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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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And then there was the time during the days of
the
Rabbi Yaakov Yoseph, the Preacher of Polonnoye (a
close follower of the Baal Shem Tov), that an informer
(one who informed on their Jewish brethren to the
government) caused great grief to
the people of his town through his treachery. Finally,
to everyone's relief, the informer became sick and
quickly died.
The Preacher of Polonnoye,
G-d bless his memory,
instructed the members of the Chevrah Kadisha (the
burial society) to infor him of the time of the funeral.
As
soon as they told him, he dressed in his Shabbos
coat
and went to the funeral with Rabbi Meir Milkes of that
holy community. When the local towns people saw
the Preacher going to pay his last respects to the
informer, they all joined him.
The informer's
sons were very happy that the Preacher paid his
respects to their father by personally attending the
funeral.
The Preacher, followed by the crowd of
townspeople, formed a procession behind the casket,
as it was carried to the cemetery. When they arrived at
the cemetery, the casket was placed under a tent next
to the open grave.
The Preacher came and stood next to the dead
man to eulogize him. The informer's sons were very
pleased.
The Preacher began his speech
with the following parable: "Once a master had a dog*
called a Brittany."
(In those days, the rich were often referred to as
dogs.)
As soon as the informer's sons heard the
opening words of the parable, they understood that
his
words would shame their father. They quickly returned
to the
manor house of the local governor to gather the
master's servants and some idle men to beat and
disgrace the
Preacher.
Rabbi Meir was very frightened. He took
the Preacher by the end of his coat and whispered to
him that the informer's sons had gone to the manor
house to report about him. But the Preacher did not
answer him, and he affectionately pushed him
away.
He continued speaking: "This dog had
a very
good time with his master. He always caught various
sorts of animals on the hunting trips he was taken by
his
master, as was the custom among the lords. And then
one day
the dog died." The Preacher looked around and then
pointed to the dead
man.
"There was a great joy among the animals
that were saved from being caught by that dog. The
fox, the most clever animal, said to them: 'You fools,
why are you so happy? If he had died before the rest of
the hunting dogs learned to hunt from him, it would be
proper to rejoice. Now that all the other dogs of the
master have learned to hunt from him, it would have
been better for you if this dog had remained alive. All
the other dogs let him do the hunting since they knew
that when they caught animals, the Brittany would
come and snatch the game from them and bring it to
the master and take credit for it.'The other dogs said to
themselves, 'Why should we go to any trouble and
then not receive any credit or appreciation from the
master for our efforts?' So all the dogs stopped
hunting. But now that this Brittany is dead, all the dogs
will try to excel in hunting in order to gain the master's
favor and reap the benefits. The result will be that in
effect, several additional hunting dogs will hunt us.
There is nothing
to rejoice about with the death of the Britanny!
This is the parable, and its moral is
as follows: The Brittany dog is that informer who was
considered highly by the master because of his
reports about the people of the city. The rest of the
dogs are the other informers who learned from him
his slanderous ways. When the other informers
realized that the master did not give them any credit
because that informer snatched all the reports in his
mouth and brought them to the master by himself,
they stopped informing. But now that that dog has
died, all the informers know that they will get credit
and will be considered important by the master. You
will be watched by many informers.
When he finished his speech all the
people realized that he was correct, and there was a
great cry among those who stood there. After that the
Preacher turned the face of the dead man downward.
He slapped his cheek and quickly stepped back to
Rabbi Meir. They immediately ran to the wagon which
stood ready
for them near the cemetery and fled.
On the way Rabbi Meir heard the Preacher arguing
with the informer, but he did not see the dead man.
The Preacher showed him that one of the wagon's
wheels could not roll because the informer was
holding it while telling him that he was grateful for
being shamed. But he asked him not to speak against
him so harshly in the future.
Later, the Baal Shem Tov, G-d bless his
memory, said that a Brittany dog was standing nearby
so that immediately after the informer was buried his
soul would be reincarnated into this dog; however, the
disgrace contained in the Preacher's eulogy saved
him from that punishment.
But the main point was, after the Preacher
finished explaining the moral of the parable, he
said: "This is the meaning of the phrase 'Wherefore I
praise the dead that are already dead.' If he had died
before the rest of the informers had learned from him,
his death would have been found praiseworthy. But
this was no longer possible. The living could not
rejoice at his death because of the other informers
who were still alive."
And so it was.
Adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn,
Patent
Attorney) from a story in Slumbering Souls.
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And now, if You will forgive their sin; and if not, erase
me, please, from Your book which You have written.
(Exodus 32:32)
There are two aspects of sin. The first is when the
leader of the generation has a sinful thought, which
causes the general populace to sin, G-d
forbid. The second is when the people sin, which can,
at times, cause the leader of the generation to have
sinful thoughts.
The difference between them is that in the
first case, the leader cannot pray on behalf of the
people, since the evil started with him. In the second
case, the leader was compelled [by the people], and
his prayers are still efficacious.
This is what Moses said: "And
now, if You will forgive their sin" - that is, if You forgive
them [on account of his prayers], then I will know that it
is their sin, that they committed themselves. "And if
not" - if You do not forgive them and my prayers are
not accepted, then it is possible that my own thoughts
are the cause. Therefore, "erase me, please." Thus,
the verse continues: "And the L-rd said to
Moses: 'Whoever has sinned against Me, him will I
erase from My book."
Imrei Tzaddikim in the name of the Kedushas Levi
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
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THE HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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Section 2.15
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
In a time of great accusation and trouble, it is
dangerous to pray with words, even in a whisper,
because the Accusers grab them up.
Dibur (Me'ir Eiynei Yisroel)
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 47.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
A great scholar, the author of the sefer Kitzos
HaChoshen,1once asked the holy Rabbi
Tzvi Hirsh
of Zidichov:2 "What is the difference
between one day
and another? From the day the Baal Shem Tov
became known, the number of Chasidim who follow
him has multiplied. And as we know, the Baal Shem
Tov based himself upon the foundations of
the teachings of the Arizal. Yet, we don't find that any
large groups attached themselves to the Arizal. What
did the Baal Shem Tov innovate in the roots of
Chassidus that attracts such a large following, with
groups in every city?"
Rabbi Tzvi answered him with the following
parable.
Once, the citizens of a certain country had to appoint a
king. Now, they heard that in a very distant land, there
was remarkable man: a man of towering stature and
wisdom, beautiful to look upon, with flowing hair, pure
as wool. He was complete with every good virtue, and
there was no other as fit as he for the
kingship.
However, because he was so far away, it was
impossible for them to get a detailed picture of each of
his merits, though they did have an overall image of
his wondrous virtues. Still, many of the townspeople
could not grasp or comprehend the essence of the
matter.
It occurred, then, that someone who had travelled to
that distant land and had seen that man with his own
eyes, came to them and was able to describe him in
every detail. His words entered the hearts of a number
of the people, who could understand him. However,
the majority of the people still could not understand
everything based upon testimony alone.
Finally, one wise man travelled to the distant land and
actually brought the man back and set him before
them, so that all who desired could see him.
Multitudes flocked to him and saw for themselves his
wondrous virtues. Now that they had seen what he
was and they understood with their own minds that he
was fit to be king, they devoted themselves to him in
love and set the crown of monarchy on his head.
The parable can be understood as follows:
Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai and his companions were the first
to reveal a little of "G-d's secrets to those who
fear
Him"3 in the Holy Zohar and especially
in the two
Idras.4 However, they carefully hid the
meaning of
their words. And so it remained, until the "World of
Repair" was revealed in the generation of the Arizal.
The Arizal came to make known and explain
that which
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his companions had
concealed. However, all the holy words of the Arizal
deal with supernal lights and supernal worlds, and
cannot be grasped by every person. All his words are
in the highest heavens, and relate to spiritual matters.
The multitude cannot be enlightened by them.
Finally, our Master and Teacher, the Rabbi of
the
entire Diaspora, the holy Baal Shem Tov, revealed
Divinity even in this lowly world, in each and every
detail, and especially, in human beings. He showed
how everything - every limb and gesture - is a
garment for the Divine power hidden within it.
So too, with everything in the world, for there
is no
place devoid of Him. And he revealed the great power
of tzaddikim, who liken the form to its
Creator.5 For
there is no movement or word that does not contain
awesome and wondrous unifications. Every person is
created upon this earth in order to achieve greatness
and wonders, and to act in this world while remaining
connected to the supernal worlds.6
1Aryeh Leib Hacohane Heller 1745-
1813
2d. 1831
3Psalms 25:14
4Idra Rabbah and Idra Zutra; two parts of
the
Zohar
5In other words, who see within the
forms of
creations, and especially the human form, a reflec-tion
of supernal realities, as the verse says, "From my
flesh, I will behold G-d." (Job 19:26)
6Divrei Tzaddikim
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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Vol. 2 Section 257
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The Ten Sefirot also exist in man, who is a
microcosm.
Initial thought is referred to as Abba [the highest
Sefirah, Chochmah]; constricting one's thought and
reaching a conclusion or decision is referred to as
Imma [the second Sefirah, Binah], and so on. Faith is
referred to as Trei Samkhei Keshot [the Two Faithful
Supporter, the seventh and eighth Sefiros of Netzach
and Hod], and deriving pleasure in serving
G-d is referred to as the Yesod of the tzaddik
[Yesod being the ninth Sefirah] - which is represented
by the organ of circumcision.
Toldoth kedoshim 8
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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