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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE HOLY MIKVEH YID
"And if you denigrate My decrees and grow tired of My
laws, then you will not keep all of My commandments,
and you will have broken My covenant. I will then do
the same to you. I will bring upon you feelings of
anxiety, along with depression and excitement,
destroying your outlook and making life hopeless."
Leviticus 26:15,16
Once, the Mezritcher Maggid (Rabbi Dov Ber of
Mezritch, the successor to Rabbi Israel Baal Shem
Tov) invited a few of his Chassidim to accompany him
on a long journey by carriage to console the widow of
the Mikveh Yid of Lemberg. A Mikveh Yid was a simple
Jewish man whose main job was to care for the
Mikveh (ritual bath), keep it warm in the winter and to
provide an understanding ear to the Chassidim that
use it daily. While the Chassidim were excited to
accompany the Mezritcher Maggid, they quietly asked
each other, "Why is the Rebbe taking such interest in
a mere Mikveh Yid (Yiddish for Jewish person)?"
The Mezritcher Maggid heard their
mumblings and finally said, "So you are all wondering
why I would interrupt your Torah studies for a simple
Jew. Let me tell you a story." As the Mezritcher
Maggid recounted the following story, the long trip to
Lemberg seemed to take only a few moments.
"Years ago, there lived a Jewish tailor, Reb Moshe, in
a village nearby to Mezritch. He was a fine tailor and
even made clothes for the local non-Jewish
noblemen. Besides his skills as a tailor, he had a
knack to make everyone laugh. A budding
comedian."
Once, one of the local noblemen was being fitted for a
new suit in his shop. After hearing some jokes that
made him nearly cry from laughter, the nobleman
said, "Moshe, why not come to my castle and tell a few
jokes. Look, I'm having a special party tonight and I'd
just love for you to come and entertain my guest. And
I'll pay you for your time of course." Reb Moshe
reluctantly agreed.
Later, when he sheepishly told the news to his wife
Channah, she wasn't happy about this turn of
events. "Moshe, this isn't something we Jews do."
But Reb Moshe was very excited and they agreed, "But
only tonight." He quickly forgot this promise as he
thought over and over during his long walk to the
castle, "I'm going to be a performer."
Even though Reb Moshe was very nervous, the jokes
went over extremely well. And afterwards, with
everyone in a jovial mood from Reb Moshe's
performance, they gathered around and heartily
congratulated him. Suddenly a glass of wine was
placed in his hand while "his new friends" all raised
their glasses in a toast to Reb Moshe. Reb Moshe
unhappily thought, "This is probably non-kosher
wine." But then he thought, "I don't want to embarrass
my new friends." So he drank non-kosher wine for the
first time in his life.
Just as he finished the wine, a waiter handed him a
sandwich filled with steaming, roasted white
meat. "The Count sends this to you and congratulates
you with the success of your performance tonight,"
said the waiter. As Moshe glanced over at the smiling
Count, he thought, "Oh my G·d, white meat,
it's
probably from that roasted pig that they're slicing right
now. But my new friends are so nice to me and I don't
want to throw my Jewishness in their face!" So he
took a bite. Shortly thereafter, Reb Moshe returned to
his home and his wife and forgot about the
incident.
A few weeks passed, and another
nobleman, while being fitted in his tailor shop, invited
him to perform at a party he was giving. Reb Moshe
immediately agreed, "Oh Count, I'd love to entertain
your friends at the castle."
But when Reb Moshe told his wife Channah of his
intention to perform again, she became really upset.
She started to plead, "Moshe, you promised last time
not to go again, it's against our ways, please Moshe,
please don't go." But Moshe wasn't listening to her.
Instead, he was thinking about his new friends and
that, 'They really like me and love my humor."
This time Moshe was more relaxed and he was even
funnier. Both his old friends and new acquaintances
were rolling in the aisles. And again Moshe ate and
drank non kosher food against his better judgment.
But "Good G·d, what's the big deal once or
twice?" he
thought.
Soon, he became a sought after guest at the frequent
parties given by the noblemen. Not only did he eat
and drink non-kosher food and wine, but he started
staying later and later and even getting
drunk.
Then one night, he started looking at all of the
beautiful women and noticed how they were hanging
on to his every word and even flirting with him. "They
really like me and look at them looking at me, even
casually touching me," he thought. "And at home,
there is Channah that Yenta (gossiper)."
In truth, Channah was very pure and had a very holy
soul. But Moshe, having strayed from the path of
Torah and Mitzvot, had fallen so low and become so
coarse that he could no longer appreciate her
refinement. He even changed his name to
Michal.
And so Michal started to only come home
for fresh clothes. He felt so guilty that he often had
screaming arguments with Channah. He would
yell, "Why are you always glaring at me? There's not
one friendly word coming from your miserable mouth.
You won't even go to the mikveh any more!" She
would argue back, "Please, please Moshe why are
you doing this, you're a Jew, we're married, what
about our parents?" Finally, one night, as she clung to
him begging him not to go, he pushed her away and
never returned home again.
Soon thereafter, one of his patrons told
him privately, "Michal, I just wanted to tell you as a
friend that we all feel, well to be blunt, that you're jokes
are getting, how should I say, a little stale. Maybe you
should get some new material."
Michal felt dejected. And nothing funny was coming to
him.
A few days later, the village was buzzing. "Did you
hear, the Holy Baal Shem Tov is coming for Shabbat?
And I'm sure he'll give us all his blessing. Tell
everybody there's a special dinner with the Rebbe on
Shabbat night."
Michal had a great idea. He'd develop a
show imitating the Baal Shem Tov. With all of the
miracle stories circulating around, everyone, even the
non-Jews, was curious about the famous Holy man.
So the next Shabbos night, when the Baal
Shem Tov was in town, Michal, instead of partying with
his new friends as was his new custom on Friday
night, went to the synagogue to study the behavior of
the Baal Shem Tov. He thought, "All I have to do is
mimic this Holy man, how he sways when he prays,
how he jumps when he dances, and how he moves
his hands when he speaks."
So Michal carefully studied the Baal Shem Tov, but
nothing struck him as being funny. The only thing he
really noticed was that the Baal Shem Tov's joyful
mood. Michal found himself both confused and
mysteriously moved in the presence of the Baal Shem
Tov. So he thought, "let me relax and watch him
eating dinner with the Chassidim".
Later that night, the Baal Shem Tov invited
the local villagers to join him for Shabbat dinner.
Michal tried to get into the room crowded with the
followers of the Baal Shem Tov but they weren't about
to let him in. Everyone knew he was no longer living
according to the Jewish laws and moreover, he had
forsaken his wife. "Get out of here you filthy swine!"
they yelled at him.
Only after Michal threatened them, "You'd
better let me in or I'll speak with some my noblemen
friends!" did they let him in. Michal wasn't satisfied
with just being in the room. He pushed through the
crowd until he was sitting across from the Baal Shem
Tov. The joyful way the Baal Shem Tov made Kiddush
and ritually washed his hands before eating the
challah (Shabbat bread) didn't provide him any help in
creating humor about the Baal Shem Tov's actions.
As the evening progressed, the Baal Shem Tov
started to speak thoughts of Torah. Michal felt his
heart break as the Baal Shem Tov's words penetrated
through the thick shell that had formed around his
heart from his behavior.
And then the Baal Shem Tov began teaching, "Before
we are born, while we are still in the womb, an angel
comes with a candle and teaches us the entire Torah
that is ours for this lifetime. And then, when we are
born, the angel makes us forget all the Torah that was
taught to us. Lucky is the person who finds a Rebbe
that teaches word by word the Torah they learned and
forgot before their birth."
Just then, Reb Moshe (he stopped thinking of himself
as Michal) thought, "The Baal Shem Tov is speaking
the Torah I learned before I was born." And then he
could feel the Baal Shem Tov's words flow into his
heart. Suddenly Reb Moshe realized, "Oh my God, my
life as a comedian is empty and a curse." He felt
completely lost and confused.
Right after the Shabbat dinner, Reb Moshe rushed
over to the Baal Shem Tov and asked, "Rebbe, I beg
you, guide me to do Teshuvah (return to the way of
Torah and Mitzvot).
The Baal Shem Tov told him, "Go to the synagogue
and pray, fast and study Torah for the entire week until
next Shabbat. Then, go home for Shabbat and
afterwards begin the fasting again."
"But how will I know when to stop the weekly fasting?"
asked Reb Moshe.
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "HaShem (G-d) will
give you a sign. Now go."
So Reb Moshe immediately went to a little synagogue
and spent the week praying, studying and fasting. He
wasn't used to fasting and became weaker by the
day. By Friday afternoon, Moshe couldn't even move.
He asked the shamash (caretaker) to help him home
after the Friday evening Shabbat prayers. Moshe was
so weak that he fell asleep. The shamash forgot
about Moshe and no one else noticed him. When
Moshe awoke, the synagogue was locked and he
couldn't get out. He was so weak that he expected to
die. He started to cry and prayed to G-d to forgive him
for his sins.
Suddenly, a holy man appeared in the locked
synagogue and introduced himself as Eliyahu HaNavi
(Elijah the Prophet). The Prophet told Reb Moshe, "Go
to Lemberg and become the caretaker of the mikveh. I
promise to come and study Torah with you every
night." Just as he had come, Eliyahu HaNavi
suddenly disappeared.
Just then, the shamash opened the door to the
synagogue. "Reb Moshe, I'm sorry I forgot you. I was
already sleeping when I heard a loud knock on my
window. When I got up, I looked to see who was
banging on my window. I didn't see anyone but I did
remember that I forgot you."
When the shamash and Reb Moshe arrived at
Moshe's home, they could see the light of the Shabbat
candles through the window. Reb Moshe knocked on
the door and said, "Channah, it's me Moshe. Please
open the door."
But Channah wouldn't let him in. Finally, with the help
of the shamash, Reb Moshe convinced her he had
changed. "Okay," Channah finally relented, "you can
come in but you'll have to sleep in the kitchen." She
knew her husband had returned to himself when she
saw him make Kiddush.
So Reb Moshe and his wife Channah moved to
Lemberg where he took the job as the mikveh Yid.
And promised, Eliyahu HaNavi came to learn with
Moshe every night.
One night, the Rabbi of Lemberg (a secret Kabbalist),
noticed a luminous light coming from Moshe's house.
After being confronted by the Rabbi, Moshe
admitted, "the light is from Eliyahu HaNavi who is
learning Torah with me every night." The Rabbi
begged Moshe to ask Eliyahu HaNavi if he could join
them. Eliyahu HaNavi said, "No, but you can teach the
Rabbi the next day whatever we learn the night
before."
At first, this arrangement was fine for the Rabbi. But
then, he wanted a sign that the teaching wasn't
coming from the dark side. So Eliyahu HaNavi gave
him the sign through Moshe that no one in the town
would die while the nightly learning continued.
Then, one day, the Rabbi was called to a funeral, the
first since Eliyahu HaNavi had given the sign. He
knew at once that Reb Moshe, the mikveh Yid, had
died.
Upon completing the story, the Mezritcher Maggid said
to his Chassidim, "Now don't you agree that we
should pay our respects to the Holy Mikveh Yid who
did such great Teshuvah?"
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story heard from Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach of blessed memory.
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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Behold, I have taught you rules and laws, as the
L·rd G·d has commanded me, that
you should keep them, in the land to which you are
coming to possess. You shall observe them and do
them . . . . (Deuteronomy 4:60)
"Observe them" - this is Mishnah.1 "And
do them" - as
it implies. (Rashi)
This is a very great thing. For then, a person knows
that he did [a mitzvah] on that day, and created one
angel - "And if there is for him an angel, an
intercessor, one among a thousand2 to
vouch for a man's uprightness, then He will be
gracious to him, and say, 'Deliver him from
descending to the pit, I have found a ransom'" (Job
33:23).
This is alluded to in [the verse]: "He who
keeps (shomer) the commandment will not know an
evil thing . . . ." (Ecclesiastes 8:5). That is, when a
person commits himself to being constantly attentive -
from morning till eve - for a mitzvah to present itself to
him. This is the meaning of shomer, as in "And his
father watched out for the matter (shomar et hadavar)"
(Genesis 37:11). Then, the result will be that he "will
not know an evil thing." That is, he will not have an
improper seminal emission, which is called "evil,"
G·d forbid.3
This is alluded to in the verse: "The
kindness of G·d is all the day" (Psalms 52:3).
That is, each and every day, you must do kindness to
G·d.
Tzivos HaRivash, p.
3b
1I.e. the study of the Oral Torah, so as
not to forget it.
2A thousand accusers.
3The Torah considers the act of spilling
seed as one of the most grievous sins possible, so
much so that it is given the unique title of "evil" - ra.
(As in the verse: "And Er, Judah's first-born, was evil in
the sight of G·d . . . ." (Genesis 38:7), on which
Rashi comments that he intentionally spilled his seed
on the ground.) According to Kabbalah, this act was
part of the sin of Adam, and causes damage even
when it happens unintentionally, such as during
sleep. Much of Chasidic thought deals with rectifying
this sin on the personal and cosmic level. In addition
to the mystical power of mitzvah observance to
engender purity, the Baal Shem Tov may have meant
that constant attentiveness to fulfilling the will of
G·d protects a man from impure thoughts
during the day, so that his dreams will be pure at
night. This is as the Talmud states: "A person
shouldn't think about illicit things during the day that
will bring him to impurity in the night" (Kesuvos
46a).
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 1.1
Praying for the spiritual aspect of physical
things
The meaning of our prayers, such as for livelihood or
rain are not for these physical things; rather, they are
for their supernal, spiritual roots. Thus physicality is
the external aspect; whereas the spiritual is the inner
aspect.
Shemen Sasson, Psalms
86
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 15.
It is known that the Mezritcher Maggid thought that
the Baal Shem Tov ate as an angel until one time he
actually saw him eat as mortals do.
Or Hachochmo, Parshas Beshalach
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 173.
THE DIVINE SPARK
"Seraphim stand above him."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught2:
Seraphim refers to the righteous, whose hearts are on
fire3 with love of G·d because
of, "above him." That is, because of the Divine spark
from Above, as we are taught, "Know what is above
you."4
1Isaiah 6:2.
2Quoted also in the Sefer Baal Shem
Tov, Breshis No. 31.
3The word Seraphim is from the root of
the Hebrew word that means fire.
4Tractate Avos 2:1. The knowledge that
our souls are a "spark" of G·d ignites a love
for the Whole, of which we are "part."
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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