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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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And then there was the time that Rabbi Yisrael Baal
Shem Tov came to visit one of his most devoted
students and followers, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of
Polonnoye. At that time, Reb Yaakov Yosef had still
not actually moved to Polonnoye and lived in another
town. But which town? Some say in the holy
community of Nemirov, others, the holy community of
Shargorod.
In any case, the Baal Shem Tov arrived a few days
before the Sabbath. He immediately met with Reb
Yaakov Yosef (whom he affectionately called Yossele)
and they studied and prayed together until the
morning before the Sabbath.
It became obvious to Reb Yaakov Yosef that the Baal
Shem Tov had not eaten since he arrived. So he
spoke, somewhat cautiously, with his Rebbe.
"Rabbi, please eat. You need a lot of strength
to guide the followers. And besides, you even
instructed me not to fast because it leads to
depression and sadness, gloom, and the Shechinah
(G-d's presence) does not rest upon sadness
but only
upon the joy of a mitzvah. Please, eat! It's important!"
Reb Yaakov Yosef pleaded with his
teacher.
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "Please understand,
I'm fasting because there are several great spiritual
sparks of the original G-dly light trapped
nearby. I've
come on a special mission to gather and redeem
them. I know that it will be very difficult to redeem
these sparks because they are hidden in
unsuspecting places. But I can't let any obstacle
stand in my way. They are very dangerous and if I
cannot redeem them, they have the power and
inclination to hurt people. Therefore, in order to
strengthen my spirituality so that I can overpower
them, I have abstained from food ever since I've
arrived."
The Baal Shem Tov continued the fast until the end of
Shabbos. After Havdalah (the short service
separating the sacred day of Shabbos from the
relatively profane weekdays), the Baal Shem Tov
finally
ate.
After the meal, the Baal Shem Tov called Reb
Yaakov Yosef aside and said, "It was revealed to me
from Heaven that there are two teachers of young
children living in a nearby village. Unbeknownst to
either of these teachers, they carry the holy sparks that
I have come to redeem."
"So how are you going to find these two men?" asked
Reb Yaakov Yosef.
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "It was decreed in
Heaven that the two men would believe themselves to
be sick and that they would come to this city to be
cured. So ask your servant to wait at the city gate and
when the two teachers arrive, have the servant send
them to you. I want you to advise them to come to me
to be cured. Urge them to first go to the mikveh before
seeing me. They will be reluctant to go to the mikveh
because they believe themselves to be sick. So tell
them that I like people to come to me pure from the
mikveh. Also, lend them clothes, such as shirts and
coats for the Sabbath, because they are poor. On the
Sabbath arrange that they should dine with some of
the other householders and not with you. And
Yossele, please point them out to me when they come
to the Synagogue on Friday night to pray."
Indeed, the two men came to the city looking
for a good doctor to cure them of their mysterious
ailments. They were escorted to Reb Yaakov
Yosef's where he met them, told them about the Baal
Shem Tov, lent them clothes and arranged Shabbos
lodging and meals. That night, when the two teachers
entered the shule, Rabbi Yosef informed the Baal
Shem Tov, "Rebbe, that's them." Shabbos was
seemingly peaceful and uneventful.
After Havdalah, the Baal Shem Tov was filled
with joy.
The two teachers came to the house of
Rabbi Yaakov Yosef. They too were filled with joy.
Their illnesses were gone. Some time during
Shabbos, their mysterious illnesses had totally
vanished. They were once again returned to their
excellent health. However, they still wanted to meet
with the Baal Shem Tov. They informed Reb Yaakov
Yosef that they followed his instructions and had just
returned from the Mikveh.
He said to them: "Come with me," and the
two men and Reb Yaakov Yosef entered into the
presence of the Baal Shem Tov.
"Rebbe, here are the two teachers that I
told you about. Until today, both of them had an
ailment that no one could diagnose."
The Baal Shem Tov chuckled with great
happiness and said, "I'm so happy to hear that you
were, should I dare to say 'Miraculously healed',
Baruch HaShem (Blessed be the Name). Do you
know I was also a teacher of young children? My heart
goes with you to teach the children. Now young men,
may you be blessed for the rest of your days. Reb
Yossele, please let my teacher friends keep the
clothes they received from you as gifts and bid them
farewell."
The two teachers left the Baal Shem Tov in a
state of awe. They knew something happened but
didn't quite know how or why. Gratitude filled their
hearts.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane
(Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from
a story translated from Shivchei HaBesht 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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These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the
Tabernacle of the Testimony. . . (Exodus 38:21)
We need to understand why, when the parasha list all
the details that went into [the construction of] the
Tabernacle and the vessels, it concludes each case
by stating that it was done "as G-d
commanded Moses." Why does it mention this each
time, rather than making a general conclusion at the
end, that everything was done "as G-d
commanded Moses"?
The Torah is teaching a fundamental
lesson in the service of G-d and the fulfillment
of the commandments, be it shofar, succah, Pesach,
tefillin, etc. Each one consists of action, words and
intention, i.e., thought. The underlying intentions of the
commandments and prayers are great and awesome,
and few people, even those on a high spiritual level,
grasp more than a minute portion of the intentions that
the Men of the Great Assembly put into the
prayers.1
The same holds true in the performance of the
commandments.
And yet, every Jew must partake of these three
aspects. Because the physical act of the
commandment creates a garment for the soul in the
lower Gan Eden,2 and the intention put
in the
commandment creates a garment for the soul in the
higher Gan Eden.
The answer, then, is to include oneself and ones
intentions - be it in prayer or in the performance of
commandments, in one's weekday meals, and all the
more so, in the three meals of Shabbat - with
the "perfectly faithful of Israel,"3 who
know the inner
meaning of the prayers and the commandments,
according to the Men of the Great Assembly. This is
the meaning of the Arizal's statement that one should
precede each prayer with the words: "I hereby accept
upon myself the positive commandment to shall love
your fellow as yourself,'" for then one includes one's
own prayers with those who know how to unite the
supernal attributes. Let these words be sufficient.
Now, in building the Tabernacle [in the
desert], their thoughts were focused on building the
Supernal Tabernacle, as the verse says: "And the
Tabernacle was erected" (Exodus 40:17) - that is,
when the Tabernacle below was erected, so was the
Tabernacle above.4 And while their
thoughts and
intentions were carried out in the physical world
below, they had in mind the spiritual world, to build the
Tabernacle above, which is the secret of the creation
of heaven and earth and all the worlds. However, not
every mind can grasp this. Therefore, after the
construction of each vessel of the Tabernacle, the
people clearly stated that they were doing it according
to the inner intention that G-d commanded
Moses.
This is also as we say [before the performance of
each mitzvah]: "May the pleasantness of the
L-rd our G-d be upon us, and
establish the work of our hands, and establish the
work of our hands" (Psalms 90:17).
Ben Poras Yosef, Introduction, p.8-9
1 The Men of the Great
Assembly (c. 4th century B.C.E.), formalized the prayer
service that has been used until
today.
2Gan Eden literally
means "the Garden of Eden," but
refers here to the spiritual dimension that the soul
ascends to after death. According to Kabbalah, when
the soul leaves the physical body, it enters a spiritual
body, called the "Garment of the Rabbis," that is
formed of all the good deeds and mitzvos that the
individual performed during life. And just as a living
person has a physical and a spiritual side, an outer
and inner dimension, so the soul after death has an
outer dimension, the "Garment of the Rabbis," and an
inner dimension, that was formed by the intention one
put into the performance of the mitzvos in this world.
Furthermore, as the soul continues to ascend after
death, the inner dimensions become externalized to
become outer garments, and new inner dimensions
become revealed. See R. Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin,
Tzidkas HaTzaddik 155.
3I.e., the Tzaddikim.
4Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Sisa 18;
Zohar
2:240a.
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 2.16
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
To speak your thought illuminates
your words.
You shall make a window (tzohar) for the ark (teivah).
(Genesis 6:16).
"Tzohar" has the meaning of "light," and "teivah"
means "word." When you want to speak, you must first
see that your thought illuminates your words, for
thought is comprised of the letters "chashav
mah."1
Toldos Yitzchok, Noach
1The letters of the word "thought" -
"machshava," can
be rearranged as chashav mah - "He thought about
what"
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 49.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When a person carries with him pearls and gems, he
may be attacked by robbers. Not so, however, when
he carries straw. Likewise, in every generation, wicked
people and a "mixed multitude" rise up against the
congregation of Israel because they have whatever
exists in the realm of holiness. The Baal Shem Tov
saw this trouble in the last generation and cried out
over it. For because of these "thorns," and their
strange and distorted ways, he was unable to fix the
souls of the children Israel by means of Torah study
and Divine service.
Indeed, every Tzaddik and Chasid has an opposing
force, which draws to itself all the rejected souls. At
times, the wicked are able to overcome the Tzaddik.
Notzer Chesed, chap. 2:4F
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 259
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
One should pray as if he were awakening the dawn,
and not the dawn awakening him.
This means that one should toil diligently and
gradually in the preliminary prayers until reaching
Baruch Sheamar. This first section is parallel to the
world of Assiyah, which is the lowest, the home of the
kelipoth. Then, one should intensify one's
concentration from Baruch She'Amar until Yishtabach,
and this section is parallel to the world of Yetzirah, in
which the kelipos are few. Then, from Yishtabach until
the Silent Shemoneh Esreh Prayer, one should
concentrate yet further. Finally, in the Shemoneh
Esreh, which represents a state of embrace and
union, one should be completely detached from all
physical sensation.1
If one follows this path, then one has first created
mayin nukvin,2 and only afterwards are
the mayin
dikhrin aroused, which gives "birth" to a "male."
However, if a person is aroused spontaneously his
prayer might be rejected. The
way to rectify when such spontaneous arousal comes
over a person, is to arouse deep regret and fear, and
to then pray from the depths of one's heart.
This is meaning of the verse, "One who finds a
woman"[the mayin nukvin] - first - "has found good,"
and then, "will obtain favor from
G-d."3
Toldoth Akharei 6, tazriyah 1
1Orach Chaim #98
2 Toldos tazriyah 1
3 Proverbs 18:22
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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