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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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HOW TO BLOW A SHOFAR
"You shall sound a broken blast on the shofar....."
Leviticus 25:9
"In the seventh month, on the first day of the month,
there shall be a rest day for you, a remembrance with
shofar blasts, a holy convocation." Leviticus 23:24
The Baal Shem Tov called one of his close disciples,
Reb Wolf Kitzis. Reb Wolf, "Would you honor us with
blowing the shofar in shule (synagogue) this year on
Rosh Hashanah?"
"Of course Rebbe," Reb Wolf immediately
answered, "But on what should I meditate while I'm
blowing the different blasts of the shofar?"
The Baal Shem Tov showed Reb Wolf on which
kavanos (intentions) to meditate in a kabalah sefer
(book)."
So Reb Wolf began to practice blowing the shofar and
studied intently the kavanos that the Baal Shem Tov
had instructed him.
To be certain he wouldn't forget, he wrote down the
mystical significance of the Divine Names associated
with each of the blasts on a piece of paper so that he
could read them while he was blowing the shofar.
The Baal Shem noticed him writing the kavanos down
and spoke to him about it. "Reb Wolf, do you really
have to write the kavanos down on paper? I really
don't think you should write such secrets down and
besides, I'm sure you'll remember them when the
time comes to blow the shofar."
But, Reb Wolf was worried that he wouldn't do a
perfect job in the Rebbe's shule so he finished writing
them down on a piece of paper which he carefully
placed in his pocket.
Unbeknownst to him,
as he
was
walking to shule on the first day of Rosh Hashanah,
the piece of paper accidentally fell out of his pocket.
When the time came for the sounding of the shofar,
Reb Wolf took out his special shofar and went to the
bimah (readers stand). When he reached into his
pocket he was horrified! The piece of paper with the
kavanos was gone! Reb Wolf frantically searched all
of his pockets but the piece of paper was nowhere to
be found.
There was no choice but to start blowing the shofar.
Everyone in the shule was staring at him in
anticipation of this highest moment in the Rosh
Hashanah prayer service.
As Reb Wolf
began to blow
the shofar, he couldn't remember a single one of the
mystical intentions he had been studying. He became
very upset. He started thinking, "Not only did I stupidly
loose the paper with the kavanos but I can't even
remember a single one." Reb Wolf was humbled
and his heart broken. He began to weep, even as he
was blowing the shofar.
Once the prayers were over, the Baal Shem Tov
approached Reb Wolf and spoke in a comforting
way, "In the King's palace, there are many doors and
each requires its own special key. But there is
another way that we can open all of the doors and that
is with an ax. The Kabbalistic kavanos you were so
intently studying are the keys to each of the different
gates in the Heavenly World above, where each gate
requires its own specific kavanoh. But a broken and
humbled heart can break open all of the gates to the
Heavenly Palaces. My dear Reb Wolf, this is what you
accomplished with your blowing of the shofar."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Treasury
of Chassidic Tales by Rabbi S.Y. Zevin
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Is not Rosh Hashanah a holiday?
It says in
the
Mishnah: "The holiday of Rosh Hashanah." It is a day
of joy, and so we make the
blessing "Shechiyanu."
As for the Arizal's statement that a person should cry
on Rosh Hashanah, that is for the exile of the
Shechinah, and in order to be judged favorably by
G·d.
For it is written: "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the
sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing
prepared; for this day is holy unto our L·rd. Be
not
grieved, for the joy of the L·rd is your strength."
(Nehemiah 8:10). We cry out of joy, because "He has
enlivened us and sustained us." Therefore, since it is
a day of joy, it is appropriate to remember Jerusalem,
as it is written: "If I do not set Jerusalem above my
greatest joy" (Psalms 137:6). For we accepted this
upon ourselves by oath and by curse, as it is
written: "If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget" (ibid. 137:5).
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 22b
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"L'Chayim" -- "To Life!"
Reb Feivel was a simple Jew. He had a little farm in
the
Polish countryside and lived a meager life with his
wife and four children. But he had a dream.
From the minute he heard about the Baal Shem Tov
he longed to see him. For years he saved and
scrimped until finally this year he had enough for the
journey and to hold his family till he returned.
The weather smelled of winter. It was the Jewish
month of Elul the month of 'tshuva' (spiritual return).
Then there would be the month of Tishrei: Rosh
Hashanah! Yom Kippur! Succot! Simchat Torah!
Hundreds, even thousands of Chassidim would be
there together; learning, praying, hearing the words of
the Holy Baal Shem, and seeing his holy face. He
couldn't wait!
After a five-day journey cramped in a wagon with ten
other Chassidim he finally arrived in the town of
Mezibush.
What he had heard was right. Even the sky and the air
were different here; every molecule seemed to be
shouting, 'Rosh HaShanah is coming! The King of the
Universe is near!'
He was so excited! Everyone was heading into the
shul and he followed, suitcase in hand. In another
minute he would see him. He would see the Baal
Shem Tov in person!
But he was to be in for a big surprise.
The room was packed with hundreds of Chassidim
when suddenly everyone became silent; the Rebbe
was entering!
The Baal Shem appeared from a side door, gave a
quick penetrating look around the room and suddenly
his eyes fixed on . . . Reb Feivel!
Feivel was in awe. This was the moment he had been
waiting for. But why was the Rebbe staring at him?
Everything was dreamlike; he vaguely felt that he was
the center of attention, but all he saw was the
master's eyes gazing deeply at him. Suddenly the
Baal Shem Tov lowered his head in deep thought, or
perhaps prayer, then looked up once again and called
out "Reb Feivel. Reb Feivel! Fool! Dolt! What are you
doing
here?"
The silence was deafening, the Chassidim were
afraid to breathe. Something very strange was going
on; something was clearly wrong.
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" exclaimed the Baal
Shem Tov, "How dare you come into a holy place like
this!"
Feivel was confused, his head was spinning, he tried
to move but there was nowhere to go.
"Leave!" shouted the Baal Shem Tovt. "Leave here
immediately!"
He started moving backwards, afraid to turn his back
on the holy man but afraid to stay even another
second, his heart was thumping and a cold sweat
clung to his forehead.
He felt the door at his back, turned the knob and
stumbled outside, back first, into the street. He was
crying, disorientated, he stood up, brushed himself off
and walked zombie-like over to the carriage stand,
paid for the five day journey home, climbed in and was
on his way back in a dizzy stupor.
After a few hours the wagon stopped. "What's this?"
he asked, "Why are we stopping?"
"What? Never rode in a wagon before, Jew?"
answered the driver, "It's night-time, and we can't
travel at night! Here, look outside. See? It's night and
here's the inn. We'll stay here."
Poor Feivel was so bewildered by his encounter with
the Baal Shem Tov he didn't notice anything. He got
out of the carriage still clutching his old suitcase and
dragged himself into the inn.
To sleep was out of the question, he was trying to
digest what had happened. He sat at table in a corner,
ordered a beer and tried to remember. Maybe he did
do some sort of sin. . . maybe it was a punishment.
It's true he didn't learn much Torah. But that couldn't
be what the Baal Shem Tov expelled him for; the Baal
Shem Tov loved every Jew, even unlearned ones.
He vaguely heard the sound of another carriage
stopping, and then joyous singing from outside. It got
louder and louder until the inn door burst open and a
group of Chassidim came pouring in. They were just
hours away from the Baal Shem Tov, boisterous and
happy.
"Give us vodka!" sang one of the group, "Tomorrow
we'll be with the Rebbe!"
"Oy!" groaned poor Feivel bitterly, "Oy, oy! 'The
Rebbe'!" And he began to weep quietly to himself.
Feivel was sure that the Chassidim didn't notice him
sitting in the shadows. He watched as they pushed a
few tables together, sat down, and began pouring
small cups of Vodka for one another, toasting
l'chayim, saying words of Torah and singing.
But all this joy only made poor Feivel more depressed.
Head drooping, he was looking down at the table
when suddenly he felt two Chassidim grab him under
the arms, lift him to his feet and pull him over to their
table.
He tried to resist, to protest, to beg them to leave him
alone, but to no avail. They had decided that he must
be one of the Misnagdim (opposers of the Baal Shem
Tov) -- how else to explain the long face? -- and that
they had an obligation to transform him.
It wasn't long before they forced him to take a drink
and say l'chayim with them, then another and in
another few minutes he too was singing and dancing
and the hours passed like minutes.
"Aha! What was that? A rooster crowed--it is already
dawn!'
The Chassidim paid for the drinks, piled back into the
wagon (accompanied by a very drunk Feivel still
clutching his old suitcase), shouted, "We're going to
the Rebbe!" and began another song.
Five hours later they were in Mezibush, out of the
wagon and on their way to the Baal Shem's shul. Two
of them had their arms under Feivel's and
were 'carrying' him with them.
"Ah yes!" mumbled Feivel, not realizing that he was
back in the exact same room that the Baal Shem Tov
evicted him from less than 24 hours ago.
Suddenly the room fell silent, the side door opened,
the Baal Shem entered the room and his eye again
caught Feivel. Feivel looked up, his eyes met the Baal
Shem's, and at that instant it was like someone threw
a bucket of freezing water on him.
He snapped to rigid attention, and then began
changing colors; red from shame, white from fear,
green from dizziness, he wanted to run, to back out the
door, but he was too confused.
"Welcome, Reb Feivel" shouted the tzadik (holy
man). "My beloved Reb Feivel! Where have you been?
How I've worried about you."
Now Feivel was really mixed up. His mind was
spinning like a merry-go-round "What's going on
here?" he thought to himself. "Maybe yesterday never
happened, or maybe now I'm dreaming!" Then the
Baal Shem Tov beckoned him to come and the
Chassidim moved aside making a path for him.
He took Feivel's hand and explained. "My dear Reb
Feivel , you didn't know it but yesterday when you
entered, the Angel of Death entered with you. I
instantly realized that you wouldn't live to see Rosh
Hashanah.
"I tried praying for mercy but to no avail; it had been
decreed in heaven that your time had come. I had to
act fast. It is known that embarrassing someone is
public is like killing him, so I spoke harsh words to
that Dark Messenger that I knew you and everyone
else would think were directed to you. I thought that
maybe shaming you would fulfill the heavenly decree,
but it didn't; the angel was now dancing over your
head.
"So," I thought to myself, "maybe with the Angel of
Death it will help to be smart. I figured that if I told you
to leave you'd probably catch the first carriage back
home and your home is a five day journey so you
would have to stop at an inn at night. When you got to
that inn I reasoned that you probably wouldn't want to
sleep, so you'd probably sit awake at one of the tables
all night.
"Now, the Chassidim on their way here also aren't
able to travel at night and would have to stop at that
inn as well, and they also won't be able to sleep
because they'll be too happy. For sure they wouldn't be
able to bear seeing someone sad like you, so
probably they would try to cheer you up by making you
sit with them and have a little vodka. Now when the
Chassidim drink vodka they don't just make a
blessing, they say 'L'Chayim' which means 'To Life!'
Right?
"Maybe you don't know it, Reb Feivel, but according to
the Torah when three observant Jews sit together they
have the power of a Judicial Court. In other words,
when they all raised their cups to you and
declared: 'To Life!' this was like a legal decision for
life that overrode the power of the previous Heavenly
decree (because the Torah was given primarily to
humans, not angels)."
"And I see that it worked: the Angel of Death has
departed. Welcome to Mezibush!
And so it was.
[Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition of his
friend and colleague Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, the popular
teacher, musician, recording artist and storyteller, in
his weekly email for the yeshiva which he heads, Ohr
Tmimim (www.ohrtmimim.org/torah )].
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A Prayer from the Holy Baal Shem Tov
Master of the World! You said to Jonah, "You had pity
on the gourd, for which you did not labor, nor make
grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a
night. Should I not have pity on Nineveh, that great city,
in which there are more than six score thousand
people that do not know the difference between their
right hand and their left, and also many cattle?" (Jonah
4:10-11).
Why do you not have mercy and
compassion upon us, for we have knowledge like a
human being, as it says of our father Abraham: "He
believed in G·d, and He counted it to him for
righteousness" (Genesis 15:6)? And now, so many
years have passed without redemption, and we still
believe in You!
Kesser Shem Tov 339
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Eliezer Shore
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