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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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In the last edition of Parsha Ki Teitze, the Baal Shem
Tov moved to Tlust, the city where he was raised by
his parents, and started to use his holy powers to give
blessings and heal people.
When he told
them that he had to leave to heal a sick child, and
thereby help a community of Jews, the people of
Tlust looked at him blankly, not understanding what
he meant. His little son Tzvi, however, remembered
something that the Baal Shem Tov had once said: that
while he prays in great devotion, even though he only
reaches the lower worlds of heaven, he can learn
events of the future there - because there, the
judgements are proclaimed about what is to happen
on earth. So
Tzvi understood that his father must have heard
something proclaimed which told him that he
would be needed in Pelitz to rescue the Jews there
from danger.
"Take me along with you," Tzvi begged his father. The
Baal Shem agreed. As they went to the coach-and-
horses, the people of Tlust escorted them, blessing
the Baal Shem Tov that he should succeed in his
purpose, and he should return safely, in good health.
Usually, the trip from Tlust to Pelitz was hardly a single
day's
journey. With the coach harnessed to four fine horses,
they should easily have reached Pelitz the same day.
Yet one thing after another happened to .delay them
and slow their pace. The wealthy man kept whipping
the horses to make them run faster, and he remained
certain that they would reach Pelitz before nightfall. As
dusk fell, however, they were still far from the town,
and they were forced to stop for the night at an inn, in
the town of Fistin.
It did not take them long to learn that the Jews of the
town had made the day a time of fasting, because they
were in great trouble. They were all
deeply worried and frightened, even on the verge of
tears. "Whatever Is the matter?" asked the wealthy
man of one person. "Why all the sorrow and worry?"
The answer expalined why they were troubled. The
daughter of the Polish nobleman who owned the town
lost her senses. She had suddenly lost her mind and
was acting like an insane
person. This nobleman had always disliked the Jews,
and whenever he found a chance, he would cause
them trouble and distress. When his daughter turned
insane, he ranted and shouted that the Jews of his
little town were to blame. He claimed that they had
prayed for this
terrible thing to happen. If not for their evil prayers, he
roared, his daughter would have been fine. He
therefore proclaimed that the Jews of Fistin must
begin praying at once for his daughter to be well; and
if in three days she did not recover and become
healthy again, he would expel them all - drive every
last Jew out of Fistin; and he would take away
everything they owned. They would be left penniless in
the world, without a home to take shelter in.
It was these woe-stricken Jews of Fistin who told this
to the wealthy man of Pelitz. "Well," he told them, "I
have the very same trouble as your Polish nobleman.
My daughter has also gone out of her mind - lost her
senses. So I have taken this man with me, the Baal
Shem Tov of Tlust, to cure her. Take him to your
dreadful nobleman to cure his daughter, and you will
all be out of trouble." These Jews lost no time, and
soon everyone in the town knew that the Baal Shem
Tov was there, in Fistin.
All gave a great sigh of relief, and almost wept for
happiness. Heaven alone must have sent him, they
agreed, to save them from the terrible fate that faced
them. They would be saved from this cruel nobleman
who owned their little town.
When they asked the Baal Shem Tov to cure this evil
man's daughter, he agreed. The leaders of the Jews
went to the nobleman at once, to tell him that
someone had come to the town who would be able to
cure his daughter.
"Stop telling me nonsense," he shouted at them. "I
brought the greatest doctors and physicians to
examine her, and they said that nothing can cure her.
And now you tell me that some Jew who isn't even a
doctor can make her well? Don't talk like idiots! Do you
know that the doctors said she must not take any
drugs or medicines, because they can make her
worse?"
Their hopes destroyed, the leaders of the Jews went
back to the Baal Shem Tov and told him what the
nobleman had said. "Have no fear," he replied
calmly. "Go and tell him that I won't give her any
medicine or drugs. I shall merely whisper in her ear,
and she will become well."
To this the nobleman agreed. After all, he thought,
what did he have to lose? Their hearts filled with hope,
the
wealthy man of Pelitz and the leaders of the Jews of
Fistin went with the Baal Shem Tov to the door of the
nobleman's house. There he entered alone, holding
in his hand the volume of Talmud that he had taken
along on the trip from Tulst.
When the nobleman bid him welcome, he asked that
the man's daughter be taken to a room where there
was no cross or icon connected with her
religious faith. When she was there, he bid two of the
servants to tie her well, with strong bonds.
Then he opened the volume of Talmud that he had
bought, and began studying aloud, with a sweet chant
of Talmud study, a certain part of Tractate Me'ilah.
This is what the Talmud said there:
Once the ancient Roman empire (which ruled the
Land of Israel) decreed that the Jews were not
to keep the Sabbath as a holy day of rest, and they
were not to circumcise their new-born sons on the
eighth day of their lives (although both these are
things are commanded in the Torah).
Then Rabbi Reuven ben Itstrobuli went and had his
hair cut in Roman fashion (so that he looked like a
Roman citizen, and he went and sat among them.
(The decrees and laws of the Roman empire were
made by the Senate in Rome; and any Roman citizen
who wanted had the right to come before the Senate
and speak about any law that had been passed, and
they would listen and consider what he said.)
Said he: "If someone has an enemy whom he hates,
does he want him to become poor or rich?"
"Poor,"' they replied.
"In that case, let the Jews keep the Sabbath as their
holy day of rest. They will do no work on that day, and
will
become poor. Again, if someone has an enemy
whom he hates, would he want him to waste away or
be strong and healthy?"
"Waste away," they replied, "become ill."
"In that case, let them circumcise their children as they
please, when each little boy is eight days old. Then
their infants will sicken (for circumcision is a kind of
surgery, you know)."
'You have spoken well," all the men in the Senate
agreed; and they made their law null and void. Some
time afterward, however, they discovered that this man
who had spoken before them was himself a Jew, and
they passed the law again.
Said the learned rabbis of Israel, "Who shall go now
and get this law removed? Let Rabbi Shimon ben
Yochai go because miracles always happen for him."
At that,
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai traveled to the city of Rome.
What did the Almighty do? He made the demon spirit
named Ben T'malyon take possession of the
emperor's daughter (so that she acted insane and
unable
to help herself.)
When the news of her strange illness spread, Rabbi
Shimon ben Yochai let it be known that he could cure
such a thing. Soon he was sent to the royal palace to
heal the emperor's daughter. He entered her room
and called out, "Get away, Ben T'malyon. Leave the
emperor's daughter!" At the command of this holy
man, the demon spirit left, and she was cured.
At the emperor's order, Rabbi Shimon was now
told, "Come: here are the rooms of the royal treasury.
As your reward, you may enter freely and take -
whatever you like (even the most precious jewels. No
one will watch you.)
Slowly he went from room to room, till he found the
chamber of records, where the documents of all
Roman decrees and laws were kept. He searched till
he found this law that he was looking for. He took the
document and tore it to pieces, (with that, the Jews of
Israel could safely claim that the law no longer
existed) and the decree became null and void.
This is what the Baal Shem Tov studied now in his
volume of Talmud, as the Polish nobleman watched
him. "I am about to make your daughter well," said the
Baal Shem Tov. "But first you must swear to me that if I
do
so, you will no longer cause the Jews any harm, and
instead, you will only treat them well."
"Good," said the nobleman. "I swear it - by my life and
by the life of my daughter."
The Baal Shem now ordered the servants to place the
nobleman's daughter on her left side; and he went
close and
whispered into her right ear, "Just as Rabbi Shimon
ben Yochai ordered that demon spirit to leave the
emperor's daughter, so I command this evil spirit to
leave the nobleman's daughter. Let the One who
healed the emperor's daughter now heal this person."
With a gesture he told the servants to untie her,
because she was now well. And indeed she was.
Losing no time, the wealthy man of Pelitz
found a messenger and sent him riding swiftly to
Tlust, to tell the people there all that happened - so
that they should know the Baal Shem Tov had not left
them merely to save one single life. By his help, all the
Jews of Fistin had been saved from a cruel,
frightening fate.
In the record book of the Jews of Fistin, the incident
was written down; and it was added that in
commemoration of their rescue, the Jews of Fistin
were to keep and celebrate this day every year, as a
special "Purim" of their own.
Needless to say, now there was a day of happy
celebration in Fistin, as the Jews gave praise and
thanks to the Almighty for what "the Baal Shem Tov of
Tlust" had done. Meanwhile the Baal Shem Tov rode
on to Pelitz with the wealthy man to cure his daughter.
This too he did, by praying and commanding that she
should be healed, not by medicines or drugs, but by
the Almighty who creates all cures. Soon, to the relief
of her father, she was perfectly fine, without a trace of
illness of any sort.
Grateful to the Baal Shem Tov, the wealthy man of
Pelitz
took him back to Tlust in his elegant coach-and-
horses
where he was welcomed amid shouting and
cheers: "Long live our rabbi! Long live the Baal Shem
Tov of Tlust long live the worker of rescues and cures!"
This is the final chapter in the Holy Sefer entitled
Legends and Stories of
the Baal Shem Tov by Rabbi Menachem
Gutman
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn
(Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attrorney)
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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"The L-rd whom you have glorified today to be
your G-d . . . .and the L-rd has
glorified you today to be His special nation" (Devorim
26:17-18)
It is written: "Israel, in whom I will be glorified." (Isaiah
49:3), and "the glory of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1).
That is, G-d cannot laud Himself, for who can
comprehend His essence? Therefore, He exalts
Himself in His children, like a father prides himself in
his son. With this love, G-d emanated the
Children of Israel, in order to be exalted through them.
It comes out that [spiritual] delight is revealed in this
exaltation. Kisvei Kodesh, p. 24c
Because you did not serve the L-rd your G-
d in joy and with gladness of heart, for the
abundance of all things. (Ibid. 28:47)
When the leaders of the generation are happy, they
arouse joy in the entire world.
Dibras Shlomo, Shemini
Crying is exceptionally bad, for a person must serve
G-d with joy. But if he cries due to joy, that is
very good.
Tzivos HaRivash, p. 6a
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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5.a4 Praying for food or clothing causes a Supernal
outflow of food or clothing to be drawn down on
Tzaddikim.
Tzaddikim are the messengers of the Divine
Presence, and from their own privations, such as for
food or clothing, they know the lack Above and pray for
it to be filled. They do not pray for their own sake at all.
Nevertheless, when an ordinary
person prays for food or clothing, a Supernal outflow
of food or clothing is also drawn down for tzaddikim,
who pray only for spiritual needs and never for
physical ones.
Ben Poras Yosef p. 23b
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 23.
On another occasion, the cantor told Reb Elimelech
that when the Baal Shem Tov would look at any object,
such as a bench or a table, he could tell all the
thoughts that the craftsman had when he made that
object. Reb Elimelech was astounded by this.
Later in the conversation, the cantor told Reb
Elimelech how the Baal Shem Tov could gaze from
one end of the earth to the other.
Once, when his students were sitting with him, the
Baal Shem Tov chuckled a little, as he often did. His
students asked him why he chuckled. He said that in
a certain city, in a very distant land, a nobleman had
spent several years building a beautiful palace. And
just a few minutes before, a Tzaddik had been on his
way to the synagogue to pray. It had started to hail
heavily, so the Tzaddik took shelter in the palace that
the nobleman had spent so long building.
When the hail storm stopped, the Tzaddik left the
palace and continued on to the synagogue. As soon
as he left, the palace collapsed.
"How can I not laugh over how much G-d's
direction of the world is hidden? The purpose of this
great building was to give shelter to this Tzaddik for a
short while. During that time, the Tzaddik rectified all of
the sparks of holiness that were in the stones which
formed the sides of the palace. Once the sparks were
rectified, the stones no longer needed to remain
standing. That is why the palace immediately
collapsed."
Later, the cantor continued, we saw in the newspaper
the story of that palace and its unexplained collapse. It
had happened at the moment that the Baal Shem Tov
had laughed.
Then, the cantor stood up and swore that once, while
he and the other students studied Torah with the Baal
Shem Tov, flames had risen around them. The flames
remained until they were so purified that they heard
the Torah from the Rebbe as the Children of Israel
had received it at Mount Sinai - with thunder and
lightening and the mighty blasts of the shofar! In fact,
the cantor went on to say that because the sounds at
Mount Sinai were Divine and never ceased. However,
a person needed holiness and purity to hear them.
Reb Elimelech replied, "I have not achieved that
spiritual level. Though it comes as no surprise, that
the spiritual service and holiness of our Master and
Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov was extremely
great. Moreover, his holy practices were from that pure
place, the Nestur River, and from Achiya HaShiloni.
Fortunate is the person who merits that
state."
The G-d-fearing who read this will understand
that all the above-mentioned levels, or similar ones,
were attained by Reb Elimelech.
From the Manuscripts of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of
Komarno
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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Kst 39
Rabbi Ze'ira said, "Whoever repeats the Shema
Yisrael should be silenced."
Rabbi Papa asked Abayee, "Perhaps this person
simply did not concentrate well the first time, and the
second time he is able to concentrate."
"Does G-d have any friends in heaven? If he
is unable to concentrate the first time," he answered
him, "He is struck with a sledgehammer until he is
able to concentrate."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The question still remains, perhaps this person wants
to repeat the verse because he was unable to
concentrate the first time, and now he wants to fulfill
his obligation and recite it with concentration.
Furthermore, why does Rabbi Ze'ira only speak about
someone who repeated the Shema Yisrael, and not
about any other verse in the Keriat Shema, or any
other verse, for that matter?
This can be understood by understanding what it
means to accept the yoke of heaven. A person should
believe that G-d's glory fills all worlds, and
that there is nothing in which He does not exist. Thus,
G-d's existence is inherent in all of man's
thoughts, and each and every human thought is a
complete spiritual structure on its own. Hence, when
an untoward thought arises in one's mind during
prayer, it arises so that he rectifies it and raises it back
to its Source. If one does not believe this, then one
has not fully accepted the yoke of heaven, for he is
placing a limit on G-d's existence.
Thus, the person who repeated the Keriat Shema was
because he had an untoward thought the first time.
But had he known that even in that untoward thought
he could have found G-d, he would not have
had to repeat the verse. And this is what the Talmud
alludes to by being struck with a sledgehammer:
2 The thoughts themselves are striking
the person like a sledgehammer so that he rectify
them and elevate them, so why does he have to
repeat the Shema, which implies that G-d
could not be found in his first recitation. By doing so,
he places a limit on G-d's existence, and in
the
acceptance of the yoke of heaven, which is why he
must be silenced.3
However, sometimes there are thoughts that one
must push aside. The question is, then, How is one to
know which to push aside and which to elevate? The
answer to that is that one should take note if when the
untoward thought arises in one's mind, if a
corresponding thought of how to rectify and elevate it
arises simultaneously in one's mind, then one should
work with that thought to elevate it. However, if the
thought of rectifying and elevating the untoward
thought does not arise in one's mind, then the
untoward thought was probably sent to him simply to
confuse him and distract him from his prayers. In that
case, one may push the thought aside, following the
rule, "If someone is pursuing you to kill you, you may
kill him first."4
In conclusion, if one has recited several words of the
Keriat Shema or the prayers without proper
concentration, one should not repeat those words
orally, but one may think those words in his
mind.5
1Tractate Brakhoth 33a-34b.
2The usual understanding of this phrase
in the Talmud is that he should be struck with a
sledgehammer, but the Baal Shem Tov explains it to
be saying that he is being struck by a
sledgehammer
3In this context, the opening
exclamation, "Does G-d have friends in
heaven?" means that if one could say that G-d
is not Alone in heaven, then one could argue that He
is not everywhere, since He has to "share" the world
with other beings, but since this is not so, then He
must be everywhere, as the Baal Shem Tov says
here.
4Brakhoth 58a
5This entire section is from the Ben
Porath Yoseph 50b-c. The Avodath Yisrael (at the end
of Terumah) also quotes the idea, but with a nuance
of meaning. He says that the reason why the untoward
thought arose in the person's mind was because he
was anyway not concentrating properly.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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