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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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A GLASS OF
WINE
He drank of the wine and became drunk. (Noach
9:21)
And then there was the time that the Baal
Shem Tov was talking with a group of his
followers at the home of a wealthy supporter in the
State of
Walachia.
The conversation turned to an extraordinary type of
grape wine that could only be found in their locality.
This special grape wine was so strong that it was
usually served by mixing a very small amount into a
glass of water.
And they all agreed that even then, it was still almost
too strong to drink.
The Baal Shem Tov asked if he could try the wine,
preferably unmixed with anything else. Of
course the host obliged his Rebbe and filled a small
glass with only the wine and served it to him.
Everyone watched nervously as he slowly drank the
whole glass at one time. When he finished, the Baal
Shem Tov said in a surprised voice, "That wine is so
delicious, why do you serve it in such a small
glass?"
The host answered: "Because Rebbe, it is so strong
that it is actually dangerous to drink a large
amount."
"I am not afraid of strong wine," the Baal Shem Tov
replied. "In fact, I would like another glass of that
wine? And this time, please put it into a large glass."
So the host filled a large glass with the special wine
and
handed it with trepidation to the Baal Shem Tov.
Without
hesitation, the Rebbe quickly drank the whole glass.
All of the guests stared at him in fright as the Baal
Shem Tov's face turned beet red, and his hair stood
straight up from his head as though it
were on fire.
The guests were so afraid they could not move or
even speak.
But before anything more happened, the Baal Shem
Tov
passed his hands across his face and at once he
returned to normal.
The Baal Shem Tov broke the silence and said: "Our
holy Sages, their memory should be for a blessing,
have taught: "Wine is strong but fear removes its
effect."
When we really see the greatness of the Holy One
Blessed be He, we are struck by fear and trembling,
and that completely
undoes the effects of even the strongest
wine."
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 Tales of the Baal Shem
Tov
by Mintz and Ben Amos.
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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These are the offspring of Noach. Noach was a
righteous man. He was perfectly righteous in relation
to his generation. Noach
walked only with the support of G·d. (Genesis
6:9)
But of Abraham it is written: "G·d, before
Whom I walked" (ibid. 24:40). Noah needed
[G·d's] help and support, but Abraham
strengthened himself and walked in his own
righteousness.
One of the Baal Shem Tov's disciples once asked
him, "Why is it that there are times when a person
clings to G·d, and knows in his soul that
he is close to Him and then suddenly loses his
devekus (spirtual attachment) and becomes distant
from the Creator. After all, a person can also know in
their soul when they are far from G·d just as
know when
they are close."
The Baal Shem Tov answered with the
following parable. "When a father wants to teach his
infant son
to walk, what does he do? He stands his son
between his outstretched arms so that the boy does
not fall, and the child walks between his father's
arms. When he comes close to his father, his father
backs up slightly so that the child can approach him
again. This way, the child learns to walk well. If his
father didn't keep moving back, the child would only
walk that short distance from where his father first put
him to where his father now stands. However,
because the father moves back, the child walks
further."
This is how G·d relates to His
creatures. When a person is aflame with spiritual
attachment, G·d must distance Himself from
him, for if
not, his devekus would be neither strong nor
consistent. However, because G·d keeps
moving away, the person must continually renew and
strengthen his devekus. This is what King David
alluded to when he said: ". . . He will lead us eternally"
(Psalms 48:15). As Rashi explains: "Like a man leads
his small son slowly."
Turei Zahav, Rosh Hashanah
For this reason, G·d is called "the hidden
G·d." For a Tzaddik never feels that he has
reached perfection in serving G·d, and always
feels far from Him. This is in order that he comes
even closer. It is the meaning of "He will lead us
eternally." G·d is called "He" when He is
hidden. This is in order that He lead us eternally
(al'mus) -- like a child (al'miah), so that
we keep coming closer.
Kedushas Levi, Shemos
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 87
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Just as a parable
is a vessel for the understanding,
so speech is a vessel for thought. When a person
speaks without thinking, that is the Breaking of the
Vessels1, for there is no life in the
vessels. But when
he divests himself of physicality, which is his body
and his vessel, he can behold the inner essence of
the vessel, which is the vitality and illuminations of the
letters. When he divests himself of his physicality and
clothes himself in the words, he clings to the Creator,
who is [also] clothed in the words. Further, he should
be
careful not to fall from this thought, and to strengthen
himself to ascend above.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 2b, Likutey Amorim p.
4a
1The Breaking of the
Vessels was the primordial cataclysmic event in
which the spiritual vessels created by G·d to
hold the
emanation of His light shattered and fell. This event
resulted in the exile and concealment of the Divine
Presence. Here, the Baal Shem Tov interprets this
concept on the individual, psychic level.
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 25
Rabbi Nachman said that
descendents of the Baal Shem Tov1 are
particularly
accustomed to crying out to G·d at all times. This is
because they are descendents of King David, whose
whole life was devoted to this - that he should break
his heart constantly to G·d. This is the essence of the
Book of Psalms.
Likutey Moharan II:1100
1Rabbi Nachman was himself a great-
grandson of the Baal Shem Tov.
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 115
The Baal Shem Tov said the following
parable:
There was a king who ruled over a vast empire. Once,
he wanted to test the loyalty of his subjects, so he
sent one of his servants to make believe that he was
organizing a rebellion against the king. Some of the
places to where the servant arrived attacked him and
nearly captured him, while other places where he
arrived agreed to join in the rebellion. In one place,
though, there were wise men who sensed that he -
the servant - was actually carrying out the king's will.
In the same way, there are some people who struggle
against the evil inclination, which presents itself as if it
is out to rebel against his Master, and to entice people
to rebel against G·d's will. These people
stand firmly
against the evil inclination until they conquer it with
great struggle and self-affliction. There are other
people, though, who realize that the evil inclination is
actually carrying out G·d's will, knowing that
one of
G·d's holy Names, SaEL, is hidden within the
name
of the evil inclination, SaMaEL, and by way of which it
is rectified.1
1Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, VaYakhel #3.
These two ways of dealing with the evil inclination are
referred to as subduing and transforming. By
elevating one's perception of the evil inclination into a
spiritual force that is testing one's loyalty to
G·d, one actually transforms it into one's
friend, and is able to use its energy to come even
closer to G·d.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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