Malka, the Sadigora
Rebbe (1819-1893) recounted the following Baal
Shem Tov story
as follows.
Our Holy Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, had
the custom of visiting a certain small Ukrainian town
located in a valley, deep in the Carpathian Mountains.
Although many of the town residents were followers of
the Tzaddik, he always stayed at the home of the
same person, a prosperous townsman.
One Friday afternoon, the Baal
Shem Tov unexpectedly arrived in the town. Alexei, his
wagon driver, stopped the wagon in front of the large
synagogue at the center of the town. The Baal Shem
Tov immediately stepped down from the wagon,
entered the synagogue, and made preparations for
the Sabbath.
Word spread around the town that the Baal Shem Tov
was mysteriously staying at the Synagogue for the
Sabbath. His usual host hurried to the synagogue
and asked him to be his guest as always, but the Holy
Rebbe declined.
All the townsfolk soon
assembled in the synagogue for the Sabbath evening
prayers. As soon as the Sabbath evening prayers
were concluded, the Baal Shem Tov requested that all
the worshipers remain (instead of returning home for
the traditional Sabbath meal) and recite Psalms
together.
Just before midnight, he had his Shabbos evening
meal brought to him. At the same time, he told the
worshipers to join their families for the mitzvah of
eating the Shabbos meal and then to return.
Later, the whole congregation returned and
recited Tehillim in unison through the night.
After the Sabbath morning prayers, the Baal
Shem Tov approached his usual host and said that he
would be pleased to accept his invitation for the
midday meal.
Upon completing the Shabbos afternoon
meal, the Baal Shem Tov and the other invited guests
relaxed around the table feeling refreshed by the
joyous spirit of Shabbos.
Suddenly, a knock
was heard at the door.
When the host went to the door, a gentile stood there
and asked for a drink of vodka. The Baal Shem Tov
signaled to the host to oblige. Then, the Baal Shem
Tov motioned for the gentile to sit next to him at the
table. When everyone was quiet, he asked the gentile
to tell everyone what had happened yesterday.
The latter began, "just before evening, the Squire (the
local landowner) summoned all the peasants from
the surrounding villages to meet at his estate. When
they had gathered, he handed out weapons including
guns and ammunition and told them to prepare to
murder all the Jewish people living in this very town
located near his estate. All night long we waited
impatiently for the order to go and begin the killing.
But just before dawn, a carriage appeared and an
important looking official stepped down and spoke
with the Squire. When they finished, the Squire told all
the villagers to go home."
The Baal Shem Tov now
explained to the Chassidim sitting around the
table: "This poritz (landowner) is so wealthy that he's
never in a hurry to sell his grain, and no price offered
is high enough for him. Because of this, the harvests
of many years have piled up in his granaries and have
begun to rot. When he discussed this with several of
his friends, being anti-Semitic, they convinced him that
his Jewish sales agents were to blame for the
spoilage of the grain by dissuading customers from
buying his produce. Being incensed, the poritz
decided to get revenge by wiping out all of the Jewish
people in this town. I tried to intervene in the spiritual
worlds but was unsuccessful. I finally had to bring
back one of the squire's old school friends. This
friend had been dead for the last forty years, but the
local poritz did not know because they had lived so far
apart. The "friend's" first question to the squire
was, "Who are all these dangerous looking peasants
gathered here on your estate? And why were they
armed?"
The squire told his friend how he was about to take
revenge on the Jews because they had maliciously
caused his grain to accumulate and rot.
"You
don't say!" exclaimed the important looking
visitor. 'Why, I frequently deal with Jewish sales
agents and I've always found them to be honest and
reliable. Tomorrow, after their Sabbath, why don't you
ask them to sell your rotting grain. I'm sure you'll find
that they will not only sell the grain for you, but get you
a good price."
That's when the squire went out and told the waiting
peasants to disperse."
When the Sadigora Rebbe finished telling
the story, he remarked: "There remains something
problematic about this story. Why did the Baal Shem
Tov go to the trouble of traveling to that town? After all,
he could have done what he did without moving from
his home."
The Rebbe continued, "I heard
the Baal Shem Tov thought as follows: 'If my plan
works - well and good; but if it doesn't, then I want to
be there together with the Jews of that town."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a Story translated in A
TREASURY OF CHASSIDIC TALES ON THE TORAH
by R. S. Y. Zevin
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And the L·rd spoke to Moses,
saying:
This they shall give, every one that passes
among
them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel
of the sanctuary. (Exodus 30:13)
G·d showed Moses a shekel of fire, and
said, "They
should give like this."1
A goldsmith had an apprentice. When he finished
teaching him the craft, he wrote down for his student
all the steps in the process. However, he did not write
down that he had to ignite the coals before he started,
because that was the main thing, and unnecessary to
mention. However, the student forgot,
etc.2
This parable is easily understood. The
main thing [in serving G·d] is that there be a
spark of
fire that can be ignited.3
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 119b
1Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Sisa 9. Quoted
by Rashi on
the verse.
2The parable ends here. Obviously, the
student forgot to light the coals, and was unable to
produce any results.
3The Baal Shem Tov said about the
Maggid of Mezeritch, when the latter first came to see
him, "A box full of candles has come to me. They only
need to be lit." (Zicharon Tov, p.5c)
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 107.
A human being is composed of numerous forces, and
each one is necessary for another [supernal] world.
When his soul ascends to all the worlds that it must
rise to, they examine it in each world to see if he is fit
to enter. If not, they push him out. Sometimes, they
send him extraneous thoughts to push him away. But
if he is wise, he can bind himself to G·d even
more through that very thought. Because the thought
is
made of letters, which are the "limbs" of the Divine
Presence. These fell among the "shells" due to the
force of the Breaking [of the Vessels], so that the
letters became arranged in an evil pattern. This is like
a person who serves delicacies that are all mixed
together. Each one alone is good, but when they are
combined, they are repulsive. So too, this has become
bad.
But when he understands the nature of the
thought - if it is desire, then it has fallen from the
World of Desire,1if negative fear, from
the World of
Fear,2if pride, from the World of Tiferes,
and so on, all that fell from the "Seven Days of
Building"3- and
he binds them to G·d in love and fear of the
Creator,
he returns them to their source. The same holds true
of the other attributes, each thought according to the
attribute from which it fell. When he binds it to that
attribute, the shell falls away, and it forms a good
combination. This is what is said: "They open the
cords and the sacks fall"4 - that is, the
shells fall.
G·d takes great pleasure in this.
Like the
son of a king who has fallen into captivity. When they
bring him to the king, the king is much more pleased
than had his son been with him all the time.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 3a, Likutey Amarim p.
4a
1This is related to the Sefirah of
Chesed.
2Related to the Sefirah of Gevurah.
3A reference to the seven days of
creation, which correspond to the seven lower Sefiros,
from Chesed to Malchus, that fell during the primordial
Breaking of the Vessels.
4Shabbat 153a
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 44.
44. 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 140
"Every 'rav' is from Babylon, and every 'rabbi' is from
Israel."
The Baal Shem Tov taught2:
Wisdom and Understanding can be found throughout
the world. Wisdom is alluded to by the reish of reishit
chochmah/wisdom, and Understanding is alluded to
in bet of Binah/understanding.3
Everything that takes place or is done in the world is
the result of some combination of the two, although it
lacks the flow from the Infinite, which is represented
by the letter yud.4But with that flow, which
is represented by the letter yud, reish-bet/"rav"
becomes reish-bet-yud "rabbi," but this can take
place only in "Israel."5
2Toldoh Yaakov Yoseph, Chukath
#5.
3The reish and the bet together
spell "rav." Thus, Wisdom and Understanding can be
found in Babylon, as well.
4The world is filled with G·d's Wisdom
for man to understand, but without Daat/Perception,
represented by the yud, man is blind to truly perceive
it. Thus, even our ability to perceive is a gift from
G·d.
5"Israel" here does not mean only the
geographical Land of Israel, but any spiritual "place" at
which one perceives this.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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