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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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A MODERN DAY BAAL
SHEM TOV STORY
When "perestroika" became a reality in the former
Soviet Union, Jews after many decades of forced
assimilation were finally able to live openly as Jews
again. The next year, in 1987, a young Chabad rabbi,
sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was leading the
services in the main synagogue of Kiev on Yom
Kippur night.
Announcements of the Yom Kippur services had been
posted all over Kiev and Jews responded eagerly.
Old men who remembered accompanying their
parents to shul as children, young families who
wanted a taste of their heritage after more than a half-
century of Soviet persecution, and youth in their teens
who barely knew they were Jewish, flocked to the
main synagogue.
The services began with
the cantor chanting Kol Nidrei. The moving melody
stirred the hearts of all those who had come. But as
the service proceeded, the Chabad rabbi sensed
feelings of disappointment beginning to surface. After
all, most of the people had never before even been in
a synagogue; none of them knew how to pray together
with the cantor. Despite the best intentions, Hebrew-
Russian prayerbooks, and his explanations in
Russian,
he could sense that the people were becoming bored,
and within their hearts a question was beginning to
take form: Were these the prayers that they had
yearned for so many years to be allowed to say?
In the middle of the services, after the silent prayer
said while standing, known as the Amida or Shemona
Esrei, the young rabbi decided to make one more
attempt to strengthen their involvement in the
proceedings. So he ascended to the lectern and
began to tell them the following Baal Shem Tov story:
One Yom Kippur, the Baal Shem Tov was
praying together with his students in a small Polish
village. Through his spiritual vision, the holy Baal
Shem
Tov had detected that harsh heavenly judgments had
been decreed against the Jewish people, and he and
his students were trying with all the sincerity they
could muster to cry out to G·d and implore
Him to
rescind these decrees and grant the Jews a year of
blessing.
This deep feeling took hold of all the inhabitants of the
village and everyone opened his heart in deep-felt
prayer.
Among the inhabitants of the village was a simple
shepherd boy. He did not know how to read or even
follow from the prayerbook; indeed, he could just
barely
read the letters of the alef-beit, the Hebrew alphabet.
As the intensity of feeling in the synagogue began to
mount, he decided that he also wanted to pray. But he
did not know how. He could not read the words of the
prayer book or mimic the prayers of the other
congregants.
So, he opened the prayer book
to the first page and began to recite the letters: alef,
beit, veit - reading the entire alphabet. Then he then
called out: "G·d, this is all I can do. You know
how the
prayers should be pronounced. Please, arrange the
letters in the proper way."
This simple, genuine prayer resounded powerfully
within the Heavenly court. G·d rescinded all
the harsh
decrees and granted the Jews blessing and good
fortune.
The Chabad Rabbi paused for a moment to let the
story impact
his listeners. Suddenly a voice in the Shule called
out, "alef." And
thousands of voices thundered back "alef." The voice
continued: "beit," and the thousands responded "beit."
They continued to pronounce every letter in the
Hebrew alphabet.
And then they began to file
out of the
synagogue. They had recited their
prayers.
And so it was.
Reprinted by Ascent of Safed from Keeping
In Touch by Rabbi
Eliyahu Touger, published by Sichos In English.
http://www.ascentofsafed.com
Subscriptions: http://ascentofsafed.com/cgi-
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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The Importance of Pacing Oneself
Thye Baal Shem Tov taught:
Do not overdo
the recitation of Psalms before prayer,
so as not to tire yourself out to the extent that you
would not be able to fulfill the essential daily prayer
obligation - the Prayer Psalms of Pesukei dZimra, the
recitation of the Sh'ma, and the Amidah with proper
Devekut (devotional concentration), on account of your
energy having been spent before prayer with [pious]
preparations. Rather, begin the actual prayer with
Devekut, and if [at the end of the 'formal' prayer]
G·d grants you additional strength, then recite
[additional]
Psalms or the Song of
Songs,1 with Devekut.
So too
on Yom Kippur before the
final Neilah Prayer, pace yourself by reciting the
Machzor without such great
concentration2 so that
afterwards you can pray3 with great
devotional
concentration [Devekut].
1Perhaps this refers to the prayer-time at
the entry of
the Shabbat.
2It is interesting to note in this
connection that in the
Lurianic contemplative practices for Yom Kippur the
period of the Minchah prayer is one of recapitulation,
getting ready for the final surge of theurgic 'progress'
to take place during the Neilah prayer. See Pri Etz
Hayim Shaar Yom haKippurim, end of chapter 1.
3The most important Neilah Prayer
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 1.9
Effect of praying for another
One you pray on behalf of your friend for something
that you yourself need, you will be answered
first.1
Why are you answered first? The reason is that when
you pray for your friend you will uplift the Gevurot
2 and
the Dinim to their root source. Therefore, by praying
you will be there first [in the root source]. Afterward,
you draw down [healing] upon the sick person.
Therefore, you are answered first.
Me'or Einayim, Naso
1Baba Kama 92a
2Power or might; the second of the
seven lower
Sefiros.
When a person is on a low level,
it is better for him to look in the prayer book while he
prays, because seeing the letters will give him the
ability to pray with more concentration. However,
when he cleaves to the Supernal World, it is better for
him to shut his eyes, so that he doesn't see anything
that may disrupt his mystical attachment.
Translation
and
Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
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THE LIGHT OF THE EYES
On the Greatness of the Baal Shem Tov
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Section 25.
The tzaddik, Rabbi Yosef of
Yampeleh, the son of Rabbi Reb Yechiel Michel of
Zlotchov,1 prayed with intense
concentration,
especially during the evening prayer. Such was his
intensity that he was critical of anyone who did not
daven with great concentration. His holy father, Reb
Michel, once said of him, "My son, Yosef, is able to
pray."
Once, Rabbi Yosef became sick and fell into a coma.
His soul ascended Above and was immersed in the
Dinar River.2 Afterward, he beheld the
Heavenly
Court. They were weighing all of his merits. All the
prayers he had ever recited, from his childhood to the
moment of his illness, were brought forth. Not one
was missing. Suddenly, a fearsome angel stood out
and declared, "What, are these prayers!?" The angel
blew upon them, and the prayers scattered, until
nothing was left, but the single letter hey. It shone with
a pure light. Reb Yosef stood before the Heavenly
Court, his hands shaking.
On that same day, Reb Yosef's holy father, Reb
Michel, suddenly passed away during the third meal of
Shabbos. For the two years previous, Reb Michel's
family had carefully watched over him during that time
of the Shabbos. They feared that Reb Michel's soul
would leave his body, because of his intense
attachment to G·d.
Ordinarily, Reb Michel ate the third Shabbos meal with
some of his sons, in his private quarters. Then he
would go to the study hall to deliver words of Torah
and to sing, until the meal was over.3
Then he would
walk back and forth, in deep devekus.4
Reb Michel
would repeatedly utter the words, "In that [time of] will,
Moses departed"5 -until his face burned
like a fire.
Once, at such a time, Reb Michel's student, Rabbi
Yosef of Zhemigrad, said to his brother, the Tzaddik,
Rabbi Avraham Mordechai, "Do you see how the heels
of our Rebbe are standing in the Upper Garden of
Eden?" Thus, it was that Reb Michel required special
supervision.
On the occasion of his soul's passing, however, no
one had been there for him. He had run back and forth
in his room saying, "In that [time of] will, Moses
departed." Suddenly, his daughter looked in upon him.
She rushed to tell her brother, Rabbi Yitzchok. He ran
into the room and grabbed his father Reb Michel, in an
attempt to disrupt his thoughts, and bring him down
from his devekus.6 But Reb Michel fell
on
his son's
shoulder and cried, "Shema Yisroel, Hashem
Elokeinu, Hashem Echad." With those words, he
departed this world.
Now, Reb Yosef was yet Above, where he remained
until Sunday morning. As he stood before the Court,
he heard a proclamation that all the tzaddikim should
go to welcome Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov, who
had just arrived. All the tzaddikim went. Among them
was our Master, the Baal Shem Tov, who had been
Reb Michel's teacher.
When Reb Michel saw his son Rabbi Yosef standing
before the Heavenly Court, he cried, "Yosef, my son,
what are you doing here?" Reb Yosef told him what
had occurred. But then, without saying more, his father
Reb Michel abruptly left.
Just then, the Baal Shem Tov happened to pass by on
his way to meet with Reb Michel. On seeing Reb
Yosef, he stopped to inquire why he was standing
before the Heavenly Court. Reb Yosef told the Baal
Shem Tov everything that had occured with the court
and the fearsome angel.
The Baal Shem
immediately stepped before the Court
and said, "How can you claim that the prayers of my
dear friend, Reb Yosef, are not pure? I will ask him to
pray the morning prayer, and you will see that his
prayers are indeed sincere and true."
The Baal Shem Tov called to Reb Yosef and
said, "Pray here, my son, before the Creator of all, and
He will save you."
Reb Yosef began to pray,
and with
this one prayer, he lifted up all his other prayers, so
that they all shone brightly. Because of the great
intensity with which he prayed, his body, still below,
began to sweat profusely. He awoke and found he
had been healed of his sickness. His mother and
sisters were there, and he said to them, "Why do not
you remove your jewelry? Our father has passed
away."7
Nesiv Mitzvosecha: Nesiv Emunah, Shevil 3:25
1Disciple of the Baal Shem Tov (1721-
1786).
2The Dinar is a river of fire, in which
souls must
immersed before being admitted to heaven.
3Apparently, he would then retreat to
his private study
to pace the floor.
4Spiritual Attachment
5The Zohar states that Moses died at the
time of
mincha, on Shabbos. Shabbos mincha is the highest
point of the week, the time when the inner will of G·d
(ra'ava d'ra'avin) is revealed.
6Spiritual attachment.
7Perhaps Rabbi Yosef returned to
consciousness at
another location than the town where his father had
died. Thus, his mother and sister might not have yet
learned of their husband and father's passing.
Another possibility is that his mother and sister may
have been so busy caring for Rabbi Yosef, that they
had forgotten to remove their jewelry, even though they
were in mourning.
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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Kst 18: AWE OF G·D AND TORAH
SCHOLARS
"Rabbi Shimon the Amsonite expounded on all the
articles affixed to nouns in the Torah, until he reached
the article prefacing G·d's Name in, 'Fear
G·d your
L·rd,' and he refrained from expounding. But
along
came Rabbi Akiva and expounded on it by saying that
it comes to imply fearing Torah
scholars."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught 2:
Why did Rabbi Shimon not think of expounding on this
as did Rabbi Akiva? The answer is that in truth, it is
impossible to compare anything to the fear one
should have of G·d, which is why Rabbi
Shimon
refrained. However, Rabbi Akiva had originally been
an ignoramus, at which time he hated Torah scholars,
and was also distant from fearing G·d. But
after he
became a Torah scholar himself, he began to fear
Torah scholars and became close to awe of
G·d.
Therefore, he was able to say that the article before
G·d comes to include fearing Torah scholars,
for fear
of Torah scholars had brought him to fear of
G·d.3
And the Israelites in the Wilderness possessed a fear
of Torah scholars, as the verse says, "They feared
coming close to [Moses],"4 and were
thus easily able
to attain fear of G·d. And this is the meaning of
the
teaching, "Regarding Moses, fear is a minor
thing,"5
that is, since the Israelites possessed fear of Moses,
and thus possessed fear of Torah scholars, therefore
it attaining fear of G·d was also a minor thing
for them.
1Tractate Pesachim 22b.
2Tzofnath Paneach 50a.
3That is, Rabbi Akiva attained this
insight from his
personal experience.
4Exodus 34:30.
5Tractate Berakhoth 33b.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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