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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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STEALING FROM A
WIDOW
"Do not mistreat a widow or an
orphan. If you mistreat them,and they cry out to me, I
will hear their cry. I will then display my anger ....."
(Exodus 22:21 - 22:23)
During the times of the Baal Shem Tov, it
was practice
for the local Poritz (the governor of estate lands) to
grant an "arrendeh" - a privileged contract to perform
services for the estate, such as milling grain, or
distilling liquor, or even collecting taxes. Such an
arrangement could be quiet profitable, but also
precarious because the Poritz could change his mind
at a whim, and discontinue the arrangement without
notice.
Once, a widow had assumed
the "arrendeh" that was managed by her late
husband. She was a capable woman, and able to
successfully continue managing business which
provided a modest income for her and her children.
All was going well, until a man, known as Reb Faivel,
approached the Poritz to transfer the "arrendeh" to
him. Reb Faivel was known as "Reb Faivel Haandler",
because he was always eager to "haandle" for a
profitable business deal. He had a silver tongue and
was able to convince the Poritz that he could better
manage the Poritz's affairs than the widow, and thus
earn a better income for the Poritz. The Poritz readily
agreed to transfer the lease.
When the widow heard the news, she began to
cry; "My livelihood! He's stealing my livelihood. What
will my young children eat? "
The whole village was in an uproar. All agreed that the
underhanded ploy of Reb Faivel to enrich himself and
thus take the income of a widow and her family was
an outrage, and that such an act would not go
unpunished. The local towns folk suggested the
widow present her dilemma to the Baal Shem Tov and
ask for his assistance.
The widow promptly traveled to Mezibush and was
able to arrange an audience with the Baal Shem Tov.
He listened carefully as the widow tearfully described
her plight. He then said: "Don't worry. I will speak with
this man - Reb Faivel. I am sure there is a
misunderstanding. With G·d's help, all will
work out in
the end."
The Baal Shem Tov sent a message to Reb Faivel,
who soon arrived to discuss the matter. The Baal
Shem Tov learned that indeed Reb Faivel intended to
assume the management of the inn. Despite the Baal
Shem Tov' efforts to dissuade Reb Faivel from doing
something inappropriate for a G·d-fearing
man to do,
Reb Faivel departed without changing his
mind on the
matter. After all, in Reb Faivel's mind, business was
business, and the Baal Shem Tov was only trying to
mix into his affairs.
As Reb Faivel mounted his horse, he yelled
through
the open window of the Baal Shem Tov's room. . "I'm
going to take the widow's arrendeh, and we will see
what G·d is going to do to me."
The Baal Shem Tov put his head in his hands and
wept.
Reb Faivel decided to expedite the matter,
and on returning to his village, he promptly called on
the Poritz with a large purse of coins. "I'm ready to rent
the arrendeh from you as we agreed. Here is the
agreed sum of money to finalize the
arrangement."
The Poritz, pleased to receive such a well-paying
guest, sat down to write the contract to hand over the
arrendeh to Reb Faivel.
Suddenly, Reb Faivel grabbed his head turned to the
Poritz and said, "Oh my G·d, I have a terrible
headache!"
The Poritz helped Reb Faivel sit down.
As the Poritz
picked up a pen to continue writing the contract, Reb
Faivel winced and moaned in pain. "My head is killing
me! I can't take it. Please help me lie down for a few
minutes"
The Poritz quickly called his servants to help Reb
Faivel.
Suddenly, Reb Faivel turned pale. His
eyes
began to bulge, and he began frothing at the mouth.
He realized he couldn't move - he was paralyzed.
The Poritz panicked! "What kind of a mad
man
am I
doing business with? Get him out of my house," he
yelled to his servants
[Our sages teach us...."be wary of those in power, for
they befriend a person only for their own benefit; the
appear to be a friend when it is to their advantage, but
they do not stand by a man in his hour of need.'" (Avoth
2:3)]
The servants grabbed Reb Faivel by his
hands and
feet and quickly carried him to his home-depositing
him at his doorstep like a sack of potatoes.
Reb Faivel's family did all they could to help him-they
called the best doctors, but Reb Faivel's limbs remain
paralyzed. His toungue swelled and he could not
speak - he could hardly utter a sound.
Reb Faivel's family came to the Baal Shem
Tov and
begged that The Tzaddik cure him.
The Baal
Shem
did visit Reb Faivel and soon afterward, the man
began to recover somewhat. But later, the Baal Shem
Tov learned that the family had hired a non-Jewish
sorceress to cure Reb Faivel, and thereafter the Baal
Shem Tov would not visit Reb Faivel again.
Reb Faivel recovered only slightly, and was
never
able to utter more than a few words.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane
(Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in
SHIVCEI HABESHT and translated in IN PRAISE 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 you shall serve the L· rd your
G·d, and He will
bless your bread, and your water. . . (Exodus 23:25)
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
When you speak words of Torah
during
your meals, the words become the soul for the
physicality [of the food] that is on the table. You should
always speak a lot of Torah over your meals - during
the week, and all the more so, on Shabbos.
Keser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 4b
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 104.
I heard from my teacher and Rebbe, the Baal Shem
Tov, about
the cheerful willingness and precaution that people on
our level
must exert in prayer, in order to be saved from foreign
thoughts. The Rebbe told me a parable in the
name of his brother-in-law, Rabbi Gershon Kutover,
concerning people who do not even realize that their
prayers are full of extraneous thoughts.
There was a very dangerous
road that passed through a forest. Hidden in the
woods were enclaves of murderers and bandits, just
waiting for travelers to pass by. They would emerge
from their hiding places and rob and beat them. A
person who had to pass through this forest would do
so at top speed, so that the bandits would be able to
get him.
Once, two men set out on the road together.
One was very drunk, and the other not. As they
passed through the woods, the sober man traveled at
great speed until he passed through the forest safely.
His friend, the drunk, however trod on step-by-step
through the forest. The murderers grabbed hold of
him, beat him, and wounded him; yet he did not feel a
thing due to his great intoxication.
When the two friends met later,
the first one couldn't believe what happened to the
second. He asked him how he had survived all the
blows he received. But the drunk was amazed at his
friend's amazement, and professed that he wasn't
aware of anything having happened. To his mind, he
passed through the forest without harm. Finally, the
first one showed him in a mirror all of his wounds and
bruises, and the blood spots on his clothing. But he
was still amazed, since he didn't remember anything.
The parable is understood by itself.
Divrei Moshe, Bo
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 41.
Once, the Baal Shem Tov was
outside the city with his close followers, and the time
for Mincha (the
afternoon prayer) arrived. His followers said to
him, "There is no water to wash our hands for prayer."
He took his walking stick and struck the earth, and a
spring of water burst from the ground. It flows until
today, near Mezibush, and is called after his name,
i.e., the Well of the Baal Shem Tov) even by the non-
Jews. The water from the spring has the power to
heal a person of fever immediately.
The Baal Shem Tov did many
miraculous things, the likes of which were not seen
since the days of the Tannaim, Rabbi Shimon bar
Yochai and Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. And all of it was
due to his constant attachment to G·d.
Notzer Chesed, chap. 6
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 137
The Baal Shem Tov told the following
story:1
A group of traveling merchants once got lost and laid
down to sleep by the roadside until someone came
along to show them the way. However, he led them to
a place of wild beasts and bandits. Then another
person came along and showed them the right way.
The parable of the story is that the letters of the Torah,
with which the world was created, entered into our
world like traveling merchants who strayed from their
path and fell asleep by the roadside.2
When someone comes along and studies
Torah for its own sake, the letters take him back on
the
right path to reunite with their Source, whereas when
someone comes along and studies Torah for ulterior
motives, the letters take him along a path of bandits.
1Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Shelach
#6.
2The letters of the aleph-beth are
actually spiritual entities that are only represented and
symbolized by the shapes of the letters. They do not
really "belong" to this world - they are only "traveling
merchants" wanting to "sell" their goods, that is,
transmit their deeper message. But they cannot find
anyone willing to purchase their goods - they
have "gotten lost." Thus, their deeper message lies
idle and unread - they are "asleep." Only when one
studies the letters and words of the Torah for their
own sake, to find their hidden message, are they
awoken from their sleep and returned to their Source.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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