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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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Cont'd. from Shabbos Metzora-Tazria
In the last edition, Reb Eliezer and his wife Rebbetzyn
Sarah were informed by Eliyahu HaNavi that they
would have a son that would guide the Jewish
people. Please note that the Friedeka Rebbe, Rabbi
Yoseph Yitzchak, wrote that on the occasion that
Eliyahu HaNavi, disguised as a beggar, came to Reb
Eliezer and Rebbetzyn
Sarah, there were many guests and they were
harassing Reb Eliezer about being so kind to the
guest (Eliyahu HaNavi) that was breaking Shabbos.
In fact, Reb Eliezer got so upset that he went to the
other room.
There he realized that while he was feeling upset, the
guest must be getting embarrassed, so he went back
and gave the guest extra attention.
Never had the Jewish community of Okup known such
prosperity. The wheat grew plentifully in the fields all
around this
Polish village and the farmers, laden with money,
came to buy all kinds of merchandise and goods.
For the first time, there was a level of contentment
among the Jews of Okup.
When did all the prosperity start? They villagers
remembered clearly: it was soon after Reb Eliezer
passed away - that holy tzaddik who always provided
food for
the poor at his home, especially on the Sabbath.
Among themselves, the Jews of 0kup agreed that only
Reb Eliezer could be the cause of their new
prosperity and good fortune. Now that he was in
Heaven, he must be praying for them.
In Reb Eliezer's house, however, there was no
prosperity. His widow, Rebbetzyn Sarah
and their five year old son Yisrael, who she
affectionately called Srulic, didn't
even have a crust of dark bread to eat.
Still, they accepted everything cheerfully. For the next
week, they sat in mourning. Then Rebbetzyn Sarah
began taking little Srulik to the village synagogue,
so that he could
recite kaddish, the mourner's prayer, for his
father's soul in heaven.
That year, little Srulik was the only one
saying kaddish for a departed one in Okup. Soon, he
became known as "the little angel." Never had the
worshippers heard anything so sweet as the kaddish
chanted by this child, in all his innocence and simple
faith. Indeed, when he first began saying the prayer in
the synagogue of Okup, no one's eyes remained dry.
The Jews praying there wept uncontrollably to think of
Reb Eliezer gone from them forever, and such a little
boy left an orphan, with no father to look after him.
But as the days passed, they became
accustomed to the sound of
the child's angelic prayer. And besides, with the new,
growing prosperity in the village, everyone wanted to
get back to their business immediately after the
morning prayers. There was money to be earned.
However in Heaven, the sweet, innocent
prayer of the little boy made a powerful impression. So
beautiful was the sound of his prayer, that during the
morning and evening prayer-services, angels of mercy
filled the synagogue of Okup to listen to his
kaddish.
Only angels, however, can see what angels do. The
little boy and his mother Sarah knew nothing of this.
It became their custom that early every morning, Sarah
awakened her child: "Come, my little
angel, the time has come for the morning prayers."
Their little cottage was at the very edge
of the village, quite far from the synagogue. Every
morning, littlw Srulik and his mother walked hand in
hand down the long winding road to Shule. And Srulik
trotted happily
along, reciting the first paragraph of Shema Israel,
that his mother was then teaching him.
When did anyone ever hear so exquisitely enchanting
a sound as little Srulik chanting the
holy words of Shema Israel? "And you shall love the
L-rd your G-d with all your heart and
with all your soul
and with all your might ..."
Srulik's chanting
awoke
the good Jews of Okup from their sleep, and caused
them to rush to be in the synagogue on time. After all,
they
had no time to lose. Soon, their customers
would come flocking to their stores and shops,
wanting to buy so many things.
In fact the people of Okup were so busy with their
businesses and their prosperity that there was no
time to worry about others. Their was not a thought to
how were the widow and the orphan were managing.
or if there was enough food for
the
two of them?
Actually, Sarah found a way to get along. She sold
clothing and household articles to the neighboring
farmers, and bought
food for the child and herself.
One day, some "guests" came to the village: strangers
who were passing through. They spent the night in
the "guest room" connected to the synagogue (which
the
community kept just for this purpose). Very early in the
morning, the guests rose and went to the little study
room next to the synagogue; and there they
sat down to study Torah.
To be continued next week. . . . .
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Howard Cohn
Patent Attrorney) from Legends and Stories of
the Baal Shem Tov by Rabbi Menachem Gutman
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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With this shall Aharon enter the Sanctuary . . . . .
(Leviticus 16:3)
It is known that the main purpose of all of our service
of G-d, be it Torah study, prayer, the mystical
intentions of mitzvos or of eating, is in order to sort out
and uplift the sparks of holiness from the depths of
the impure shells. This is reflected on the human level
when "men of substance" are uplifted to the level
of "form."1
This is the meaning of "With this shall
Aharon enter the Sanctuary." But in order to be able to
uplift the lower level to the higher one, one must first
conjoin with that level. Then, one can uplift it.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Yisro, p. 59c
1The Baal Shem Tov is applying the
classic philosophical distinction between substance
and form, or matter and spirit (chomer and tzurah), to
human beings. The spiritual leaders of the community
are "men of form," who must uplift and refine the
masses, who are "men of substance."
Translation and commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer
Shore.
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HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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Section 3.6
Strengthen yourself before
praying by first reciting psalms or studying
Torah.
Strengthen yourself before praying so that you will, at
least, have no foreign thoughts, and [ideally, will pray]
with devekus. You can do this by first reciting psalms
or studying Torah, and then pray amidst those words.
This will give you presence of mind.1 On
the other hand, for some people, saying a lot of
Psalms or studying Torah decreases their ability to
concentrate. Thus, it says: "One gives a lot and
another a little, as
long as a person's heart is directed to heaven."
(Menachos 110a, Berachos 5b) - that is, as long as
the person has the consciousness to pray, in which
case, they are equal.
Unknown Chassidic Source
1
Literally, "Then he will have mohin - mentalities," a
kabbalistic term for states of consciousness: mohin
d'gadlus, "expanded consciousness," or mohin
d'katnus, "constricted consciousness."
Translation
and
Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light of the Baal Shem Tov
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Section 6.
The author of Toldos Yitzchak,
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Weisz of Neshchiz (1824-1894)
said in the name of his father that not all of the miracle
stories told about Tzaddikim are authentic, for many
seem implausible. Not so are the stories of the Baal
Shem Tov because even if the miracle attributed to
him didn't actually happen, the Baal Shem Tov could
have done it.
Zichron Tov, p. 9b 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 5.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"A bat kol (a voice from Heaven) comes out from
Mount Chorev (Mount Sinai) and says, "The entire
world is sustained b'shvil (literally, for the sake of) my
son Chanina . . . . ." Brochos 17b. The Hebrew
word "shvil" also means a path, a channel. Thus, the
sages mean here that Rabbi Chanina opened up a
channel and a path for the flow of Divine beneficence,
and hence, "The entire world is sustained through the
shvil of my son Chanina".1
1This teaching is based on the premise
that there can be no interaction between two utterly
different states of existence. That is, there can be no
interaction between the
spiritual and material worlds, without a medium or an
entity that has aspects of both (Etz Chaim, 42:1:42;
Toldot Yaakov Yoseph,
Kedoshim 5). Thus, we are taught that Moses served
as the intermediary between G-d and man in
transmitting the Torah, since Moses was, "the man of
G-d." While he was G-dly, he was still
fully a
man (Deuteronomy 33:1; Sidduro Shel Shabbath,
II:2). In this regard, every tzaddik bears a spark
of "Moses soul," and is thus an intermediary - a
channel - between G-d and man (Maor
Eynayim, Vayelekh [end]; ibid. Yithro, q.v. B'Masecheth
Shabbath). This channel is not only for material
benefits, but for spiritual ones as well. For example,
the great tzaddikim pave new spiritual paths that are
then open for others to travel. Sometimes, just by
their very attaining spiritual heights, they make it
easier for others to attain them with considerably less
effort (Noam Elimelekh, Chayee Sarah, q.v. V'Avraham
Zaken).
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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