|
TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
|
|
In the little village of Okup, on the border of Wallachia
(a province of Galicia), lived the Tzaddik Reb Eliezer
and his holy wife, Rebbetzyn Sarah, They lived by their
own honest work and
labor, and shared a simple home blessed by peace.
Yet when was there ever a Jew without a bundle of
worry of his own? And so with them, a shadow of
sorrow and
concern darkened their lives, as they had no children.
They were getting on in years; and the older they grew,
the sadder they became. They grieved to think they
might, some day, have to leave this world without
leaving a son to say Kaddish (the mourner's prayer)
for them, to ease and light their way in the Hereafter.
But then, beginning one Friday afternoon, in the cold of
winter, everything changed. As usual, Reb Eliezer sat
reading over the portion of the Chumash (the Hebrew
Bible)
that he would read aloud the next day on Shabbos
in the synagogue. He chanted the familiar verses
that told the story of how Joseph was sold as a slave
and ultimately became the ruler of Egypt. But little did
he suspect what this might lead
to. That night after the Sabbath candles were out and
he was already sleeping, he dreamed that
he was taken captive, bound in irons, and sold into
slavery. In his sleep, Reb Eliezer cried out and whim-
pered bitterly.
Rebbetzyn Sarah shook him. "Wake up Eliezer!
What's the matter?"
"I had a terrible dream," he answered. "I saw myself
taken away as a captive, bound in irons and then sold
into slavery."
"Oh, it is nothing to be afraid of," she comforted
him. "You always tell me how the Talmud teaches
that one sees in their dream only what their heart has
been
musing over during the day. Yesterday afternoon you
were reading the portion of Chumash about Joseph
and how he was sold into slavery.
So you had a similar dream about yourself."
Reb Eliezer thought to himself, "I'm in my own
bed, in my own house, I'm a free man." Yet he felt a
great
shudder of fear. He decided to fast that day, so that
Heaven might
have mercy and turn his dream into a good omen. But
then he remembered it was Shabbos and that one is
not allowed to fast on the Shabbos because of a bad
dream.
Saturday night came, and Reb Eliezer sat down for
melaveh malkah, the
meal to mark the
departure of the Sabbath Queen. Suddenly there was
a furious pounding on the door, a frenzied sound that
broke the stillness of the night. In the kitchen,
Rebbetzyn Sarah
was terrified. She knew only too well how hostile,
drunken peasants might come at any time to rob and
wreck Jewish homes, and sometimes even to wound
or kill the family. With a prayer on her lips, she ran out
the back door and far from the house to hide.
Reb Eliezer, however, sat as if paralyzed. He felt it was
Heaven's decree: his dream was coming true.... The
drunken thugs broke open the door and rushed in to
steal anything of value they could find. As an
afterthought, seeing Reb Eliezer sitting there, they tied
him up and took
him along as their prisoner. He looked valuable being
a handsome man in the prime of life and still
dressed in his fine Shabbos clothes.
As he travelled with them, he realized
these were not simply a gang of drunken peasants,
but an
armed band of Tartars (perhaps from the Russian
czar's army) and he knew without a doubt that his
frightening
dream was really coming true.
Through towns and villages, the Tartars rode with
Rabbi Eliezer as their hostage, robbing and looting
wherever they went. Finally they arrived in Jassy,
where many other
Tartars were stationed.
Rabbi Eliezer
noticed as they
passed through
the Jewish quarter that all the houses were shut and
locked. No one was walking in the Jewish section.
Even the synagogue, a beautiful building over
200 years old, was sealed tight. The only Jewish
person that Reb Eliezer saw was an old Jewish
woman tearfully praying by a tomb near
the synagogue.
"Please," Reb Eliezer begged the head of the Tartar
band, "Let me go over there and say a few
words of prayer." With a grunt the Tartar consented,
and Reb Eliezer went to stand beside the
woman. "Who lies buried here?" he asked her.
Quietly she told him how others, like those
Tartars that had taken him hostage, had
come a generation before, in 1648. And how they had
killed a young bride and groom right under
the bridal canopy, just as they were being married.
Because they died a martyr's death, they were buried
there, at the very place of the tragedy. Ever since then,
the old woman continued explaining, whenever
trouble of any kind came, the Jews of the
town came to this holy tomb to pray.
Reb Eliezer waited to hear no more. Bowing his head
he burst into tears. "0 holy bride and
groom," he cried, "pray for Heaven to have mercy on
me,
When Joseph was taken to Egypt to be sold as a
slave, he stopped at his mother Rachel's tomb to
implore Heaven's pity, and his mother, in heaven,
prayed for him. So may you pray now for me ...... When
our people were exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon,
bound in chains, they too came to Rachel our
Mother's tomb on the
way, and bowed to the ground in prayer. Rachel wept
and lamented so strongly to Heaven that the
prophet Yirmiyahu heard her. And he heard the
Almighty answer her: "Your children will return yet to
their borders; they will return from the enemy's land;
there is good hope for the future..."
Was he dreaming? For a moment he had a vision of
the young couple coming out from the tomb and
praying
over him with tears running down their cheeks. He
yearned to stay and pray longer. But then he heard the
Tartars calling to him. As he left the tomb, he
felt comforted. Much of his fear and terror were gone.
He knew it was a good omen indeed that he had been
able to stop and pray at a holy tomb, just as Joseph
had stopped at his mother Rachel's tomb.
As he was leaving, he turned his eyes toward heaven
and
whispered a vow: "If the Almighty will help me and I
am freed, I will come back to the tomb of this bride
and groom and say prayers of thanks to them."
Because their fellow Tartars were encamped in
Jassy, this armed band of marauders would do no
harm to any Jew there. They took their captive to a
distant land of Moslems, and there they sold him as a
slave to a great, distinguished nobleman. To Reb
Eliezer's amazement he found that he was having the
same fortune as Joseph in the
Torah. Like Joseph, he pleased his master greatly;
and soon the Moslem nobleman made him his
attendant in his palatial home.
And so it was.
To be coninued . . . . . . .
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane
(Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from
a story in Legends and Stories of the Baal Shem Tov
by Rabbi Menachem Gutman z"l of Jerusaluem
|
|
Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
|
|
And He called to Moses, and G-d spoke to
him from the Tent of Meeting. . . . (Leviticus 1:1)
The Baal Shem Tov said that he learned all his
remedies1 from the verse, "And He
called to Moses. . . . ."2
Heichal HaBracha, Vayikra
1Besides being a mystic and a
communal leader, the Baal Shem Tov was also a
renowned healer, who used both natural remedies
and segulot - supernatural methods - to affect
cures.
2R. Yitzchok Isaac of Komarno (Heichal
HaBracha) explains that the letter aleph at the end of
the word Vayikra represents the level of Keter (Crown)
and Ayin (Nothingness). (Aleph is the first letter of the
Hebrew alphabet, and in this word, is written small in
the Torah scroll, suggesting the idea of ego-
nullification.) The Baal Shem Tov knew how to uplift
the world to this supernal root and draw down healing
energy.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
|
|
THE HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
|
|
Section 2.17
The Baal Shem Tov
taught:
Fear can cause you to tremble by your
speech.
There is a type of fear that will cause you to tremble at
the very words coming out of your mouth, for this is the
World of Speech.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 2
Translation
and
Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
|
|
DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light of the Baal Shem Tov
|
|
Section 50. Throughout the generations, the main
work of tzaddikim such as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai,
Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the Arizal), and the Baal Shem
Tov was to bind the souls of the Jewish people to their
spiritual roots, and to remove the partitions and
physical desires that separated them from
G-d. In this way, their souls would become
bound to their roots, so that they could not be
detached. If this were accomplished, the Jewish
people would fear G-d, even in private, and
not transgress, even to the slightest degree, the
decrees of the Rabbis.
The Tzaddikim bind their souls to G-d by
stripping themselves of their physicality and
completely transcending their corporeality. They bind
their souls to the light of the Infinite. By such means,
they lift up the souls of the Jewish people with
them, and bind them to their roots.
However, as the Baal Shem Tov said, even when the
Tzaddikim attached their own souls to their supernal
root, they had to be careful not to nullify their own
existence. Otherwise, they would not be able to return
to their physicality. They had to remain attached to
G-d, in such a way that even when they were
busy with physical [and mundane} activities, their
thoughts were not separate from the Creator. Thus,
even when they were involved in the material world,
their intention was to serve G-d. This is known
as serving G-d in the aspect of smallness.
Ma'or VaShemesh, Pinchas
Translation
and Commentary by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Shore
|
|
KESER SHEM TOV
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
|
|
Section 261
The Baal Shem Tov gave a parable:
There was once a fierce battle, and there was a
mighty warrior in that generation. The people relied
upon the warrior's might, and did not prepare
themselves properly for battle.
Now, the warrior possessed several types of
weapons. But while he was preparing his weapons to
be ready to use when needed, the enemy
cunningly stole the warrior's weapons, one by one,
until he had none left with which to battle.
Toldoth kedoshim 5
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
|
|
