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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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"Today you are all standing before G-d your
L-rd...even
your woodcutters and water carriers." (Devarim 29:7)
And then there was the time that Reb Michel Yechiel of
Zolotchov had yichidus (private meeting) with his
Rebbe, the Holy Baal Shem Tov. During the yichidus,
he requested, "Rebbe, please give me a blessing that
I strengthen my service to Hashem (G-d)."
The Baal Shem Tov gave him the blessing he
requested and then suggested that he visit the water
carrier of Zolotchov on his way home and give him the
Baal Shem Tov's warmest regards. Of course, Reb
Michel was happy to carry out the Baal Shem Tov's
simple request. As he was traveling to Zolotchov, he
started thinking, "The water carrier can't be just a
simple Jew (a water carrier was typically one of the
poorest Jews in the shtetl (small town) whose job it
was to keep a wooden barrel in front of every house
full, irrespective of the weather. If the Baal Shem Tov
is sending me out of my way to give him his regards,
he must be a Tzaddik nistor (Hidden Holy man)."
As soon as Reb Michel arrived in Zolotchov, he found
where the water carrier lived and went directly to his
house.
When the water carrier's wife came to the door, Reb
Michel introduced himself and said, "I have regards for
your husband from the Baal Shem Tov." He explained
that he was returning home from a visit with the
Rebbe and that the latter had asked him to stop in
Zolotchov and convey his warm wishes to her
husband, the Zolotchover water carrier.
"He is not home right now, but he will come shortly,"
the water carrier's wife answered. "You look tired from
your travels," she continued, "Won't you please come
in and sit down and I'll get you a cold drink?" Reb
Michel came into the water carrier's house. After he
had a moment to look around, he thought, "My G-
d,
this is the most rundown house I've ever been in.
There's almost no furniture and look at the children,
they're so thin and barely dressed in rags."
A little while later, the Zolotchover water carrier arrived.
He was overjoyed to receive the greeting from the Baal
Shem Tov that his visitor, Reb Michel, conveyed. The
water carrier immediately turned to his wife and
said, "Please prepare a special meal for our guest.
This is a special occasion for us. It's not everyday that
one receives regards from the Holy Baal Shem Tov."
The wife got busy preparing the feast, while Reb
Michel told the water carrier some of the Torah
teachings that the Baal Shem Tov had spoken while
he was in Medzibush.
After some time, the wife called Reb Michel and her
husband to the table for dinner. When they were
seated, she served two small rolls and a dish of two
tiny fish, one for each.
Before Reb Michel took the first bite, he heard the
children whispering to each other, "He'll probably
leave something for us. After all, a guest is not
supposed to eat everything. That fish will be a real
treat." Reb Michel felt so sorry for the children, he
could barely get himself to even take the first bite.
Then he thought, "These poor children, this poor
family, what a way to live." He felt so bad that he could
not keep from crying.
"Why are you weeping?" the water carrier asked his
guest.
"I feel so sorry that you and your family have to suffer
such poverty," answered Reb Michel.
"It's really not how it looks," answered the Zolotchover
water carrier. "Let me explain with this parable."
A rich man, who was marrying off his daughter, invited
all the local townspeople to the chasana (wedding).
Being rich, the father spared no expense in the
preparations. Everyone, and especially the poor
people, eagerly awaited the day of the chasuna. When
the wedding day arrived, all of the towns people
gathered to partake in the simcha (joyful event) and
the dinner and dancing that followed the chupa
(canopy under which the wedding ceremony occurs).
But just as the callah (bride) was being led by her
parents to the chupa, she fell down and fainted. After
efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, the saddened
wedding guests began leaving.
Meanwhile, some of the poor people, who had been
awaiting the wedding party for weeks, sat down at the
food ladened tables and began eating. They said
among themselves, "Of course we feel sorry for our
host and the family, but why should all this food go to
waste." The other poor people, who also had been
looking forward to a big, delicious meal didn't join their
friends because, "It just doesn't seem right to sit down
and eat while our host is suffering."
"And this is how I look at my life," the Zolotchover water
carrier explained. "The chasuna represents the Beis
Hamikdosh (The Holy Temple) where all the Israelites
gathered, at least three times a year, to rejoice with
their host Hashem (G-d). And I am the type of
poor
soul who is sensitive to the Ribono Shel Olam's (Lord
of the Universe's) misfortune, the destruction of the
Beis Hamikdosh (70 C.E.). So I cannot bring myself to
enjoy the bounty of this physical world while I know
that the Ribono Shel Olam is still mourning the
destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh and the exile of His
people."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in SIPUREI
CHASSIDIM and translated 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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"Then the L-rd your G-d will bring
back your remnants,
and have mercy on you, and will once again gather
you from among the nations where the L-rd
your G-d
has scattered you." (Devarim 30:3)
Every single Jew must perfect and make ready the
part of the Messiah1 that relates to his
own soul. As it
is known, the word "Adam" is an acronym for the
words "Adam, David, Messiah." Adam's size was from
one end of the earth to the other,2 and
included in it all
the souls of Israel. After the sin of eating the forbidden
fruit, however, his stature was diminished. Likewise,
the Messiah's soul will be made up of all the 600,000
souls of Israel, as it was before Adam's sin.
Therefore, every Jew must make ready that portion of
the Messiah that corresponds to his own soul, until
the entire structure is fixed and established. Then
there will be a universal Unification, without end. May it
be soon in our days!
Me'or Einayim, Pinchas
1Komat HaMoshiach - literally,
the "structure of the
Messiah." The soul of the Messiah, like that of Adam,
incorporates all the souls of the Jewish people, from
the forefathers until the last generation. Every Jew has
his place in the soul of the Messiah. By working to
refine one's own soul, the collective soul of the
Messiah is built, and the redemption draws
nearer.
2Chagiga 12a
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.b1 Baal Shem Tov cured people through the uplifting
of the Shechinah.
All of a person's needs, such as health and livelihood,
are called "limbs of the Divine Presence" for whatever
is lacking below is correspondingly lacking Above.
Thus, you must pray only to repair what is Above and
not at all for your personal needs. If you do this, what
that which is
lacking below will be fixed automatically as a direct
consequence. The Baal Shem Tov cured people only
by unifying and uplifting the Shechinah. As a result, the
lower world was fixed as well.
Me'or Einayim, Naso
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 24.
Sometime later, the Baal Shem Tov's cantor passed
away. One Friday afternoon, within the
Shloshim,1 his
bass accompanist returned to his home after
immersing in the mikvah.
"Hurry!" he said to
his wife. "Call the burial society and
prepare! In Heaven, they are honoring my cantor to
greet the Sabbath but he refuses to do so without me."
Then the bass accompanist lay down on his bed and
left this world.
From the Manuscripts of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of
Komarno
1First thirty days of mourning
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 43
"It was said that whenever Rabbi Yonathan son of
Uziel sat down to delve into the Torah, any bird
straying over his head was burnt by his
words."1
"No fly passed over the table of the prophet
Elisha."2
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Wherever a person's thoughts are, so is he
surrounded by spiritual worlds that mirror his
thoughts. If his thoughts are holy, so is he
surrounded by holy worlds, but if his thoughts are
impure, so is he surrounded by impure worlds.
By the same token, wherever a person's thoughts are,
and whichever worlds surround him, so is he
surrounded in this earthly world, be it with kosher
birds and animals, or non-kosher birds and
animals.3
And there are three categories of worlds: the pure, the
impure, and the in-between. Above these categories
is the world of pure thought, which cannot be
fathomed.
This, then, is why any bird straying above Rabbi
Yonathan son of Uziel was burnt,4 and
why no fly passed over Elisha's table, by way of which
his host knew that he was a holy man, because his
thoughts were holy.
1Tractate Sukkah 28a.
2Tractate Brakhot 10b.
3In the source text (Ben Porath
Yoseph 56d-57a), the Baal Shem Tov adds that
whatever happens to a person is also a mirror of his
inner world. Thus, G-d is constantly talking to
each
and everyone of us, trying to make us aware of what is
going on inside us. And hence, when we see some
human act "out there" that is "non-kosher," we should
look inside ourselves for similar failings, rather than
judge the other person.
4"Straying birds" is an allusion to
straying thoughts, which were "burnt" by Rabbi
Yonathan's Torah study. Similarly, no fly, being a non-
kosher creature, flew over Elisha's table, because his
thoughts were always holy.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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