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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
PERFECT FAITH
In this week's Torah reading (Exodus 13:17 to17:16),
Pharaoh sent the B'nei Israel (Children of Israel) from
Egypt. After the B'nei Israel left, the Pharaoh changed
his mind and pursued them to the Reed Sea. Moses
split the Sea and the B'nei crossed. Then the Pharaoh
and his army followed them into the split Sea. Once
all of the B'nei Israel had crossed the Sea, Moses put
out his hand toward the Sea and the water returned
killing the Egyptians. When the B'nei Israel saw the
dead Egyptians on the sea shore..... "The
people. . . . . . . believed in G-d and Moses His
servant." Exodus 14:31
PERFECT FAITH
And then there was the time that Rabbi Dovid Leikes,
one of the Chevrayah Kadisha, was speaking with
several followers of his son-in-law, Reb Mottel of
Chernobyl (also known as the Chernobyler Rebbe).
Reb Dovid asked the followers of Reb Mottel, "Tell
me. Do you have perfect faith in your Rebbe, Reb
Mottel?"
None of the men responded.
After a pause Reb Dovid persisted, "So nu?"
Finally, one of Reb Mottel's adherents came back
with, "Who can say he has perfect faith?"
Reb Dovid nodded and continued. "My friends, let me
tell you a story about faith. Once, several of us in the
Chevrayah Kadisha spent a Shabbos at an inn with
the Rebbe. As usual, Seudah Shlishit went late into
the night."
"The Baal Shem Tov told us of the mystical insights
he had received while meditating, praying, and
studying Torah during that Shabbos. When he
finished speaking, we Benched, said Maariv and
then Havdalah."
"Immediately afterwards," Reb Dovid
continued, "we sat down together with the Baal Shem
Tov for Melava Malkah."
"After a few minutes, the Baal Shem Tov turned to me
and said, 'Reb Dovid, reach into your pocket and take
out a gulden, please, and buy us some mead (honey
wine) from the inn keeper.'"
"I was still wearing my Shabbos clothes and of
course I never carry money on Shabbos. Yet, without
thought or hesitation, I reached into my pocket to take
out the gulden, as my Rebbe had requested. And -
the most amazing thing! I found a gulden in my
pocket."
The disciples of Reb Mottel, after hearing
this story, commented to Reb Dovid, "You know, that
is really not that amazing. It's just another miracle
story about the Baal Shem Tov."
"Yes. That is so," said Reb Dovid. "But the point of my
telling you the story is not to show that the Baal Shem
Tov does miracles. My point is that my faith in my
Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, is so great that I didn't
even think to question his request. I just reached into
my pocket for the money. That it was there is
secondary."
And so it was.
From a story in FAITH LOVE JOY by Tzvi Meir
HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn. Patent Attorney)
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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Then G-d said to Moses: 'Behold, I will make
bread rain down to you from heaven; and the people
will go out and gather enough for each day. . . .
(Exodus 16:4)
A poor person has the privilege of speaking to the
Holy One every day. A rich person, however, receives
all his sustenance from G-d at once, and
doesn't need to ask Him for his daily requirements -
not unless he is very righteous, and realizes that
everything he owns is worthless, without G-d
giving it life-force to sustain him. The proof is that a
sick person has all the food he needs, but still cannot
sustain himself.
A poor person, with nothing to eat, must beseech
G-d each day. Thus, he merits speaking to
Him every day. Furthermore, G-d must also
remember the poor person daily, to arrange his
livelihood. However, G-d does not need to
remember a rich person each day, for He already
gave him everything at one time.
Rav Yebi, Tehilim
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer
Shore
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HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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6-8 Try to say at least one word of prayer with love
and fear, for that arouses all the angels to sing to
G-d.
When a person speaks with love and fear, the
Shechinah desires their words, like a mother who
longs to hear her son speak with wisdom, so that her
husband should admire her too. Likewise, when
through a person's efforts the words are beautified
and rise Above, a great splendor is born and the
angels declare: "Who is like Your people Israel, a
unique nation in the earth" (1 Chronicles 17:21).
Try to say [at least] one word of
prayer with
love and fear, for that arouses all the angels to sing to
G-d. For when you serve G-d, you
arouse all of the worlds to serve G-d as
well.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 5a
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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38. There was a discussion among the Baal Shem
Tov's closest students regarding two verses in
Scripture. Of Noah it is written: "These are the
chronicles of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,
faultless in his generation; Noah walked with
G-d."1 Of Abraham it is written: "G-d,
before whom I walked."2 It seems that
Noah needed G-d's help and support, but Abraham
strengthened himself and walked in his own
righteousness.
One of the Baal Shem Tov's disciples asked, "Why is
it that there are times when a person clings to G-d
and knows in his soul that he is close to Him, But
then suddenly loses his
devekus and becomes distant from the Creator?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered with the following
parable. When a father wants to teach his infant son
to walk, what does he do? He stands his son
between his outstretched arms so that the child walks
between his father's arms and does not fall. When he
comes close to his father, the father backs up slightly
so that the child can approach him again. In this way,
the child learns to walk. If the father didn't keep
moving back, the child would only walk that short
distance from where his father had first put him to
where his father now stands. However, because the
father moves back, the
child walks further.
This is how G-d relates to His creatures. When
a person is aflame with spiritual attachment, G-d
must distance Himself, for if not, his devekus would
be neither strong nor consistent. However, because
G-d keeps moving away, the person must continually
renew and strengthen his devekus. This is what King
David alluded to when he said: "He will lead us
eternally."3 On this Rashi
explains: "Like a man leads his small son
slowly."4
For this reason, G-d is called "the hidden G-d." For
even a Tzaddik never feels that he has reached
perfection in serving G-d but always feels far from
Him. This is designed so that he comes ever closer. It
is the meaning of "He will lead us eternally." G-d is
called "He" when He is hidden.52 This is in order
that "He will lead us eternally (al'mus) ― like a
child
(al'miah,)6 so that we keep coming
closer.
Rav Yebi, Tehilim
1Bereishis 6:9
2Bereshis 24:40
3Psalms 48:15
4Turei Zahav, Rosh Hashanah
5In Aramaic. In Hebrew, as well, the
word "elem" means a "youth."
6Shemos 16:4
Translation
and
Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer Shore
From DIVINE LIGHT by Tzvi Meir
HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn. Patent Attorney)
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KESER SHEM TOV
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
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Kst - 71
The Baal Shem Tov taught:1
When one feels that one's service of G-d is
not going
well, one should acknowledge that the appropriate
verse at this time is, "I [G-d] have sworn in My
wrath/Aph [that they will not enter My peaceful
Sanctuary]."2
For even during a period of Divine wrath - Aph - one
must realize that this is only a manifestation of the
eight lower Sephirot 1 below Binah,
4 and that even
in the Aph - the Phe - is hidden the letter Aleph,
representing the Aluph/Leader of the World. In this
way, one sweetens 5 the Aph, the Divine
wrath.
1 Ben Porat Yoseph
126c.
2Psalms 95:11.
3The letters aph inverted are the
Hebrew letter Phe,
which is numerically equivalent to 80, a integer of 8,
representing the eight lower Sephirot, each of which
is a complete holographic system of the ten
Sephirot, as is known.
4Binah is the lower of the two upper
Sephirot
connected with knowledge and understanding, while
in comparison, the eight lower Sephiroth as a whole
are connected with a lack of understanding and with
constrictions, which give rise to such periods of
Divine wrath. The implication here is that one must
bring this higher understanding -this experiential
reality - into one's period of constricted
consciousness.
5The use of the metaphor, "sweetening"
the
judgments, used so extensively in Chassidic texts,
alludes that what is "done" does not change the
essence of the Aph, but only makes it palatable to us,
just as sweetener makes food palatable. This fits in
with the idea of the previous two teachings (#69 and
#70), that all evil is only from our perspective, and we
transform evil by transforming our awareness, and
recognizing it as concealed Divine love.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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