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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE FALLEN TOWER
"Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower
whose top is in the skies! . . . . . G-d
descended
[to punish the wicked] to see the city and the tower that
the descendants of Adam had built. From that place,
G-d scattered them all over the face of the
earth, and they stopped building the city. He
[G-d] named it [the city] Babel because this
was the place that G-d confused the world's
languages." Bersheis 11:1- 9
Originally there was a single language and everyone
could easily communicate with each other. But then
people sinned by building the tower. The tower was
so high that even after its destruction there remained
only 1/3 of the original tower. Even the remaining 1/3
was still so high that a person could walk three days
and be in its shadow. There were three groups of
builders: a) One group wanted to live in the tower in
the event of another flood; b) One group wanted to
worship idols in the tower; and the third group wanted
to wage war against G-d. These three groups
of people were punished by being separated into
seventy nations, each one with an entirely different
language. The reason the builders weren't more
severely punished is that they were at least unified
with each other, irrespective of their being evil.
Once, the Baal Shem Tov was standing and davening
Shemonah Esreh (18 Benedictions) for a very long
time. After a long period of time had already passed,
a group of his closest Chassidim were quietly
commenting to each other, "I've never seen the Master
daven so long." After more time passed, the group of
Chassidim grew tired of waiting and they singly and
quietly left the Shule. An hour or so passed and the
Chassidim started to quietly return to the Shule. They
found the Baal Shem Tov still standing in prayer. After
they had all returned and waited for a while, the Baal
Shem Tov took three steps back to end the prayer.
Soon, there arose a discussion between the Baal
Shem Tov and some of the Chassidim. The question
was raised, "Rebbe, we've never seen you daven so
long. Was there some special occasion?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered. "Actually, there was
something very important that I was attending to in the
spiritual worlds. At first, I was preceding smoothly.
But as time passed and you all started to leave, I was
unable to accomplish my intention. I wish you had all
stayed until the end. You should realize that just as I
am responsible for you, you're responsible for me.
Let me explain with a parable."
"Once, there was a country across which large flocks
of birds would fly from the north to the south in the
spring and vice versa in the fall. The people loved to
watch the birds as they flew through their country.
Once they saw an amazingly beautiful bird. The bird's
feathers were so brilliant that people couldn't stop
speaking about them. It wasn't too long before word
of the bird's beauty reached the King. He offered a
large reward to whoever was able to capture the bird
and bring it to him. The people were bewildered how
to reach the bird since it was flying high up in the
sky."
The King suggested, 'My subjects, why not
build a human tower so that the top person can reach
out and grab the bird and then bring it down for me.'
The King's subjects were so excited, they immediately
started to build a human tower. They climbed onto
one another and the tower got higher and higher. As
time passed, the people at the bottom of the tower got
restless. After all, they couldn't see what was going
on higher up in the tower. Eventually they lost so
much interest that they started wandering off.
Naturally the whole tower fell down and there was no
longer a possibility of capturing the bird for the King.'
"So it was with us," explained the
Baal Shem Tov. "First, we were all joined together in
our prayers. I was able to rise higher and higher into
the spiritual worlds. But when you left me, the whole
structure we built collapsed."
The Baal Shem Tov continued explaining, "Every
Jewish person represents one letter in the Torah.
When that person joins with his/her brethern in a
sacred act, they fuse together into a vessel that holds
heavenly blessings. Just as all the worlds were
created through the Torah and therefore depend on
one another, so too with Jewish people who represent
all the letters of the Torah. They must unite in love,
with those above them and with those below them, to
channel heavenly goodness into the world."
"My friends," continued the Baal Shem
Tov, "You didn't show dependence on one another or
for me at the top of our tower, when you each left to
take care of your personal needs."
"So what can we do to correct our failed mission?"
asked the Baal Shem Tov. The answer is to fuse our
souls through loving the souls of all our fellow Jews.
And through this fusion, we can channel heavenly
loving kindness into ourselves and into the world
around us."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Or
Hachochmo, Parshas Beha'aloscho 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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These are the chronicles of Noah. Noach was a
righteous man, faultless in his generation; Noah
walked with G-d. (Genesis 6:9)
But of Abraham it is written: "G-d, before
whom I
walked" (ibid. 24:40). Noach needed [G-d's]
help and
support, but Abraham strengthened himself and
walked in his own righteousness.
One of the Baal Shem Tov's disciples once asked
him, "Why is it that there are times when a person
clings to G-d, and knows in his soul that he is
close to
Him, that he suddenly loses his devekus and
becoming distant from the Creator; for a person can
tell when he is far from G-d, as well.
The Baal Shem Tov answered with a
parable. When a father wants to teach his infant son to
walk, what does he do? He stands his son between
his outstretched arms so that the boy does not fall,
and the child walks between his father's arms. When
he comes close to his father, his father backs up
slightly so that the child can approach him again. This
way, the child learns to walk well. If his father didn't
keep moving back, the child would only walk that short
distance from where his father first put him to where
his father now stands. However, because the father
moves back, the child walks further.
This is how G-d relates to His
creatures.
When a person is aflame with spiritual attachment,
G-d must distance Himself from him, for if not,
his
devekus would be neither strong nor consistent.
However, because G-d keeps moving away,
the
person must continually renew and strengthen his
devekus. This is what King David alluded to when he
said: ". . . . He will lead us eternally" (Psalms 48:15),
as Rashi explains: "Like a man leads his small son
slowly."
Turei Zahav, Rosh Hashanah
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 1.12
PRAYING WHEN SUFFERING
LEADS TO REVELATION OF G-D'S
KINDNESS AND DELIVERANCE
The Baal Shem Tov taught that the light of the
Shechinah is enwrapped in four types of suffering.
This can be explained as follows. Before all of the
worlds were born into actuality, (they) these types of
suffering were hidden in G-d's essence. To
G-d, the past, future and present are all one.
The creation of the world meant that He turned the
present and future [from potential] to
actuality.
Before the creation, there was no suffering, only glory,
majesty, strength and joy. However when G-d
emanated all of the worlds, that included the ability for
them, at times, to experience suffering and
limitations .
The same applies to human beings. Because of
suffering and limitations, people pray with more effort.
And prayer is faith and cleaving [to G-d].
Through this prayer, His loving-kindness and
deliverance to the world is revealed. For when you
suffer and are in distress, you pray with greater
spiritual attachment and concentration.
Ohr HaGanuz la-Tzaddikim, Shemos
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 29.
In the city of the Baal Shem Tov lived a
brilliant scholar, an expert in the entire Talmud and
legal codes, who refused to listen to the teachings of
the Baal Shem Tov, and did not believe in his lofty
perceptions. However, the Baal Shem Tov wanted
dearly to claim him for a student.
Once, this scholar learned a very complex law, and a
certain Tosephos that he could not understand. And
though he devoted great mental energy to trying to
understand it, he was unsuccessful. This troubled
him greatly.
One night, in a dream, he saw that he was being lifted
up to the supernal worlds. He was taken into ever
more recondite chambers, until he could no longer
see, because of the great supernal illumination. He
had to shut his eyes. Finally, he was brought to an
inner chamber and he was told to open his eyes.
He opened his eyes and beheld many great sages
and tzaddikim, sitting and studying Torah, with the
Baal Shem Tov sitting at the head of them all. The
Baal Shem Tov said to him, "Why are you having so
much trouble understanding the Tosphos? Here is
the answer you seek . . . "
When the scholar awoke in the morning, he took his
Gemara and looked over the words of the Tosephos.
He saw that the Baal Shem Tov's answer was
remarkably clear. Nevertheless, he still thought that it
had only been a dream. When the holy Shabbos
arrived, he went to the Third Meal of the Baal Shem
Tov. As soon as he walked into the house, the Baal
Shem Tov said to him, "Welcome! Did you look over
the explanation of the Tosphos that I gave you? Did
you see whether what I said is true?" From that day
on, the scholar attended to the Baal Shem Tov and
became a great Chasid.
I heard this from honest individuals.
Kesser Shem Tov 2, p. 16a
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 186: FAITH AND SOUL-ROOTS
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
In the response of the Maimonides, we find that a
certain country once sent him a question with seventy
thousand signatures on it, asking him about the belief
in the resurrection of the dead, since this is not
mentioned explicitly in the Torah, and arguing that the
rabbinical proofs for it can be disputed.
The Maimonides did not answer them directly, but
instructed his disciple, Rabbi Yoseph ibn Tibbon, to
answer them. The gist of the answer was that since
such doubts arose in their minds, their souls are not
descendent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but from
Sodom and Gomorrah, for there are souls that come
from the heaven, and there are souls that come from
the earth and the planets, as so forth.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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