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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE WAY YOU'VE BEEN
PRAYING IS JUST FINE
""It was in those days when Moses was
grown that he began to go out to his brethren, and he
saw their burdens." (Exodus 2:11)
Moses was 20 years old. Midrash
He (Moses) cast his eye and heart to feel the
distress. Rashi
And then there was the time that a simple Jewish
man, called Reb Yakov, had a life-altering encounter
with the Baal Shem Tov.
Reb Yaakov lived in a little village deep in the
Carpathian Mountains. Although he was extremely
poor and hardly a scholar, Yakov had strong faith in
G·d and was happy with his lot in life.
One morning, Yakov was praying in the tiny
synagogue of his village. The Minyan had already
finished their prayers and had left for work. On this
day, Reb Yaakov felt a warm glow fill his heart, as he
slowly and softly recited the prayers in the
Siddur.
Coincidently, just at that time, Rabbi Yisrael - the
Holy Baal Shem Tov - happened to be walking in the
countryside and passed the village. Being a mystic,
the Baal Shem Tov saw a brilliant, G·dly light
streaming out from the window of the tiny village
synagogue.
"My L·rd, what is going on in there?" Rabbi Yisrael
thought to himself.
He quickly walked over to the Shule and looked in the
window. There, he saw what appeared to be a simple
Jewish man holding a Siddur and praying. The man,
of course, was wearing his Tallis and Tefillin. Rabbi
Yisrael went in, sat down, and immersed himself in
the study of a Holy Sefer, while he waited for the man
to finish his prayers.
Hours passed. It was already early afternoon
when Yakov was finally done and removed his Tallis
and Tefillin.
"Shalom Aleichem, Aleichem Shalom," they greeted
each other.
After speaking briefly, Rabbi Yisrael asked, "Tell me
Reb Yakov, why were you praying so long?"
"Rabbi," he answered in a hushed tone. "I
don't really know the meaning of the Hebrew words in
the Siddur or even the right prayers to say. Usually I
just start reading at the beginning of the Siddur and
stop when the rest of the minyan finishes. But today, I
felt particularly inspired so I didn't stop until I reached
the end of the Siddur."
"Reb Yakov, my friend," said Rabbi
Yisrael. "Would you like me to teach you which prayers
to say, and when to say them?"
"Oh Rabbi! I can't tell you how much that
would mean to me. I've always wanted to know which
is the right prayer to say. But I don't want to be a bother
to you," replied the unassuming Yakov.
"Oh Reb Yakov, it wouldn't be a bother at all,"
responded the Baal Shem Tov. "In fact, I would be
honored to teach you the prayers."
And so the two of them sat together for
several hours, while the Baal Shem Tov taught Yakov
about the many prayers in the Siddur. They started
with the morning blessings, the Shachris prayers and
the prayers said before and after eating. Then the Baal
Shem Tov showed Yakov the Minchah and Maariv
prayers. They moved on to Shabbos and Yom Tov
prayers. Rabbi Yisrael marked the separations
between the prayers by placing small pieces of paper
in the Siddur, with notes written on them to remind
Yakov about each of the prayers.
When he completed explaining the entire Siddur, the
Baal Shem Tov bid farewell and left. He walked at his
usual fast pace down the road leading away from the
little village.
Yakov was thrilled. He danced and danced
around in circles while hugging his prayer book.
Suddenly, he accidentally dropped the Siddur. The
pieces of paper with the notes on them were scattered
across the floor.
He stood, bewildered and dismayed. "What am I
going to do?" he cried out. On one hand, he had
always wanted to know the proper prayers and when
to say them. On the other hand, he felt extremely
embarrassed at the thought of asking Rabbi Yisrael to
put the papers back in their proper places.
Finally, he decided. He gathered up the pieces of
paper, and clutching his Siddur, started walking as
fast as he could down the road after the
Rabbi.
He could not see the Baal Shem Tov for quite some
time. Then, Yakov reached the top of a hill from which
he could just barely make out the Rabbi, far off in the
distance. "Whew!" he sighed in relief and started
walking even faster. Just then, the Baal Shem Tov
disappeared into a forest.
Yakov followed him through the forest and suddenly
found himself standing on a cliff, high above a wide,
raging river. And there, by the side of the river stood
the Baal Shem Tov. "Thank G·d," Yakov thought, "I've
got him now."
Just as Yakov started walking down to the river, he
saw the Baal Shem Tov remove his gartle (prayer belt
wrapped around the waist). Then, the Baal Shem Tov
stretched it out, and walked upon it across the raging
river. As soon as he reached the other side, he put his
gartle back on, and continued walking away without
even a backwards glance.
When Yakov reached the edge of the river, he yelled
out, "Rabbi! Rabbi!" But the roar of the river drowned
out his voice. Without a second thought, Yakov took off
his gartle, stretched it out, and walked upon it across
the river. As soon as he reached the other side, he
started running as fast as he could after the Baal
Shem Tov.
"Rabbi! Rabbi! Wait for me!" he yelled.
The Baal Shem Tov turned around and was startled to
see Yakov. "Reb Yakov, what are you doing here?"
Yakov held out the Siddur and the pieces of
paper. "Rabbi, I'm so sorry. I dropped the Siddur and
all the pieces of paper fell out."
"But what are you doing here?" asked the
Baal Shem Tov.
"Rabbi, I've come to ask you to please put
the pieces of paper back into the prayer book."
"But Reb Yakov, how did you get across the
river?"
"Rabbi, I crossed on my gartle just as you
did."
"You know," said the Baal Shem Tov, putting
his arm around Reb Yakov, "you don't need my pieces
of paper. The way that you've been praying is just fine."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by
Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent
Attorney) from a story in SHIVCHEI HABESHT and
translated in IN PRAISE 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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And He said, I am the G·d of your
father. (Exodus 3:6)
This is what is written: "A fool (pesi) believes in
everything" (Proverbs 14:15). What is the meaning
of "a fool"? A child. Because in Arabia, they call a child
a pasia.
Midrash Rabbah, Shemos 3
The Baal Shem Tov told his students: "Despite the
profound levels of understanding that I attained in the
[supernal] roots of the Torah and the mitzvos, and
despite all the spiritual ecstasy that I experienced, I
put everything aside to serve G-d in simple faith. I am
a fool and believe - Ich bin a naar un gleib!
1 And even though it is written: "A fool
believes in everything," it is also written: "G·d
protects the fools" (Psalms 116:6).
Yesod Ha'Avodah, letter 24
1The Baal Shem Tov is making
a word-play on the statement of the Midrash, above.
The Hebrew word for child, na'ar, is similar to the
Yiddish word for fool.
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 99
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
If you have foreign thoughts when you pray, G·d forbid,
the "impure shell"1 rides on your words;
for thought rides upon speech. This is the meaning
of: "to the horses in the chariot of Pharaoh, I have
compared you, my beloved" (Song of Songs 1:9).
Speech is called "horses," and when Pharaoh - the
foreign thought - rides upon it, then "I have compared
you ("dimisicha"), my beloved." For it would be better
to be silent.2 However, "a word that
comes from the
heart, enters the heart" - that is, the Supernal Heart,
by means of the breath, as is known.
Tzava'as
HaRivash, p. 8a
1Kelipah; i.e. a force of unholiness.
2The grammatical root of the
word "dimisicha" is "domeh," which is related to the
word dumiah -"silence." Thus, at a time when foreign
thoughts ride on one's words of prayer, it would be
better to be silent.
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 36
I heard from my teacher and
father-in-law, who was the chief disciple of Reb
Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov, that once when the Baal
Shem Tov was traveling on the road, he stepped into a
wooded area to pray the afternoon prayer. His
disciples were dumbfounded to see him hitting his
head against a tree, crying and screaming. Afterward,
they asked him what had happened. He explained that
he had seen, with divine inspiration, that in the
generations before the coming of the Moshiach there
would be a multitude of rabbis, and that they would be
the very ones who would impede the
redemption.
Otzar Chayim, p. 134c
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 131
"G·d chastises whom He
loves."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:2
Those who earn a livelihood from admonishing
others, or who do so in order to elevate their own
statures or for any other ulterior motive, arousing in a
weeping voice (as the verse alludes, "My tears
became my food. . . " 3), are actually
arousing stringent
judgment against the Jewish people, as alluded to in
the verse, "G·d sent the venomous serpents
against
the people,"4 which refers to two types
of
admonishers.
This can be understood with a parable:
There was once a king who banished his only son
from his presence, but sent two of his servants to
keep an eye on him. After a while, one of the servants
returned and slandered the prince to his father for
misbehavior. The second servant also returned with
the same report of misbehavior, however, he spoke
out of pain for the king's pain, and pain for the prince
who was banished from his father's presence to the
point where he had completely forgotten how to
conduct himself in a royal fashion, and all his royal
grandeur and been transformed into
disgrace.5 Upon
hearing the second servant's words, the king had
compassion on his son and sent to fetch him.
Similarly, there is a type of admonisher who speaks
out publicly in condemnation of the Jewish people,
thus arousing the Primal Serpent, as alluded to in the
verse, "G·d sent the venomous serpent
against the
people," who poisoned them with their venomous
words. [First of all, these admonishers are hypocrites,
because they are really interested in their own
personal benefits, despite their claim that they are
concerned about G·d's honor. Secondly, they
are
shaming people while exonerating themselves from
rebuke.]6 However, one should include
oneself
together with the audience, as the verse
alludes, "Rebuke, rebuke your friend, and don't bear
any sin for him." [The repetition] alludes that one
should first rebuke oneself before rebuking
another.
1Proverbs 3:12.
2Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Kedoshim
#7.
3Psalms 42:4.
4Numbers 21:6.
5Implied in this second servant's report
is that the
king himself, by banishing his son among common
folk, is responsible for his degeneration. This is
stated explicitly in Ben Porath Yoseph
68d.
6The text in the brackets is
found in the
original
source.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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