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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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"This thing comes from G:-d." (Bereishis
24:50)
"Forty days before the birth of a child, a Heavenly Voice
issues forth and proclaims: 'The daughter of so-and-
so shall marry the son of so-and-so."'
And then there was the time that an orphaned girl was
taken in and raised in the Baal Shem Tov's house.The
Baal Shem Tov was orphaned at a young age,
and thus was particularly concerned with the welfare
of orphaned children.
When this orphaned girl became of
marriageable age, the Baal Shem Tov arranged a
match for her. The perspective groom was also an
orphan, raised in the house of Rabbi Zev Kitses, one
of the Baal Shem Tov's closest followers.
It was then the custom for the family of the bride to
provide a substantial dowry to the groom to help the
young couple begin their new life together. The Baal
Shem Tov had pledged 200 gulden (golden coins) to
Rabbi Zev for the girl's dowry.
On the day of the wedding, after the festivities had
begun, the time for the bedeken arrived. The bedeken
is the ceremony that recalls the marriage between
Jacob, our forefather, and his marriage to Leah and
Rachel. The chosson (groom) is escorted to the
kallah (bride), who sits like a queen on a throne-like
chair. The chosson lifts her veil and, after seeing her
for the first time as his kallah, lowers the veil to cover
her face. This is a very special and joyful moment.
Just before the bedeken, Rabbi Zev approached the
Baal Shem Tov and said, "Rebbe, I will not escort the
Chosson to the bedeken unless you pay me the two
hundred gulden that you pledged for the
dowry."
"Reb Zev, do you not trust me to pay my pledge?"
asked the Baal Shem Tov with a smile.
"It's not a question of trust," replied Reb Zev. "But the
Chosson and Kallah will be living in my house. I
cannot afford to support them on my own. As it is
written, 'if there is no meal (no livelihood) there is no
Torah' (Mishnah Avoth 3:23). I can assure you I will not
change my mind."
At that moment, as the wedding guests were
assembling, Reb Leib of Kremenets arrived in a
nervous and agitated state. The Baal Shem Tov sat
him down and poured him a glass of wine. After a sip,
Reb Leib calmed down somewhat. He explained to
the Baal Shem Tov the reason for his unexpected visit.
A local community member related to him a message
from the Poritz (the landlord and local governor). The
message informed Reb Leib that the Baal Shem Tov
had recently signed a promissory note for a thousand
gulden for the ransom of the Poritz's prisoners. The
prisoners were tenant Jews who had failed to pay the
Poritz the rent on leased property on time, and were
thus imprisoned. The Poritz now demanded to be paid
in full and had sent the following message for Reb
Leib to relate to the Baal Shem Tov:
"Rabbi
Yisrael Baal
Shem Tov must immediately pay me the debt of 1000
gulden in full or
both you and Rabbi Leib will also be thrown into
prison in chains!"
The Baal Shem Tov called Alexei (his wagon
driver): "Quickly harness the horses and prepare the
wagon." He turned to Reb Leib: "Reb Leib, take my
wagon and go to the Poritz and pay him the full
amount. Then, hurry back for the bedeken of the
Kallah."
Rabbi Leib was unsure what he was going to pay the
Poritz with. He had no such amount of money, and the
Baal Shem Tov did not give him
anything. "Nevertheless," he reasoned, "if the Rebbe
himself is sending me on urgent mission, there must
be some miracle that will occur." And with that thought
firmly in his mind, Reb Leib set off.
When Reb Leib arrived at the Poritz's estate, he was
ushered into the Poritz's stateroom. "Rabbi Leib!"
boomed the Poritz. "Did you bring the thousand
gulden from the Baal Shem Tov?"
Reb Leib did not know what to say, but suddenly he
heard the words leave his mouth: "Of course, your
Excellency."
The Poritz smiled with satisfaction, and offered Reb
Leib a seat while he went to get them both a drink of
mead. While the Poritz was gone, Reb Leib began to
panic. What should he do now! How would he pay the
Poritz? As he sat pondering his dilemma, he started to
think that the Poritz was a religious man, so perhaps
he could appeal to his religious character?
The Poritz returned with the mead.
Suddenly, Reb Leib heard the following jump, so to
speak, out of his mouth.
"Your Excellency,"
said Reb Leib, "I need to speak to you of an important
matter. Your Excellency, I realize that you are a
righteous and honest person and would not take one
penny from another dishonestly. Now I am ready to
pay you the full amount, but according to our records,
The Baal Shem Tov does not owe you a thousand
gulden, and if you take that money you'll be committing
robbery. I know that as a religious, G-d fearing
man,
you would never do such a thing."
The Poritz pondered Reb Leibs' words. Just a few
days before, the Poritz had a terrifying nightmare and
had woken his wife with a scream. He had dreamed
that he had passed on to the next world and was
being tortured as a punishment for stealing money.
The Poritz immediately called for his records, and
began to search through his receipts of the lessees
that were ransomed. Sure enough, he found the
promissory note from the Baal Shem Tov. The Poritz
stared at the piece of paper for a few minutes, but it
seemed like an hour to the nervous Reb Leib.
Suddenly the Poritz rose from his seat, walked to the
fireplace and threw the note into the blazing fire.
"Rabbi Leib" he said, "It seems, that in fact, I owe the
Baal Shem Tov two hundred gulden." The Poritz
counted out two hundred gold coins, placed them in a
velvet bag and handed it to the astonished Reb
Leib. "Rabbi, please give this to the Baal Shem Tov
with my sincere apologies."
Reb Leib began the trip back to Mezibush, but
stopped along the way at a friend's inn. He sat with his
friend enjoying a glass of vodka as he related the
miraculous events of the day. Suddenly he
remembered that the Baal Shem Tov had told him to
hurry back so the bedeken of the bride could begin.
He quickly downed the last of his vodka, ran out to the
wagon and told Alexei to return to Mezibush as fast as
he could.
In Mezibush, the Baal Shem Tov awaited Reb Leib's
return. The wedding guests grew restless. A crowd
had gathered around the Baal Shem Tov. Suddenly,
the Baal Shem Tov rose from his chair and
said,"Look, he has stopped at an inn and is telling the
whole story!"
When Reb Leib finally reached Mezhibush, he gave
the
Baal Shem Tov the bag of 200 guldens and began to
relate all the details of what happened with the Poritz.
But the Baal Shem Tov cut Reb Leib
short.
"Reb Leib, I
already know what happened."
The Baal
Shem Tov
turned to his friend Reb Zev and handed him the bag
of two hundred guldens with a bright smile and
said, "Let the wedding begin."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a letter from a story in
Shivchei HaBesht as translated in In Praise of the
Baal Shem Tov by Ben Amos and Mintz.
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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Now all the wells that his father's servants had dug
while Abraham was still alive, the Philistines had
sealed them up, and filled them with earth. (Genesis
26:15)
This is the mystery of all the wells that the Forefathers
dug in order to find water - meaning, Torah - in
the "earth" - i.e. on the lowest level. For each of them,
by perfecting his character traits, brought forth a
revelation of Torah - "a well of living water" (ibid.
26:19) - from the earth and the lowest levels, so that it
not be covered over again.
However, after Abraham died, these
revelations were sealed up by the "earth" that covered
the "water." This was due to the Philistines - the
impure shells that reasserted themselves. But Isaac
came and redug the wells, as it is written: He redug
the wells that had been dug in the days of his father
Abraham" (ibid. 26:18). This too refers to the revelation
of Torah by Abraham and Isaac. And even today, Torah
lies hidden in those very deeds of Abraham and Isaac.
And all of this was to repair the future generations, for
were it not for the Forefathers, it would be impossible
to have any understanding of Torah, and to draw close
to G-d at all.
Me'or Einayim, Vayetze
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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2.1 The Baal Shem Tov taught:
All words begin in thought.
The great rule is that before you speak any
word, it
begins in thought. This is an immense world and you
can only speak with the letters that are in your
thoughts; for thoughts are all formed through the
combinations of letters.
Likutim Yekarim, p. 17c
Translation
and
Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
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Section 33.
"Sometimes, violation of Torah is its observance.
We learn this from G-d's telling Moses after
his
breaking the Tablets, 'That you broke,'1
which implies
approval for his having broken them."2
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
How can violating the Torah possibly enhance its
observance? This can understood with the fact that all
things yearn to return to their source. Therefore, when
one eats, drinks, or is otherwise involved in mundane
affairs, he is "violating" the Torah by his not studying it
or explicitly serving G-d at that time. His soul
then has
a chance to rest from its enthusiasm, and it gathers
new strength to return to an even higher level of
closeness to G-d. This spiritual phenomenon
is
alluded to in the verse, "The chayos/angels run to and
fro,"3 and this is why "violating" the Torah
sometimes
is its observance.4
Keser Shem
Tov 34
1Exodus 34:1.
2Tractate Menachoth 99b.
3Ezekiel 1:14.
4Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Tazria 2;
Devarim 2. There are two reasons why this must be
so. Firstly, if one
were not to periodically "cool down" from intense
spiritual experiences, one might reach a stage
whereat one's soul would become so united with
G-d
that it would completely lose its separateness, at
which point it would not be able to return to the
physical body. Another reason is because perpetual
pleasure loses its glamour, and becomes boredom.
Thus, if one were constantly experiencing peak
spiritual pleasures, they would no longer be
pleasurable experiences. And regarding why one
then rises to even more intense experiences, this is
because the anguish of separation intensifies the
pleasure of return.
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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Section 196: DVEIKUT AND PERSONAL GUIDANCE
The Baal Shem Tov taught1:
If a situation arises on any day about which one is
doubtful as to the proper course of action, one may
know how to act from the Torah one studied on that
day. However, for this to happen, one must always be
in dveikut with G-d, for only then will
G-d open one's
mind to know how to act from one's Torah
study.2
1Tzavaath Ha'Rivash #31.
2This is a form of ruach ha'kodesh,
but rather than random thoughts arising in the mind,
here the thoughts are insights into the Torah one
studied on that day that provide guidance for one's
present situation. Indeed, G-d is always
speaking to
us via the Torah, and when we are in dveikut with
Him, we will hear His message.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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