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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE REVELATION OF THE
BAAL SHEM TOV
"In this weeks Torah portion Vaiera
(Exodus 6:2-9:35), G·d is in the middle of a
discussion with Moses. G·d commands
Moses to go
to Pharaoh but Moses attempts to decline saying he
didn't have the clout. So G·d encourages
Moses with
the following advice . . . . .
"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, give
yourself
credibility by displaying a marvel. . . . ." (Exodus
7:9)
A marvel. A sign to make it known that there is power
in the One who sends you. Rashi
And so it's been told, in the name of Rabbi
Schneur
Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), that when Rabbi Yisrael
Ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) was
36 years old, his heavenly teacher, the Prophet Achiya
HaShaloni, instructed him that the time had come to
reveal himself to the world.
At that time, Rabbi Ysrael and his wife, Rebbetzn
Chana, ran a
small inn in a village located in the Carpathian
Mountains. The inn, which served food and had
several guest rooms, had been rented for them by
Chana's brother, Rabbi Avraham Gershon of Kitov, a
well known Talmudist.
Rabbi Yisrael spent
most of his
time in a secluded study house near the inn where he
studied daily with his teacher, Achiya HaShaloni.
Whenever a guest came, Chana would call him and
Israel would come and help with the guest.
In the year 1734, Rabbi David of Klama , a
friend of Rabbi Gershon Kitover, was passing by the
inn. At the
request of Rabbi Gershon, he stopped at the inn to
see how Yisrael (his "boorish" brother-in-law) and
his sister Chana were getting along.
When Reb David arrived, Chana called out, "Yisrael,
Rabbi David, a friend of my brother is here to
visit."
Yisrael came running and helped prepare a dinner
and
arrange his room for the night. After dinner, Reb David
spoke at great length with Chana about the fame and
brilliance of her deceased father and brother Rabbi
Gershon. Yisrael listened intently, but didn't say
anything.
The next day, Reb David thanked Yisrael and Chana
and said: "Yisrael, please harness the horse to my
wagon. I want to leave immediately so I'll have ample
time to travel to where I can spend Shabbos with
some of my learned friends."
After Yisrael had harnessed the horse to the wagon,
and Reb David was about to leave, Yisrael said, "Reb
David, I would be honored if you would spend the
Sabbath with us."
With a little chuckle, Reb
David answered, "Thank you but I prefer to spend the
Sabbath with a few of my learned friends." And so he
left.
But after Rabbi David had traveled about half a mile,
one of the wagon wheel's broke. So he returned to
the inn, replaced it with another wheel and started off
again. After another short ride, a different wheel broke
and he had to return again. So he had to stay over on
Wednesday and Thursday as well.
He left very early on Friday morning, but the wagon
harness broke and he finally realized that he resigned
himself to remaining for the Sabbath. He was not very
happy about this turn of events and thought to
himself, "What am I going to say for a whole Sabbath
to this ignorant man."
Before the Sabbath began, he was surprised to see
Chana prepare twelve loaves of challah (A custom
among Kabbalist). He said, " Chana, why do you
make twelve loaves of challah?"
She answered, "Reb David, my husband maybe a
simple man but he is still an observant Jew. Since I
saw my esteemed brother using twelve loaves of
Challah, I decided prepare the same number for my
husband."
When Reb David inquired of Chana about a
bathhouse, she answered, "We have both a
bathhouse and a mikveh (ritual bath)."
Reb
David
asked, "Why do you have your own mikveh?"
She
answered, "My husband goes to the mikveh every day."
When the time to pray the Minchah (afternoon prayer
service) arrived, Reb David asked Chana, "Where is
Yisrael? "
"He is in the field with the sheep
and the cows," she said. "He usually prays Minchah,
Kabbalah Shabbos (prayers for the Reception of the
Sabbath) and Maariv (evening prayers) by himself, "
she continued.
That Sabbath night, Yisrael did not return for quite a
while since he was praying in his house of seclusion.
When he finally came home he said: "Good Shabbos!
Reb David, I see that you decided to remain here for
the Sabbath after all."
Yisrael decided not to make the Kiddush (prayer
sanctifying the Sabbath conducted over a cup of wine)
because Reb David would realize the truth about
Rabbi Yisrael's spiritual level if the former saw the
special devotion he would express. So he honored
his guest, "Reb David, please honor us by making
Kiddush."
They all sat down at the Sabbath table and ate the
evening meal with joy, songs and good feeling. Reb
David was thinking, "Just as Reb Gershon said, very
nice people but what boors."
Yisrael requested of him: "Reb David, please speak
some words of Torah." On that particular Sabbath, the
Torah portion being read was about the Exodus. So in
a simple way, Reb David told the story of the Egyptian
exile under the rule of the Pharaoh. Then he retired to
his room.
At midnight, when Yisrael was studying Torah, Reb
David awoke and saw, what appeared to be a large
fire, burning by the oven. He jumped up and started to
yell, "Get up and run, the house is on fire!"
Chana said, "Are you sure?"
Reb David went
towards the fire
and suddenly realized it was not a fire but the brilliant
light shining from the face of Rabbi Yisrael. He
fainted.
When he was revived, Yisrael said, "You
should not look at what is not permitted to you."
Reb
David was speechless.
The next morning, the Yisrael went to pray the Sabbath
morning service in his house of seclusion and
afterward returned home with a joyful attitude.
During the Sabbath afternoon meal, Yisrael asked
Reb David to say more words of Torah.
But
Reb David was confused and not sure what to say.
Then he gave an
interpretation of a posuk (phrase from the Torah).
Yisrael said, "I heard another interpretation of
that posuk," but he did not expound on it.
After the meal, Yisrael returned to his house of
seclusion. After Minchah (Afternoon prayer service),
he returned to the Inn and revealed his true spiritual
nature to Reb David. Yisrael expounded on the Torah
and revealed secrets of the Torah that had ever heard
before heard before.
After the Sabbath, Yisrael asked Reb David, "Please
return to Kitov and tell my brother-in-law, Rabbi
Gershon and the Kabbalist in the town that, 'There is a
great light living near your community, and it will be
worthwhile for you to seek him out and bring him to
town.'"
When Rabbi David returned to the town of Kitov and
spoke
about the marvel he had seen, and told them the
message from the Baal Shem Tov. Everyone left and
went towards the inn to invite Rabbi Yisrael to come
and live in town. Rabbi Yisrael had foreseen what
would happen and started to travel towards the town.
When they encountered each other, they
went to a
place in the forest and made a chair from the
branches of trees. They placed Rabbi Yisrael on the
chair and accepted him as their Rabbi. And Rabbi
Yisrael, soon to be called the Baal Shem Tov,
expounded on the Torah to them.
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 G·d spoke unto Moses, and said unto
him: '1 I am the L·rd; and I
appeared to Abraham, to
Isaac, and
to Jacob, as G·d Almighty, but My Name
YHWH - I
was not known to them. (Exodus 6:2)
G·d and His Name are one, unlike His
creatures,
whose names and essence are distinct. It would be
incorrect for the verse to say "My Name YHWH, I did
not make known to them," because the Name itself is
speaking.1 Therefore, the verse must
say, "I was not
known to them."
These are the words of the Ohr
HaChaim,2 and I also heard them from
my
grandfather [the Baal
Shem Tov], in the name of the Chovas HaLevavos.
3
Degel Machane Ephraim, Terumah
1I.e., there is a discrepancy in the use of
the verb "to know" in this verse. Since G·d is
speaking
about something He did, it should say, "but My Name
YHWH, I did not make known to them"; however, it
says, "I was not known to them."
2The great Sefardic Sage (1696-
1743).
3Duties of the Heart - a famous Twelfth
Century philosophical work, by R. Bachya ibn Paquda.
However, this teaching is not found in the edition of
the book we have today.
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 100
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The meaning of Unification (Yichud) is not to allow the
intellect and the words to become separate, so as not
to mix good and evil. This is "the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:9), and "a
handmaid who is heir to her mistress" (Proverbs
30:23). It is the meaning of Upper Waters.
Likutim
Yikarim, p. 5c
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 37
When a person carries with him
pearls and gems, he may be attacked by robbers. Not
so, however, when he carries straw. Likewise, in every
generation, wicked people and a "mixed multitude"
rise up against Israel. For they have whatever exists
in the realm of holiness. The Baal Shem Tov saw this
trouble in the last generation and cried out over it. For
because of these "thorns," and their strange and
distorted ways, he was unable to fix the souls of Israel
by means of Torah study and Divine service.
Indeed, every Tzaddik and Chasid has an opposing
force, which draws to itself all the rejected souls. At
times, the wicked are able to overcome the Tzaddik.
Notzer Chesed, chap. 2:4F
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 132
"A flogging not mentioned in the Torah"
1 - this refers to the death of Torah
scholars.
The Baal Shem Tov explained this with a parable:
2
There was a king who had officers and servants.
Once, one of the officers and one of the servants had
sinned against him. The king ordered to have the
officer punished in an honorable way, such as by
covering the whip with silk cloth. The simple servant,
though, was punished without honor.
After that, the king heard that the officer was priding
himself that he had been punished in an honorable
way, telling the servant, "I am more important than
you."
The king then ordered to have the officer punished in
the same way that the servant had been punished.
To understand the verse in the context of this parable,
it is known that a verbal "flogging" with rebuke is
the "death" of the evil trait of pride found among Torah
scholars. Thus, "A flogging not mentioned in the
Torah," means that the rebuke should not be wrapped
within words of Torah, but should be a simple
confrontation with the behavior. However, if one would
rebuke the scholar in an honorable way, by enclothing
the rebuke in words of Torah or halakhah, this would
only be cause for the scholar to become even more
proud. 3
Thus, "A flogging not mentioned in the Torah - this
refers to the death of Torah scholars," because the
scholars are lowered from their status, which is
considered "death," by their being "flogged" by
something not mentioned in the Torah.
1 Deuteronomy 28:61.
2Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Kedoshim
#10.
3Thus, one should not beat around the
bush, hinting and implying the message to the
scholar by way of some allusion from the Torah, but
should confront him in a straightforward way.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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