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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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Continued from Shabbos Korach
In the last installment, night after night, Yisraelic and
the Reb Moshe sat in the little
synagogue by candlelight, studying the holy names
and ways of the angels in heaven.
Finally,
Reb Moshe decided it was time to try and bring down
the angel called the Prince of the Torah to explain
some teachings that were too hard to
understand.
"Well," said Reb Moshe, "here is
what
we will do. First we will fast forty days, just as our great
teacher Moses went forty days without food when he
went up on Mount Sinai to be among the angels and
to get the Torah. Then with our holy words of prayer we
will make the Angel of the Torah come down and
explain it all to us."
"Splendid!" said Yisrael. "That is a wonderful idea."
But then a worried look came into his
face. "But what if we make even the slightest mistake
in concentrating on one word in our prayer. Then
another angel will come down - the wrong angel - and
he can destroy the world!"
Reb Moshe had no fears, however, and he argued
until he convinced Yisraelic to join him in the
plan. They began their fasting, day after day, taking
food only on the Sabbath. Every day they went several
times to the mikvah, the body of water that cleanses
the spirit when a person puts his whole body into it.
Daily they said their prayers, concentrating with the
proper thoughts over each word - till at last they
brought down an angel from heaven.
When Yisrael saw who it was, however, he
immediately realized that they made a serious
mistake. Woe is us, " he cried
out. "We've mad a terrible mistake. We've brought
down the
angel of fire on us. He will burn up the
whole village! Go fast and tell the villagers. They know
who
you are, whose son you are, So they will believe you.
Go tell the people to take everything from their houses,
because the whole village is about to be burned
down!"
Reb Moshe ran as quickly as possible to sound the
alarm.
Soon, the cry could be heard
through Okup. "Fire,fire, fire!"
There was just
enough
time for the people to get their families and
belongings out of their homes. And then every house
went up in flames. The people were grateful to
Reb Moshe for warning them in time before the angel
of
fire
struck his blazing blow.
Reb Moshe and Yisrael went back to their study
without the
help of angels. The months passed and turned into
years, and the two studied on, night after night until the
time came when Reb Moshe wanted to try
again to bring down the angel of the Torah.
Israel was eighteen now. At fourteen, when he first
began studing with Reb Moshe, he trusted him and
followed whatever he said. Now, however, he knew
enough to realize that Reb Moshe was too eager and
enthusiastic about bringing down the Angel of the
Torah and didn't pay attention to the great danger
involved in bringing down this angel.
"Look," said Yisrael."the last time we tried it, the angel
of fire came down instead. When you ran to warn
everyone in the village, I tried with all
my power to bring down the angel of rain to put out
the fire. But I could not do it alone because it is very
hard to fight off the
angel of fire.
Whne Javob remained alone at night and had to fight
with an angel, he was only wounded but not defeated.
because that angel was a mixture of the forces of fire
and water. The angel of pure fire is much worse and
he is the one we may bring down again. Think
carefully before you decide."
Usually, Reb Moshe was congenial and easy
going and he yielded when Yisraelic insisted on
something. But this time he was possessed by a
powerful desire to bring down the Angel of the Torah,
at all costs. Yisrael felt he had no choice but to join
him and go again through the forty days of fasting and
intense prayer while they meditated on holy names
to compel the Angel of Torah to come to them and
explain all the difficult points in the sacred writings
they had already studied with eagerness and
enthusiasm.
Reb Moshe decided on
something else: When the Angel of the Torah
appeared, they would force him to bring an end to all
the pain and suffering of the Jewish people in exile.
This exile had been going on too long. The Jewish
people could not bear it any longer. Jews were always
being punished and tortured and killed. It was time to
make the Messiah appear, so that all the suffering
should end. He decided that he and his young friend
Yisrael would make this happen now.
Well, when word got back to the Heavenly court of
justice, the Almighty considered what was to be done
about the
two friends in Okup who were working to bring the
Messiah, whether the Almighty agreed or not.
The Heavenly court decided that the two friends
must be called before the court to stand trial. This
meant that their life on earth had to end.
It has been told that the soul spirit of Yisrael was able
to sense
and know what was happening in the Heavenly court.
He sensed that good angels came to the Heavenly
court of
the Almighty to pray and plead for the two, that they
should not be given such a harsh sentence. At last, as
Yisrael concentrated, he understood that the angels
who sat in judgment there in the court became
kinder.
The Heavenly court decided that if the
two could
stay awake this whole
night, not sleeping for even a moment but learning
Torah the whole time, they could remain alive and the
judgment against them would not be carried out.
"Listen, my dear friend," said Yisrael to Reb Moshe
desperately, almost shouting, "we have to try very
very hard to stay awake this entire night and not doze
off for even a moment. That is what the Heavenly court
decided - that if we stand guard this whole night and
do not dose off for even a second, we will stay alive.
Otherwise our life on earth will end."
Reb Moshe used every effort to keep awake. The
entire
night he learned Torah and prayed, with every last bit
of strength. But alas, after all those days of fasting, his
energy gave out. Toward dawn his eyes closed, and
for an instant he dosed. His body fell to the floor, and
his life on earth was over.
Yisrael held out, however. Difficult and painful as it
was, he kept awake till morning, and his life was
saved. He stood the test.
As soon as he saw his dear friend fallen, he ran to call
people from the village, thinking that Moshe had only
fainted. But the son of Rabbi Adam Baal Shem could
not be brought back to life.
Every Jew in Okup came to pay their last honor on
earth
to this young man whose life had ended. With bitter
tears they wept for him, and spoke about what a fine
and
wonderful man he had been. Lamenting and
weeping, they walked in the funeral procession, as
the Reb Moshe's body was taken to be buried. Then,
amid all the weeping and crying, His dear friend
Yisrael looked up and saw the holy spirit of Moshe
leave his lifeless body and go soaring upward, higher
and higher, to the realm of heaven.
He remembered what the orphan boy Jesse had told
the two sages in the Zohar: that there are angels
ready to make the name of
G-d holy
every day in the world. For this purpose each of them
gets six wings every day and goes flying and
soaring through the world to carry out the Almighty's
Will - each in his own way. It was the very first thing
his dear friend Moshe had taught him, before they sat
down to begin learning the mystic writings of Moshe's
father.
Now Yisrael was sure that his friend's spirit would
also go
soaring through the world every day, to make G-
d's
name holy. After all, his friend had died only because
he wanted to make the exile and suffering of the
Jewish people end right then and there.
And he knew that all his life he would remember the
sight that he alone saw at the funeral: the spirit of his
dear friend leaving the body to go soaring higher and
higher into heaven to join the angels.
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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'Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of
peace." (Numbers 25:12)
According to the Zohar and Likutey Torah, Nadav and
Avihu were "two halves of a body."1
Therefore, Pinchas took both their souls, so that they
are considered as one. Thus, it is written: "Behold, I
give him My covenant of peace," for when two things
are united, it is called peace. Thus, Yesod is called
Peace, etc.,2 and "From my flesh, I will
behold G-d."3
Likewise, when there is division among people, the
one who can unite them is called "a pursuer of
peace." The reason Nadav and Avihu sinned was
because they did not ask each other's advice [before
entering the Holy of Holies]. As it says: "And Nadav
and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer. . ."
(Leviticus 10:1)4 There was no peace
between them. But Pinchas rectified this when he was
given the covenant of peace, in order to unite the souls
of Nadav and Avihu in one body.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Acharei, p. 96d
1See Zohar 3:57b; Likutey Torah,
parashas Vayikra, by the Arizal. Nadav and Avihu never
married, thus the Zohar considers them as only half a
person. When Pinchas smote Zimri and Kosbi during
their illicit act, the souls of Nadav and Avihu united with
his own.
2Yesod is the ninth Sefirah, from Keter
down, and serves to unite the upper Sefiros with the
tenth Sefirah of Malchus. Thus, it is
called "Peace."
3Job 19:26. Chasidic writings cite this
verse often, to support the idea that the physical,
emotional and mental constituents of a human being
parallel and reflect the workings of the supernal
Sefiros, through which G d directs the world. The
Sefirah of Yesod corresponds to the male member,
which is the organ of union. Yesod also corresponds
to the Tzaddik, whose consciousness unites heaven
and earth.
4 I.e. each one took it alone, without
consulting the other.
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 4a(4)
G-d longs for the words
of prayer.
In my distress I called upon the L-rd, and
cried to my G-d; out of His temple He heard
my voice, and my cry before Him came unto His ears.
(Psalms 18:7)
Speech is called a "temple." You should pray only for
your words to come before -. Then, all the
heavenly gatekeepers will leave you alone. For
example, when a simple villager carries the king's
seal, though he is unfit to enter before the king, the
guards rush him in. For the king longs for his seal,
and they want him to delight in it quickly.
So too, G-d longs for the words [of
prayer]. This is the meaning of: "from His Temple, He
heard my voice" - that is, on account of the words of
prayer.
Ohr Torah, Likutim, p. 54a
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 17.
It is known that the Mezritcher
Maggid thought that the Baal Shem Tov ate as an
angel until one time he actually saw him eat as
ordinary people do.
Or Hachochmo, Parshas
Beshalach
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 27.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"There was a famine in the
Land."1
This means that the people lacked faith in
G-d,2 that is, that they were lax in
honoring Him. Therefore, "Abram went down to
Mitzrayim/Egypt,"3 which means that
Abraham was distressed [mitzta'er] by this laxity in
honoring G-d in the World of Action. However,
as a result, "Abram went up from
Mitzrayim,"4 which means that he
became spiritually elevated and was able to derive
even greater pleasure from serving G-d, by
virtue of the fact that he was not like them, since light
can only be discerned in contrast to darkness.
Therefore, "Lot - who symbolizes the evil inclination -
was with him,"5 because the existence
of evil allows one to derive even greater pleasure from
serving G-d,6 and evil thus
become a vehicle to good, and becomes
encompassed in it.
"And Abram was heavily laden with cattle, silver and
gold,"7 which means that he was able to
extract the sparks of holiness, similarly to, "Joseph
collected all the money in Egypt."8
1Genesis 12:10. This piece is
a continuation of the idea presented in #26.
2Zohar I 80a
3Genesis 12:10
4Genesis 13:1
5Genesis 13:1
6Thus, uprooting one's evil tendencies
is not only anyway impossible, but also not the goal.
On the contrary. One should rejoice that one has an
evil tendency to deal with on a daily basis, and even
enjoy the challenges it presents. This is how we grow
spiritually, and every success brings us closer to
G-d.
7Genesis 13:2
8Genesis 47:14; Degel Machneh
Ephraim, ad loc. This explains how evil itself
becomes encompassed in the good. The Hebrew
word for silver/money is kesef, which is the same root
as desire. Thus, by seeing how mankind is so
sunken in all sorts of desires, or when an undesirable
desire rises one's own mind, one can turn this around
and perceive it in this way: If the pleasure for this
earthly thing is so great, how much greater is the
pleasure of being with G-d, the Source and
Creator of all pleasures. This can bring one to an
intense experience of pleasure from being in
G-d's presence. Then, those desires of
others or oneself, which are actually fallen sparks of
holiness, fallen and misguided desires for
G-d, are elevated back to their Source.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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