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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE CANOPY OF
FIRE
It was Simchat Torah at the synagogue of the Baal
Shem Tov. After the evening, Yom Tov (holyday)
prayers, the Chassidim left the synagogue to eat the
special Yom Tov dinner and then returned to join their
Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, in the festivities. They
gathered in the study hall of the synagogue and
danced and whirled and twirled around in a circle for
many hours while they passed the Sefer Torahs from
one to another, sang the traditional Simchat Torah
songs, and drank lots of wine.
By early
morning, the faithful were feeling very b'simchah
(joyful) and some even a little shicher (drunk). They
begged the shammos (synagogue caretaker) to bring
up more wine from the Baal Shem Tov's wine cellar.
When Chana, the Baal Shem Tov's wife,
heard the commotion from the study hall and the
Chassidim pleading with the Shammos caretaker to
bring up more wine from the wine cellar, she became
worried that there wouldn't be enough wine left for
making the blessing over Kiddush and Havdalah
(brief ceremony to separate the weekdays from the
Sabbath or Holy days).
So, she quickly went into the private study of her
husband, the Baal Shem Tov, and requested of
him, "YIsrael, go into the study hall and tell your
Chassidim to stop drinking and dancing because we
won't have enough wine for making Kiddush and
Havdalah.
The Baal Shem Tov chuckled and said, "Chana, I
agree. Would you please tell them to stop and go
home?"
She immediately went into the study hall to give the
Chassidim the message from the Rebbe. But when
she entered the hall, she saw them still dancing in a
circle with flames of fire burning above their heads in
the shape of a circular canopy. She immediately
collected the empty wine containers scattered around
the hall, went down to the wine cellar to refill them,
and brought them back to the dancing Chassidim.
A while later, the Baal Shem Tov inquired, "So Chana,
did you tell them to go home?"
Chana answered, "Next time, Yisrael, it might be
better if you tell them yourself."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaKohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from
a story entitled The Dance of the Chassidim from In
Praise of the Baal Shem Tov.
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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In the beginning - Bereshis (Bereshis 1:1)
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When
the Moshiach comes, may it be
speedily in our days, he will expound upon the letter
combinations of each word in the Torah, from
beginning to end.1 Then he will
combine the entire
Torah into one word,2 so that the letter
permutations
will be infinite. Then he will expound upon all the
combinations.
Teshuos Chen,
Tazria
1The letters of the Torah,
though inscribed in a pattern that tells the story of the
creation of the world, and the history and laws of the
Jewish people, are not fixed. It is possible to
rearrange the letters to gain new insights into the
meaning of the text, and G·d's will for man.
Furthermore, the letters of Torah represent the
creative energies of G·d that enter the world,
and arranging them in different patterns can affect the
flow of energy from above. By meditating on the
letters, in their different combinations, mystical states
of consciousness can be obtained. There are various
techniques for letter combination, such as tzerufi
osiyos, letter recombination; gematria, using the
numerical value of each Hebrew letter, roshei tevos
and sofei tevos, words derived from the first and last
letters of words in a verse; the division of letters into
their component parts. Thus, there is an infinite
amount of meaning that can be derived from the
Torah.
2See Zohar 3:36a: "The
Torah is all one holy Name of the Holy One." Also,
ibid. 2:90b: "The Torah is really all one Name of
G·d. Fortunate is the lot of one who merits it.
One who merits the Torah, merits the holy Name."
See also ibid. 3:73a, 3:268b, 2:144a. See, also, Bris
Menucha, Introduction, p. 3c: "About this, they said that
the entire Torah is all one Name, and all the words
are Names that can cause
effects."
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 86
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When
you speak, think about "allusion, voice and speech."
Speak with fear and love, and imagine that the World
of Speech is speaking through your mouth. Then you
will elevate the words.
Kesser Shem Tov II, p. 4b.
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 24
In the city of the Baal Shem Tov
lived a brilliant scholar, an expert in the entire Talmud
and legal codes, who refused to listen to the
teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, and did not believe in
his lofty perceptions. However, the Baal Shem Tov
wanted dearly to claim him for a student.
Once, this scholar learned a very complex
law and a certain Tosephos1 that he
could not understand. And though he devoted great
mental energy in trying to understand it, he was
unsuccessful. This troubled him greatly.
One night, in a dream, he saw that heavenly
beings were lifting him up to the supernal worlds,
taking him into ever more recondite chambers, until
he could no longer see due to the great supernal
illumination, and had to shut his eyes.
Finally, they brought him to one inner
chamber and said to him, "Open your eyes." He
opened them and beheld many great sages and
Tzaddikim sitting and studying Torah, with the Baal
Shem Tov sitting at the head of them all.
The
Baal Shem Tov said to him, "Why are you having so
much trouble understanding the Tosephos. The
answer is as follow. . . . "
When the scholar awoke in the morning, he took his
Gemara and looked over the words of the Tosephos.
He saw that the Baal Shem Tov's answer was
remarkably clear. Nevertheless, he still thought that it
was only a dream.
When the holy Shabbos
arrived, he went to hear the Baal Shem Tov expound
on the Torah during the third meal. As soon as he
walked into the study house, the Baal Shem Tov said
to him, "Welcome! Did you look over explanation of
the Tosephos that I told you to see if it is true?" From
that day on, he attended to the Baal Shem Tov and
became a great Chasid.
I heard this from honest
individuals.
Kesser Shem Tov 2, p. 16a
1 Thirteenth century commentary on the
Talmud.
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 114
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"The most
sanctified offerings are slaughtered in the northern
section of the Temple courtyard, whereas the less
sanctified offerings are slaughtered anywhere in the
courtyard."1
"The most sanctified offerings" refers to the Torah
scholars. The evil inclination comes to them
disguised as the good inclination, urging them to do a
certain mitzvah, which is not the case with the general
population.2
1 Mishnah Tractate Zevakhim
5:1.
2 Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Ki Tissa #7.
This teaching is alluded to in the Hebrew word for
north, which also means hidden. The Torah scholar is
spiritually "slaughtered" by something "hidden." This
is because the scholar would never allow himself to
do something that he knows is forbidden. So his
rational mind is fooled by the evil inclination into
justifying the act as being not only permitted, but even
obligatory. The average person, though, even if he
knows that something is forbidden, has no scholarly
or righteous self-image of himself to keep in his own
eyes, and thus needs no rationalization to fulfill his
whims.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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