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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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And so it's been told, in the name of Rabbi Schneur
Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), that when Rabbi Yisrael
Ben Eliezer (later known as the Baal Shem Tov) was
36 years old, his heavenly teacher, the Prophet Achiya
HaShaloni, instructed him that the time had come to
reveal himself to the world.
At that time, Rabbi Yisrael and his wife, Chana, ran a
small inn in a village located in the Carpathian
Mountains. The inn, which served food and had
several guest rooms, had been rented for them by
Chana's brother, Rabbi Avraham Gershon of Kitov, a
well known Talmudist. Rabbi Yisrael spent most of
his
time in a secluded study house near the inn where he
studied, often with his teacher, Achiya HaShaloni.
Whenever a guest came, Chana would call him and
Yisrael would come and help with the guest.
In the year 1734, Rabbi David of Klama , a friend of
Rabbi Gershon Kitover, was passing by the inn. At the
request of Rabbi Gershon, he stopped at the inn to
see how Yisrael (his "boorish" brother-in-law) and
Chana were getting along.
When Reb David arrived, Chana called out, "Yisrael,
Rabbi David, a friend of my brother is here to visit."
Israel came running and helped prepare a dinner and
arrange his room for the night. After dinner, Reb David
spoke at great length with Chana about the fame and
brilliance of her deceased father and brother Rabbi
Gershon. Yisrael listened intently, but didn't say
anything.
The next day, Reb David thanked Israel and Chana
and said: "Reb Yisrael, please harness the horse to
my
wagon. I want to leave immediately so I'll have ample
time to travel to where I can spend Shabbos with
some of my learned friends."
After Rabbi Yisrael had harnessed the horse to the
wagon,
and Reb David was about to leave, Israel said, "Reb
David, I would be honored if you would spend the
Sabbath with us." With a little chuckle, Reb David
answered, "Thank you but I prefer to spend the
Sabbath with a few of my learned friends." And so he
left.
But after Rabbi David had traveled about half a mile,
one of the wagon wheel's broke. So he returned to
the inn, replaced it with another wheel and started off
again. After another short ride, a different wheel broke
and he had to return again. So he had to stay over on
Wednesday and Thursday as well.
He left very early on Friday morning, but the wagon
harness broke and he finally realized that he resigned
himself to remaining for the Sabbath. He was not very
happy about this turn of events and thought to
himself, "What am I going to say for a whole Sabbath
to this ignorant man."
Before the Sabbath began, he was surprised to see
Chana prepare twelve loaves of Challah (A custom
among Kabbalist). He said, " Chana, why do you
make twelve loaves of Challah?"
She answered, "Reb David, my husband maybe a
simple man but he is still an observant Jew. Since I
saw my esteemed brother using twelve loaves of
Challah, I decided prepare the same number for my
husband."
When Reb David inquired of Chana about a
bathhouse, she answered, "We have both a
bathhouse and a mikveh (ritual bath)." Reb David
asked, "Why do you have your own mikveh?" She
answered, "My husband goes to the mikveh every day."
When the time to pray the Minchah (afternoon prayer
service) arrived, Reb David asked Chana, "Where is
Yisrael? " "He is in the field with the sheep and the
cows," she said. "He usually prays Minchah,
Kabbalah Shabbos (prayers for the Reception of the
Sabbath) and Maariv (evening prayers) by himself, "
she continued.
That Sabbath night, Israel did not return for quite a
while since he was praying in his house of seclusion.
When he finally came home he said: "Good Shabbos!
Reb David, I see that you decided to remain here for
the Sabbath after all."
Yisrael decided not to make the Kiddush
(prayer
sanctifying the Sabbath conducted over a cup of wine)
because Reb David would realize the truth about
Rabbi Yisrael's spiritual level if the former saw the
special devotion he would express. So he honored
his guest, "Reb David, please honor us by making
Kiddush."
They all sat down at the Sabbath table and ate the
evening meal with joy, songs and good feeling. Reb
David was thinking, "Just as Reb Gershon said, very
nice people but what boors."
Rabbi Yisrael requested of him: "Reb David, please
speak
some words of Torah." On that particular Sabbath, the
Torah portion being read was about the Exodus. So in
a simple way, Reb David told the story of the Egyptian
exile under the rule of the Pharaoh. Then he retired to
his room.
At midnight, when Rabbi Yisrael was studying Torah,
Reb
David awoke and saw, what appeared to be a large
fire, burning by the oven. He jumped up and started to
yell, "Get up and run, the house is on fire!" Chana
said, "Are you sure?" Reb David went towards the fire
and suddenly realized it was not a fire but the brilliant
light shining from the face of Rabbi Yisrael. He
fainted.
When he was revived, Israel said, "You should not
look at what is not permitted to you." Reb David was
speechless.
The next morning, Rabbi Yisrael went to pray the
Sabbath
morning service in his house of seclusion and
afterward returned home with a joyful attitude.
During the Sabbath afternoon meal, Rabbi Yisrael
asked Reb
David to say more words of Torah. But Reb David was
confused and not sure what to say. Then he gave an
interpretation of a posuk (phrase from the Torah).
srael said, "I heard another interpretation of that
posuk," but he did not expound on it.
After the meal, Israel returned to his house of
seclusion. After Minchah (Afternoon prayer service),
he returned to the Inn and revealed his true spiritual
nature to Reb David. Rabbi Yisrael expounded on the
Torah
and revealed secrets of the Torah that had ever heard
before heard before.
After the Sabbath, Israel asked Reb David, "Please
return to Kitov and tell my brother-in-law, Rabbi
Gershon and the Kabbalist in the town that, 'There is a
great light living near your community, and it will be
worthwhile for you to seek him out and bring him to
town.'"
When Rabbi David returned to the town and spoke
about the marvel he had seen, and told them the
message from the Baal Shem Tov. Everyone left and
went towards the inn to invite Rabbi Yisrael to come
and live in town. Rabbi Yisrael had foreseen what
would happen and started to travel towards the town.
When they encountered each other, they went to a
place in the forest and made a chair from the
branches of trees. They placed Rabbi Yisrael on the
chair and accepted him as their Rabbi. And Rabbi
Yisrael, soon to be called the Baal Shem Tov,
expounded on the Torah to them.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Shivchei
HaBesht and translated in Stories 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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"I revealed Myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,
as G-d Almighty, but by My name Y-H-V-H, I did
not
make Myself known to them. (Vaeira 6:3)
I heard from the holy Rabbi Yacov Yoseph HaKohen
(who certainly heard it directly from the Baal Shem
Tov), that the letters of the word "to" - el1 -
refer to
the Alupho shel Olam (the Master of the World), with
the lamed, which is composed of three lines. This is
as much as he said.
This can be compared to a flowing fountain. If the
pipes that carry the water are clean, then the water will
also be pure. But if the pipes are not clean, then the
water will be dirty. So too, each person, depending
upon his level, upon the Torah he studies and the
spiritual work he does, draws a holy outflow from the
Supernal Fountain through the channel of his soul. If
these conduits are clean and free of damage, so that
he draws through them the Alupho shel Olam, then
the water and [spiritual] outflow they carry will be clean
and pure. But if, G-d forbid, he damages the
channels
of his soul, so that the Master of the World is not
revealed through them, then the outflow that descends
through them will not be clean.
This is the meaning of the verse: "I revealed Myself to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." The word 'el' is
mentioned before each one, for each one drew the
aleph - the Alupho shel Olam - through the lamed,
which is the three clean conduits of his
soul.2 Thus, G-d appeared to
each of them in that very same aspect
of "el" - as "E-l Shakai" (G-d Almighty). This is
the
holy emanation that flowed out to them from the
Supernal Fountain. This principle applies to the entire
Torah, to laws of the permitted and forbidden, or Torah
legislation, as my grandfather said, that the three
forefathers are represented by the three judges (that
sit on a rabbinical court).3
Degel Machane Ephraim, Vaeira
1Spelled aleph lamed.
2Referring to the three columns on the
chart of the
Sefiros: the right hand column embodying the Sefiros
of expansiveness - Chochmah, Chesed and
Netzach; the left hand column embodying the Sefiros
of Limitation - Binah, Gevurah and Hod; and the
middle column with the Sefiros of balance: Kesser,
(Da'at), Tiferes, Yesod and Malchus.
3Every rabbinical court - a beis din -
must be
comprised of a minimum of three judges. The Baal
Shem Tov explained that they correspond to the three
columns of the Sefiros, embodied by the three
forefathers, Abraham (Chesed), Isaac (Gevurah) and
Jacob (Tiferes).
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 2.9
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
Our world receives life from the
letters of our speech.
The speech of Israel is the World of Speech, which
gives life to the world. The thought of Israel is the
World of Thought. Our world is limited, and must
receive the letters of speech by way of the character
traits - Chesed, Din and
Rachamim.1
We can understand this with an example. It is
impossible to look at the sun itself. We can, however,
look at its light, and derive benefit from it because the
sun's strength has been diminished. Were the rays of
the sun to be as brilliant as the sun, they would also
be impossible to look at. Thus, it is written: "Sun and
shield is Y-K-V-K Elokim" (Psalms 84:12).
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 19d
1Love, Judgment, and Compassion.
Translation
and
Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
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Section 41.
When the Baal Shem Tov first
took up residence in Mezibush, there were great
rabbis among us who opposed his way. They visited
him during the holiday of Succos and told him that his
succah was unfit according to Torah law. The Baal
Shem Tov argued that his succah was fit. Then, he
rested his head in his hands for a few moments.
When he lifted his head and opened his hands, he
held a piece of parchment. On the parchment was
written, "The succah of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov is
kosher. Thus says Metat, the Prince of the
Countenance."
That parchment was inherited by the Baal Shem Tov's
grandson, the holy Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of
Sudilkov (1740-1899) (the author of Degel Machane
Ephraim). Whenever someone became ill, he would
tell [the family] to place the parchment under the sick
person's head. The person would immediately
recover.
This practice continued for two years. The parchment
was put under the pillow of every sick person; he or
she would immediately get better. During the entire
two-year period, not one person in the city died.
Once, however, they put it under the head of a sick
person, and it disappeared. The rabbi explained that it
had been revealed to him that heaven was not
pleased with what he was doing, for all those born
must eventually die. Therefore, he had prayed they
take the parchment back.
I heard from
honest people who heard from the tzaddik, Rabbi
Yoskie, the grandson of the "Degel," that he personally
saw the parchment in his grandfather's possession.
From a Letter of the Rabbi of Mezibush
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 205: LEVELS OF MANIFESTATION
"There is none like out G-d . . . Who is like our
G-d . . . let us praise our G-d . . . .
blessed is our G-d . . . You are our
G-d."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"There is none like our G-d" is in the World of
Action, which is like an open book, where one can
make no mistake.2 "Who is like our
G-d" is in the World of Formation, where one
can, G-d forbid, make a mistake, as did Elisha
son of Avuyah, when he beheld the angel
Matat.3 Hence, we declare that we shall
not make that mistake, but, "Who is like our
G-d." "Let us praise our G-d" is in the
World of Creation, where one can make no mistakes,
because of its proximity to the World of Emanation.
And in the World of Emanation we speak to
G-d directly, "Blessed are You, our
G-d."
1Concluding part of the daily
prayer.
2As we are taught, that even idolaters
acknowledge that God is Supreme.
3The force that the angels and other
spiritual powers bear down upon our world is
formidable, and seemingly in defiance of God's will
and power, but this is only an illusion.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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