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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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Before the Baal Shem Tov, there lived a
saintly, holy Jew, known as Rabbi Adam The Tzaddik.
Rabbi Adam had mastered Torah and secrets of
Kabbalah, but was still not satisfied. He pleaded with
The Almighty: "Father in Heaven! I beg of You to open
the innermost secrets so that I may bring honor and
glory to Your name."
One night, Rabbi Adam
had a
dream in which he stood in The Ma'aras
Ha'Machpelah - the burial cave in Hebron of Adam
and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca,
and Jacob and Leah. He saw lying before
him 'HaSefer HaAdam - THE BOOK OF ADAM', in
which is contained the TETGRAMATON - the secret,
mystical name of the Eternal Being. Only six others
were worthy of its secrets: Adam, Abraham, Joseph,
Moses, Joshua and King Solomon.
Rabbi Adam studied the Book and its secret
knowledge was revealed to him. When he was
already old, he asked: "After
I am gone from this world, to whom should I pass on
these secrets of The BOOK? A heavenly voice
replied:"Seek Rabbi Yisrael, son of Rabbi Eliezer, who
lives in Okup. He is worthy to receive it."
The
very next day,
Rabbi Adam called his son and said, "When I take
leave from this world, take The Book to Yisrael, son of
Eliezer, who lives in Okup. The Book will belong to
him. After Rabbi Adam departed from this world, his
son followed his father's request and gave the holy
manuscript to a then young Yisrael ben Eliezer, later
known as the
Baal Shem Tov.
THE BAQUET
And then there was the time that Rabbi Adam, known
in his time as a holy man of great wisdom, had an
encounter with the ruler of an adjoining country. The
ruler, a Kaiser, occasionally sought his advice and
counsel.
Once, as Rabbi Adam was leaving the Kaiser's castle
after offering his opinion on a certain matter, he invited
the Kaiser to a banquet in his home. To the surprise
of the ruler's attendants, the Kaiser accepted the
invitation. A date for the banquet was set for the
following week.
Rabbi Adam immediately returned to his home, a very
small, modest house-hardly suitable to entertain
royalty. To prepare for the Banquet, he first purified
himself by immersing in a mikveh and then entered
into a deep state of meditation using secret powers
entrusted to him through The Book.
He envisioned a king who lived in a large palace. This
king wished to invite the ruler of the neighboring land
for a banquet. So the King instructed his servants to
prepare a grand banquet in the banquet hall of the
palace. In the center of the hall was a large dining
table covered with gold dishes. The king arranged for
the neighboring king to attend his banquet on a
certain date-the same day the Kaiser would visit
Rabbi Adam.
Among the Kaiser's ministers was one who was well-
known for being an anti-semite. He tried his best to
dissuade the Kaiser from visiting Rabbi Adam: "Your
Excellency, the Rabbi lives in a tiny house in a village.
It is not fitting of your honor to dine in such a place."
But the Kaiser recognized Rabbi Adam's wisdom and
enjoyed their discussions, so he paid no attention to
his minister. As the royal entourage traveled towards
Rabbi Adam's town, the minister tried again to
convince the Kaiser to abandon the idea and return
home to the palace. During the journey, the Kaiser
began to wonder how he and all his attendants would
be able to dine in such a small house. He instructed
one of his guards with the fastest horse to ride ahead
and to report back as to the banquet preparations.
The messenger soon returned and reported that
Rabbi Adam's house was a small cottage and he did
not see any special preparations being made.
The Kaiser was now unsure, but as they were almost
at their destination, decided to continue towards
Rabbi Adam's home.
As the royal carriage entered the small town, the
residents stood in disbelief: The Kaiser himself was
in their town! When the Kaiser's carriage turned onto
the street where Rabbi Adam lived, he beheld
magnificent palace! The Kaiser stepped out of his
golden carriage with a great smile. Servants took the
horses to the stables, while palace waiters silently
escorted The Kaiser and his attendants to the
banquet hall.
Rabbi Adam awaited the Kaiser in the banquet Hall,
and soon the Kaiser and his court were sitting with
Rabbi Adam enjoying the lavish feast.
Rabbi Adam then said, "I welcome you my King to this
palace, and I invite you all to eat and drink to your fill!
But I have one request. Please do not remove any of
the table settings from the room."
Following the feast, Rabbi Adam turned to the
Kaiser: "Any person among you who has a particular
wish should say to me - 'I want this, or I want that' -
and then put his hand in the pocket of his coat, and he
will find the object what he wished for." The Kaiser
was first. He wished for a gold watch - and found it in
the pocket of his coat. The ministers were beside
themselves with excitement: They each told the Rabbi
their requests, and each received his specific request.
When it was the turn of the minister who hated Jews,
after telling Rabbi Adam his wish, he preached into
his pocket, but screamed as he felt something
disgusting! He quickly pulled out his hand covered
with putrid slime! The smell was nauseating! He ran
to wash his hand, but try as hard as he could, he
could not rid himself of the foul smell that overtook his
whole body. The minister turned to Rabbi Adam:
Pleas help me! I am going to faint from this stink!"
Rabbi Adam the said: "If you will swear to me in front
of the Kaiser never to express your hate for the Jewish
people again in any way, I will help you. If not, you will
bear this
filthy odor for the remainder of your life." The minister
began to wail - and then swore never to express his
hate
for the Jewish people in any way again.
Then Rabbi Adam told him: "There is only one
remedy. To take the urine from a Jewish person. You
will wash in it and this will take away the smell." And
so it happened.
The Kaiser decided to test the Rabbis request, and
hid two gold cups from the banquet table in an inner
pocket of his coat. The Kaiser thanked their host, and
departed. As soon as they left the town, the palace
and all that it held, disappeared. Only two gold cups
were missing.
Word of the strange events spread throughout the
land - That in a neighboring country, a palace and all
of its contents had
disappeared and suddenly reappeared, except for
two very valuable, gold cups and all the food and drink.
Upon hearing this news, the Kaiser sent a letter to the
king of the adjoining country in which he wrote: "I know
the Rabbi who brought us to
your palace, where we ate and drank your fine food
and wine you prepared. As a sign of my respect, I am
returning to you your two gold cups."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Howard M.
Cohn,
Patent Attorney) from a story found in Shivchei
HaBesht and translated in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov
by Mintz and Ben Amos.
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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"And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak
to the children of Israel, that they take for Me an
offering; of every man whose heart prompts him, you
shall take My offering." (Terumah 25:1-2)
A person should seek ways to transform his mundane
desires1 - all that "his heart prompts
him" - into good qualities. From his habitual, bad
traits, he should learn how to serve the Creator with
the same passion and desire, even more intensely.
Tiferes Shlomo, Toldos
I heard from my Master [the Baal Shem Tov], in the
name of Rabbi Sa'adiah Gaon, that it is appropriate to
desire all kinds of material things, and through this, to
come to a desire for Torah and serving G-d.
Ben Poras Yosef, Vayechi, p. 85b
1Literally, "external desires"
(tava'ot
chitzonim). See below, where the Baal Shem Tov
explains that within every mundane desire the love of
G-d can be found.
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 2.13
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
We only speak about physical desires
because of our sins.
Why is the Divine Presence in exile? Because "with
the word of G-d, the heavens were made"
(Psalms 33:6). For you must speak for G-d's
sake alone -- to arouse the Supernal speech which
created the world and cause it to radiate throughout all
the worlds. However, because of our sins, we speak
only about is physical desires. Even our words of
prayer and Torah are filled with foreign thoughts and
self-interests. Thus speech is in exile.
Kisvei Kodesh, p. 22b
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 46.
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
Joyous prayer is certainly more pleasing to
G-d, blessed be He, than depressed and
tearful prayers. For example, a poor man who entreats
the king with great sobs and cries will still only receive
a little. However, when a minister joyfully praises the
king before him and then makes his request, the king
will bestow upon him bountifully, as befits the
minister's stature.
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 254 THE EVIL INCLINATION
"When you go out to wage war against your enemy,
G-d will deliver him into your hands, and you
will capture his captives."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Why should a person listen to his evil inclination? It
would be wiser to learn from the evil inclination itself,
which faithfully fulfills its Master's wish.
This, then, is the meaning of, "When you go out to
wage war against your enemy" [which refers to the evil
inclination,] "you will capture his captives" [which
means that you will learn a lesson from how he
captures his captives].2
11Deuteronomy 12:10
2Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Pekudei 3,
Bekhukothai 4
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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