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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE FORGOTTEN
PROMISE
"I wil be returning to you at this time next year and then
your wife Sarah will have a son." Genesis (18:14)
And then there was the time when there lived a
wealthy merchant, named Reb Meir, who seemed to
have everything. But in truth, he was deeply unhappy
because after many years of marriage, he was still not
blessed with children. His friends told him to go to a
rabbi, the Baal Shem Tov, who was known to perform
miracles and ask for a blessing. However, Reb Meir,
while living a life devoted to the practice of Judaism,
didn't believe in miracle rabbis; in fact, thought they
were charlatans. So, whenever anyone mentioned
going to see the Baal Shem Tov, he would scoff at
them and sometimes even made derogatory remarks
about the supposed powers of the rabbi.
Once, while on a business trip to Mezibush, which
happened to be the hometown of the Baal Shem Tov,
Reb Meir stayed with an old friend, Reb Yaakov. The
two friends were glad to see each other and spent an
evening drinking, smoking their pipes and
reminiscing about old times. But at the end of the
evening, Reb Meir confided how miserable he was
because he didn't have children.
Learning of his friend's plight, Reb Yaakov
immediately suggested that he, being a follower of the
Baal Shem Tov, would arrange for Reb Meir to meet
with the Rebbe. However, Reb Meir, as always,
refused to even consider meeting with the Baal Shem
Tov.
Reb Yaakov became angry at his friend's behavior
and spoke rather harshly to him. "My dear friend, how
could you overlook an opportunity to meet with the
Rebbe. After all of the stories that you've no doubt
heard about people's lives changing after receiving a
blessing from him. And especially now that you are
right here in Mezibush and I can arrange the meeting
for you. I won't take 'no' for an answer. You must let
me take you to the holy Rebbe! Reb Meir, you are not
the first childless person who has gone to him."
Somewhat reluctantly, Reb Meir let himself be taken to
meet with the Baal Shem Tov. He was immediately
granted an audience. When he entered the Baal
Shem Tov's study, he realized right away that he was
in the presence of a holy man. At the Rebbe's
bidding, he sat down and tearfully opened up his he
heart. He recounted that while he was rich and had
everything that money could provide, he was still
unhappy because he and his wife hadn't been
blessed with a child.
As he spoke, the Baal Shem Tov looked him directly in
his eyes without speaking. When Reb Meir finished
telling his tale, the Rebbe thought for a while and then
replied, "Reb Meir, I want you to sell your entire stock
of merchandise for cash. Then go to the non-Jew in
your city who owns the granary and offer to buy it from
him. I promise you --within the year, G·d will bless you
with a son. And after he is born, I want to you to return
and tell me everything that happened."
Reb Meir left the meeting with the Baal Shem Tov
feeling hopeful but somewhat skeptical. Returning
home, he told his wife of the meeting and of the
Rebbe's advice. She did indeed believe in the Baal
Shem Tov and couldn't wait for her husband to carry
out the Rebbe's instructions. Reb Meir, however, was
reluctant to go because the gentile who owned the
granary was an outspoken anti-Semite; he was
known
to not even speak with a Jew much less transact any
business with one. Nevertheless, at his wife's urging,
Reb Meir went to meet with the man and offer to buy
the granary for cash.
When Reb Meir arrived at the granary and asked to
speak with the owner, he was
greatly surprised when he was immediately escorted
to meet the man. And what was even more amazing,
before he even had a chance to speak, the owner told
him that he had really intended to call on Reb Meir
and
offer to sell him his granary. Of course Reb Meir
immediately agreed.
As soon as he returned home, while still in shock,
Reb Meir told his wife all that had happened. She was
not surprised, firmly believing that it was all because
of the blessing from the Baal Shem Tov. Reb Meir
didn't really think so but agreed that it was a
miraculous occurrence. So he sold all of his
merchandise, as the Baal Shem Tov had instructed.
As it turned out, he had just enough to pay for the
granary. Soon thereafter, his granary business was
flourishing.
Exactly one year later, his wife gave birth that year to a
son. But by that time, Reb Meir had forgotten about the
meeting with the Baal Shem Tov. In fact, he forgot all
about the Baal Shem Tov's instructions, even the
prediction that he and his wife would have a son
within one year. When friends and neighbors
mentioned his great fortune over the past year,
including the birth of a long awaited son and the
purchase of the granary from its anti-Semite owner,
Reb Meir merely shrugged. He would answer that it
was mere coincidence having these blessings came
into his life. He even forgot all about the Rebbe's
request to be informed of the birth.
It wasn't long before Reb Meir regretted his desire for
a son. The young boy proved to be so wild and
unmanageable that he couldn't stay in school. And
even with a large salary, no teacher would continue to
study with him after just one week of trying to teach the
boy. Reb Meir's despair over how to deal with his son
was far worse than his despair over not having a child.
In time, business again brought Reb Meir to
Mezibush. Once again he stayed with his friend Reb
Yaakov. The latter was thrilled to hear that Reb Meir
had a son and that the new granary business was so
successful.
But after awhile, Reb Meir finally got around to telling
Reb Yaakov about his despair over the behavior of his
son.
Hearing how anguished his friend was, Reb Yaakov
asked whether Reb Meir had told the Baal Shem Tov
of the birth as he had had agreed.
Only then did Reb Meir remember that he had
forgotten about his promise. "Oh my G·d, I'm
so
embarrassed." he said. "How could I be so ungrateful
not to inform the Rebbe of the birth of my son,
especially since he specifically requested that I tell
him.
"Reb Meir," said Reb Yaakov, "you must make
amends right now. Maybe the Rebbe can help you
once again. Come, I'll go with you."
Reb Meir found himself once again being taken to the
study of the Baal Shem Tov> When he was granted an
audience, he begged the Rebbe's forgiveness for not
having told him about the purchase of the granary and
the birth of his son. "But alas," he told the Rebbe in a
sad voice, "I sometimes regret that I ever asked for a
son. I have no pleasure from the boy. He acts like an
animal. No teacher can deal with him. I'm at a loss.
What can I do with the child?"
"I will tell you what to do," said the Baal Shem Tov. "Go
home and sell the granary. Take all of the proceeds
and go to the annual fair in Leipzig and buy and sell
merchandise there for one year. When you return, you
will find that your son has settled down to become a
fine student of Talmud."
Reb Meir thanked the Baal Shem Tov and
immediately
returned home, sold his granary and went to the
Leipzig fair with the proceeds from the sale of the
granary. He started to do business. But after about
four months, all of the traders and buyers were
gone. "What am I going to do with myself in Leipzig for
another eight months?" he asked himself. He
lingered
as long as he could, but being restless, decided to
return home. He loaded up a rented wagon with the
merchandise he had bought and headed back.
It was a Friday morning when he set out. Somewhere
along the way, the wagon driver took a wrong turn and
they lost their way. Shabbos was fast approaching but
there was no sign of civilization along the road or
anywhere near by. They traveled on until it was too late
to go further and stopped on the roadside at the edge
of a forest.
"Let us part ways here," Reb Meir said to the wagon
driver, "and try to find some shelter in the forest for the
night."
Reb Meir began walking and after a short time, saw a
light flickering not far away. He continued in the
direction of the light until he came to a large house in
the forest. It was the home of a Jew; the lights he had
seen were Shabbos candles.
The owner was praying when Reb Meir knocked at the
door. A servant let him in and seeing that the stranger
had not brought Shabbos clothing, ran to fetch him
clean clothes for Shabbos. Shabbos passed
uneventfully. When it was over and havdalah had been
recited, Reb Meir began to worry about the wagon
driver and the wagon filled with his merchandise.
"What did it contain?" the host wanted to know.
"It had all the merchandise that I bought in Leipzig. It
is
worth a lot of money. I wonder what happened to my
wagon driver as well."
The host offered to buy the contents of the wagon for a
half cash payment. They made up a bill of sale and
Reb Meir received half payment in cash and half
payment secured with a promissory note. Just then
they looked outside the window.
"Isn't that your wagon and driver?" the host asked.
Indeed, it was. They unloaded the wagon into the
cellar and Reb Meir prepared to leave.
"Where should I go now?" he wondered. "The Baal
Shem Tov told me to stay in Leipzig for a year. Now
that I have sold all my merchandise, I may as well
return to Leipzig and buy some more. Then on my
return trip I can collect the note."
Reb Meir returned to Leipzig where he selected new
merchandise. In the course of his business he
inquired about the signator of his promissory note.
But
no one had ever heard of the man. Reb Meir began to
worry. The man owed him a large sum of money.
When the year finished, he took his remaining stock
and left Leipzig. Just as he was leaving the city, a man
stopped him.
"Reb Meir, you have a note of mine, don't you
remember? Here, let me pay you what I owe."
"I've inquired about you but no one seems to know
you. Who are you really?" Reb Meir asked. 'What does
it matter?" the man answered. "Here is your money in
cash. And by the way, when you go again to your
Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, give him regards from
Yonah."
Reb Meir finally returned home. To his great surprise
and joy, his son had finally settled down to learn and
had in the interval become a diligent scholar. This
time, Reb Meir did not wait. He picked himself up
immediately and went to the Baal Shem Tov to thank
him for his timely advice.
"I have regards for you," he told the Rebbe, "from
someone who calls himself Yonah."
"From Yonah?" the Baal Shem Tov said with an
amused voice. "Do you know who this Yonah is?"
Reb Meir shook his head no.
"It's none other than the prophet Yonah ben Amitai!"
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Stories of
the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y.
Klapholtz
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And G·d said to Avram, "Go further away for
your own benefit - from your land, from your birthplace,
and from your father's house, to the land that I will
show you." (Genesis 12:1)
"I will make your nature known in the world"
(Rashi).
I heard from my Master the Baal Shem Tov, in the
name of Rav Sa'adiah
Gaon, that a person is created in this world solely to
break his negative, inborn character traits. Through
this, he raises up the level called "your nature" [i.e.
what is natural for you] "in the world" - [i.e. into the
world] Above." It is called "world" (olam) from the
word "hidden" (he'elam) and "concealed."
Kesser Shem Tov, p. 3b
For instance, if the heat of his liver causes him to be
hot-tempered1, he should break his
nature and his
anger as much as possible. Likewise, if an over-
excitable nature causes him to spill seed,
G·d forbid, he should break this
[characteristic]. And one who is depressed by nature,
who bemoans and complains even when serving
G·d, has no virtue. And if his nature is to be a
hedonist and reveler, he should break his nature and
do the opposite.
This is what the Sages said: "One who is
born on a Tuesday will be wealthy and adulterous (atir
v'zanai)." The problem is that these are opposite
traits. If he is adulterous, it is more likely that he will
be poor, as it is written: "On account of a harlot, a man
is brought to a loaf of bread. . ." (Proverbs 6:26). "He
with big pumpkins and she with small ones."
Rather, this must refer to a person who by
nature is adulterous, but who breaks his nature and
becomes a zanai - one who sells different types of
foodstuff (mazon), as Rashi says about Rachav: "A
woman of zonah" (Joshua 2:1) - that she sold
different types of mazon. Therefore, it is good that he
is rich and a zanai.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 85b
1 Anger was thought to be a
result of too much heat in the liver.
2 Shabbat
156a.
3 See Sotah 4b: "Rava said, 'Whoever
has relations
with a harlot will end up begging for a loaf of bread.'"
4 Megilah 12a/b. The verse from
the Scroll of Esther
states: "On the seventh day, when the heart of the king
was merry with wine, he commanded . . . to bring
Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal,
to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for
she was fair to look upon (Esther 1:10-11). The
gemara comments that just as King Achashverus had
licentious intent, so was Queen Vashti willing to
appear for the same reason. "He with big pumpkins
and she with small ones" - i.e. both their intentions
were for evil. However, it is not clear how this proves
the Baal Shem Tov's point that promiscuity leads to
poverty.
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 90
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When you speak, imagine that the World of Speech is
speaking through you - a world so immense that all of
the worlds were created through it. Thus it
says: "These are the generations of the heaven and
the earth in their creation" (Genesis 2:4)
1 - that is,
with the five parts of the mouth.2 This
should lead
you to think about the splendor of G·d, and
how the
vitality of the words is from speech. This itself is the
World of Fear. For the Shechinah constricts herself to
rest in your words and mouth, as it says in the Sefer
Yetzirah - "He established them in the
mouth."3
Furthermore, if speech is so great, imagine what the
World of Thought must be like, not to mention the
luminous worlds that are without limit. When you
begin to realize that the immense World of Thought
has been contracted into the mind, the attributes of
Chochmah and Binah, it is only right that you become
ashamed before G·d.
Kesser Shem Tov II, p. 21a 4
1The word "in their creation" -
behiboram - is written
in the sefer Torah with a small letter hey: as if
to suggest the reading: "These are the generations of
the heaven and the earth - with [the letter] hey they
were created."
2The Sefer Yetzirah (2:3) divides the
letters of the
Hebrew alphabet into five groups, depending upon
the
different parts of the mouth used in their
pronunciation: the throat (the gutturals), the
tongue, linguals), the palette (palatals),
the teeth (dentals), and the lips (labials).
According to Kabbalah, these correspond to the five
Gevuros: forces of constriction that limit and make
accessible the infinite light of G·d. See Likutey
Moharan I:38.
3Sefer Yetzirah 2:3
4See also Likutim Amarim, p. 18a
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 27
Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye,
author of Toldos Yaakov Yosef, was opposed to
the path of the Baal Shem Tov at first, though he
eventually bound himself to the Baal Shem Tov with
great love and awe. Though there are many versions
of how this came about, the author of Sivchei
HaBesht1relates an account that he
heard
directly from Rabbi Yaakov Yosef.
The first time that Rabbi Yaakov Yosef
prayed in a house where The Baal Shem Tov was
staying, he began to weep in the middle of his prayers
more than ever before in his life. He realized that his
feelings did not originate in himself, but came through
the influence of the Baal Shem Tov. And so, he
attached himself to the Baal Shem Tov in love.
Because of this [source], I did not
copy here the lengthy stories from the books Notzer
Tenah2 or Ma'asiyot u'Ma'amarim
Yikarim.3
Tzror HaChayim, p. 10d
1The first book of stories about
the Baal Shem Tov, published in 1814, 55 years after
his death. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef passed away in
1782.
2By Shimon Rebi,
published in Krakow, 1899.
3By
Yeshaya Wolf Tzikernik, published in Zhitomer, 1903.
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 117
The Baal Shem Tov told the following parable:
There was a king who had four officers appointed over
his treasury. Once, they all colluded to steal the
treasury and flee. After a while, though, one of them
regretted his behavior and returned on his own. A
second one counseled with a wise advisor who
spoke to his heart and convinced him to return. The
third one arrived at the place where those who have
committed crimes such as he had are punished.
Seeing this, he too returned. The fourth one, though,
never returned.
The king elevated the one who returned on his own to
an even greater position than he had before, since he
had come to this decision on his own, unlike the
second one, who would not have returned had he not
been advised to do so by a wise counselor. The third
one, though, who only returned because he saw how
criminals are punished, was appointed by the king to
oversee those punishments. The Baal Shem Tov told
this regarding himself.1
1Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Tzav #3. This
parable is quoted there in a larger context, and is
quoted in this book in #254. Perhaps the curator of the
Keser Shem Tov brought it here as well in the context
of the previous teaching, that what one sees in others
is a mirror of oneself. Thus, this third officer who never
acknowledged that he had done anything wrong, but
only returned because he saw how people who had
acted similarly to how he had were punished, was
doomed to witness this mirror, so that perhaps he
might learn a lesson. It is not clear in which way the
Baal Shem Tov meant that this parable refers to
himself.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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