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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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LEAVING HOME
And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your land
and from your birthplace and from your father's
house. . . . . Genesis (12:1)
And then there was the time that the Baal Shem Tov
told his followers about his early childhood and life as
a young man.
"I was five years old when my father passed on to the
next world. His last words to me were, 'Yisroelik, love
every Jew dearly and never fear anything except for
G·d, the G·d of heaven and earth.'
Soon thereafter, my mother followed my father and I
was an orphan, all alone in the world.
The local villagers of the community of Okup took care
of me. Each week, I would live with a different family.
They fed and clothed me and sent me to cheder with
the rest of the young boys of the village. But I was often
very restless and would go out to the open fields and
vast forests that surrounded our town.
Sometimes, I even slept overnight in the forest. I
wasn't the slightest afraid because I could always
hear my father's last words, '. . . never fear anything
except for G·d, the G·d of heaven and earth.' This went
on for about two years.
One day, after spending the night in the forest and just
completing my morning prayers, I heard a man's voice
deep in the forest. I followed the sound until I came
upon an amazing sight. There stood a man wrapped
in his tallis and tefillin, praying with a fervor that I had
not seen or heard before.
I hid behind the trees and watched and listened to his
inspiring prayers. I thought to myself. 'This must
surely be one of the thirty-six hidden Tzaddikim in
whose merit the world is sustained.'
When he finished his prayers, he removed his tallis
and tefilin and began reciting Tehillim (Psalms of
David) with deep feeling.
Afterwards, the man opened a worn volume of Torah
and began studying aloud with great enjoyment.
Many hours passed. Then he rose and packed away
his sacred books, tallis and
Teffilin into his knapsack.
Just as he was walking away, his knapsack on his
shoulder and walking stick in hand, he saw me
emerge from my hiding place. I approached slowly.
Startled, he asked, 'What is a young boy doing alone
in this deep forest? Aren't
you afraid to be here by yourself?'
I told him that I was an orphan and was being cared
for by the local villagers. I explained how I loved the
fields and forests. Then, I repeated to him my father's
last words and explained that I wasn't the least bit
afraid to be alone in the forest.
When the old man heard that, he asked if I was the
son of the great Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer. When I told
him that I was, he took out the Talmud tractate of
Pesachim and we began studying together.
Afterwards, the stranger rose to leave and I joined
him. From that time on, I traveled with this man as we
wandered about from place to place. We passed
through cities and villages, towns and hamlets. I later
learned that his name was Reb Chaim the Nistor (the
hidden one).
Each day we prayed together and he would study with
me. During that time, he took care of all my needs. I
never saw him accept charity from anyone. We
traveled this way for about three years.
One day we came to the outskirts of a small village.
He brought me to a rundown wooden hut in a nearby
forest. Then he said to me, 'I will leave soon but you
will stay here with my friend, Reb Meir. The villagers
think he is a simple laborer but really he is a Tzaddik
and great Torah scholar. He will take care of all your
needs and continue to teach you Torah.' Then, he left.
I stayed in Reb Meir's hut for the next four years.
During that time, he studied Torah with me and taught
many layers of interpretation.
Every day we would go to the nearby village to pray
with the local townspeople. None of them realized that
he was a hidden holy man. They thought of him simply
as Reb Meir, the laborer.
While there, I learned that Rabbi Meir belonged to a
group of hidden Tzaddikim disguised as simple
laborers to keep their true identity secret. They spent
their lives visiting scattered Jewish communities and
lodged at the local synagogues and ate small
amounts food that they brought with them. In their own
way, they encouraged and uplifted the simple Jews
they met, infusing their spiritual service with renewed
energy.
The saintly Reb Adam Baal Shem of Ropshitz headed
this group. By the age of eleven, I joined them and we
wandered together through the countryside from town
to town and village to village. We did our best to help
the downtrodden and to inspire whoever we met.
By the age of sixteen, I had already acquired an
extensive knowledge of Kabbala. I began to pray
according to the Arizal's arrangement of prayers, using
certain holy names that my first teacher, Reb Chaim
the "Nistor" had taught me."
And so it was
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from Sifrei Chabad
and found in Stories of the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y.
Klapholtz
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And G·d said to Avram, "Go further away for
your own benefit - from your land, from your birthplace,
and from your father's house, to the land that I will
show you." (Genesis 12:1)
"I will make your nature known in the world"
(Rashi).
I heard from my Master the Baal Shem Tov, in the
name of Rav Sa'adiah
Gaon, that a person is created in this world solely to
break his negative, inborn character traits. Through
this, he raises up the level called "your nature" [i.e.
what is natural for you] "in the world" - [i.e. into the
world] Above." It is called "world" (olam) from the
word "hidden" (he'elam) and "concealed."
Kesser Shem Tov, p. 3b
For instance, if the heat of his liver causes him to be
hot-tempered1, he should break his
nature and his
anger as much as possible. Likewise, if an over-
excitable nature causes him to spill seed,
G·d forbid, he should break this
[characteristic]. And one who is depressed by nature,
who bemoans and complains even when serving
G·d, has no virtue. And if his nature is to be a
hedonist and reveler, he should break his nature and
do the opposite.
This is what the Sages said: "One who is
born on a Tuesday will be wealthy and adulterous (atir
v'zanai)." The problem is that these are opposite
traits. If he is adulterous, it is more likely that he will
be poor, as it is written: "On account of a harlot, a man
is brought to a loaf of bread. . . " (Proverbs 6:26). "He
with big pumpkins and she with small ones."
Rather, this must refer to a person who by
nature is adulterous, but who breaks his nature and
becomes a zanai - one who sells different types of
foodstuff (mazon), as Rashi says about Rachav: "A
woman of zonah" (Joshua 2:1) - that she sold
different types of mazon. Therefore, it is good that he
is rich and a zanai.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 85b
1 Anger was thought to be a
result of too much heat in the liver.
2 Shabbat
156a.
3 See Sotah 4b: "Rava said, 'Whoever
has relations
with a harlot will end up begging for a loaf of bread.'"
4 Megilah 12a/b. The verse from
the Scroll of Esther
states: "On the seventh day, when the heart of the king
was merry with wine, he commanded . . . to bring
Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal,
to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for
she was fair to look upon (Esther 1:10-11). The
gemara comments that just as King Achashverus had
licentious intent, so was Queen Vashti willing to
appear for the same reason. "He with big pumpkins
and she with small ones" - i.e. both their intentions
were for evil. However, it is not clear how this proves
the Baal Shem Tov's point that promiscuity leads to
poverty.
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 88
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Put all of your concentration into the words
that you are saying, until you see the lights of those
words shining into one another, and numerous lights
being born from within them.
This is: "Light
is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in
heart" (Psalms 97:11). The letters of Torah are
G·d's chambers, into which He draws the
emanation of His light, as the Zohar states: "The Holy
One and the Torah are One."1
Focus all of your intention - that is, your soul - into
them, for conscious intention is the soul. This is
devekus.2 "The Holy One, the Torah
and Israel are all One." This is the [meaning of the]
divestment of physicality; when you strip your soul of
your body, so that your soul clothes itself in the
thoughts that you are speaking. Then you will see
numerous supernal worlds.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 4d, Likutey Amorim p. 4a
1Zohar 2:85b; 3:73a.
2Spiritual attachment.
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 26
Another positive trait of our
Rabbi, the Baal Shem Tov, was that the light of the
Messiah began to shine with him - a tradition we
have received from Tzaddikim who are the
foundations of the
world.
The Baal Shem Tov himself asked
the
Messiah, "When will our Master come?" And the latter
replied, "When your teachings are known throughout
the world."1 Thus G·d arranged
for many great Jewish sages to become his students.
Divrei Shalom, Introduction
1 "It is known that the Messiah told the
Baal Shem Tov that his coming depends upon the
spreading of the Baal Shem Tov's disciples and
through them his teachings throughout the world.
Therefore, whenever a book based upon the
teachings of the Baal Shem Tov is
introduced to the world, it hastens the final
redemption."
(Divrei Shalom, p. 12a)
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 116
The Baal Shem Tov taught on the following:
"If you do not know, O loveliest of women, then go
follow the footsteps of the flocks. . . ."1
The Mishnah says: "Who is a wise person? The one
who learns from every
person."2
This Mishnah can be understood with a parable.
When one looks in a mirror, one knows that whatever
blemishes and faults that one sees in the mirror are
one's own. The same thing applies when one sees
blemishes and faults in others - one knows that one
is really seeing one's own faults.3
1Song of Songs
1:8.
2Tractate
Avoth:1.
3Toldos Yaakov Yoseph,
Pekudei #3. In other words, the world is like a mirror
to our own inner world. We see only that which is part
of our own inner realities, on a conscious or
unconscious level. If it would not be part of our own
inner worlds, we simply would not notice it. Our minds
would not be attuned to it, and would not
be "sensitive" to pick it up. The screening system that
filters what comes into our consciousness would
dismiss it as irrelevant. Furthermore, the reason that
this mirror image did cross our path, is because our
outer world is more than just a random mirror. In fact,
it is an intentional mirror meant to reflect back to
ourself what our inner world looks like, as we
learned elsewhere (KST 43).
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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