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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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Divrei Chassidim
"Yisroel, Yisroel! Whatever is the matter?" The
rebbetzin sounded very alarmed. She had been
awakened from her regular Shabbos after-dinner nap
by her husband's cries. In a moment she was the side
of his bed shouting his name. He sat up with a start
and then sighed with relief.
"Thank G-d you woke me up now, rebbetzin.
Had you
delayed a moment more I would not have awoken at
all!"
"What do you mean, Reb Yisroel?" she gasped. "And
why did you cry out so in your sleep?"
"Call my talmidim and chassidim to me. I wish to tell
them all what just happened to me."
The year was 1755. The day was Shabbos Tshuvah,
and the time, as already mentioned, was after the
morning davening and Shabbos meal.
It did not take long for the people close to the Baal
Shem Tov to gather about his bedside. He began his
strange tale.
"Every Shabbos, when I recite the silent mussaf, my
soul ascends to the heavenly worlds above. There I
listen to what is being learned in the Yeshiva Above
and I am later transmit some of these Torah secrets
to you, my chassidim, at the shalosh seudos (third
meal) table.
"I have for several years yearned to see a very close
friend who has passed on to the World of Truth, the
great tzadik, Reb Nachman Kassover. Each time I
sought him but never could locate him. I tried various
combinations of prayers and holy incantations to find
his resting place in the world of souls until it was
finally revealed to me how I could go about and realize
my desire.
"Today I recited the required prayers, concentrated
upon the necessary holy thoughts and finally found my
soul soaring to heavenly realms that I had never
visited before. Buildings of pure gold shimmered
about me; palaces of diamond dazzled my eyes;
sapphire spires adorned the high and spacious
houses of study which greeted me all about. The
sound of Torah was heard in hundreds of study
houses and I entered several to see their interior. The
souls within shone like angels, each one occupied
with his own subject of Torah, be it Gemorra, Agada,
Mishna or Chumash. I looked about and was awed.
"To whom belongs this glory?" I asked. "Who is your
leader here?"
"Our Torah study pays homage to the chosen of
G-d,
Reb Nachman of Kassover.'
"'And where is his resting place? May I see it?' I asked
in awe.
"Someone grasped my hand and led me to Reb
Nachman's beis medrosh. Reb Nachman himself
was all fire and glory. His countenance shone like an
angel's. His brilliance radiated to illuminate the far
reaches of the world; it was an awe inspiring sight
which left me stunned for several minutes. I gazed
upon him, dressed all in white, his talis over his head,
and asked, 'To whom belong all these souls and all
this splendor I see around me?'
"'My dear brother,' he answered me, 'these souls you
see about me belong to people whom I showed the
path of righteousness in my lifetime on earth. Some of
them were righteous men who had transgressed
while others were incorrigible evildoers whom I was
able to admonish by gentle words until they finally
repented and began walking the paths of
righteousness. It is these souls who praise and extol
the Living G-d.'
"'Dear brother,' he went on to say, 'do you desire to
remain here with me? You can, you know. All you
need do is relinquish your soul to the angel you are
acquainted with. Your body will then remain on earth
below and you can stay here near me. You will not
even have to experience the pangs of death or be
confronted by the Angel of Death. Here, I and other
tzadikim will take you and show you your eternal
resting place. Do you truly wish it? The decision is
yours; it is in your hands.'
"I vacillated. It was a tremendous choice to make. One
main objection came to the fore; I desired to be buried
in Eretz Yisrael, for a soul buried in the Holy Land
ascends higher than one buried outside its holy
boundaries.
"'Your fate is to buried in your own land and not in the
Holy Land,' Reb Nachman revealed to me. 'I am not at
liberty to disclose the reason why. But if you agree to
remain here with me, I will be able to reveal to you
many many things.'
"Again I vacillated, torn in opposite directions. My
thoughts turned to those whom I would leave behind.
Could I depart my loved ones, my worthy rebbetzin and
my dear son and daughter? My eminent talmidim?
Could I leave them without a last will and testament,
without guidelines for the future? Could I suddenly
expire like an empty person ? I decided I could not.
One must prepare for one's death and not just leave
by whim. I made my painful decision and informed
Reb Nachman. But he would not acquiesce. He
argued, begged, cajoled until I could stand it no longer
and emitted a loud yell at the thought of leaving behind
my loved ones and disciples."
"This was the shout which woke my rebbetzin up and
made her awaken me in turn. But thank G-d
she did,
for is was just in time. I could not have withstood the
conflict for much longer. She succeeded in returning
my soul to its rightful place in my body."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Treasury
of Chassidic Tales by Rabbi S.Y. Zevin
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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Then the L-rd your G-d will bring back
your remnants,
and have mercy on you, and will once again gather
you from among the nations where the L-rd
your G-d
has scattered you. (Deuteronomy 30:3)
Every single Jew must perfect and make ready the
part of the Messiah that relates to his own soul. As it is
known, the word "Adam" is an acronym for the
words "Adam, David, Messiah." Adam's size was from
one end of the earth to the other, and included in it all
the souls of Israel. After the sin, however, his stature
was diminished. Likewise, the Messiah's soul will be
made up of all the 600,000 souls of Israel, as it was
before Adam's sin. Therefore, every Jew must make
ready that portion of the Messiah that corresponds to
his own soul, until the entire structure is fixed and
established. Then there will be a universal Unification,
without end. May it be soon in our days!
Me'or Einayim, Pinchas
Komat HaMoshiach - literally, the "structure of the
Messiah." The soul of the Messiah, like that of Adam,
incorporates all the souls of the Jewish people, from
the forefathers until the last generation. Every Jew has
his place in the soul of the Messiah. By working to
refine one's own soul, the collective soul of the
Messiah is built, and the redemption draws nearer.
Chagiga 12a.
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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5.b3 Praying to fulfill your own material desires will,
creates a division between yourself and G-d.
The Shechinah is called "prayer," as it is written: "And
I1 am prayer."2 When you
pray, do so with the intent
to unite the Shechinah with its Partner,3
without
considering your personal benefit, G-d forbid.
For of this it is said, "The L-rd has delivered
me into
the hands of those I cannot withstand."4
That is, if you
pray to fulfill your own material desires, you create a
division between yourself and G-d for you
have brought materialism into the spiritual realm. You
will not be answered at all.
Tzafnah Paneach p. 2c
1Here, "I" refers to Malchus.
2Psalms 109:4
3A reference to G-d
4Lamentations 1:14
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 25.
The Tzaddik, Rabbi Yosef of Yampeleh, the son of
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 pray this way. 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
Dinur River.2
Afterwards, he
was
standing before 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 stepped forward and
declared, "What, are these prayers!?" The angel blew
upon them, and the prayers scattered, until nothing
was left but the single Hebrew letter hey. It shone with
a pure light. Reb Yosef stood before the Heavenly
Court so frightened that his hands were
shaking.
On that same day, Reb Yosef's father, Reb Michel,
unexpectedly passed away during the third meal of
Shabbos. For the past two years, Reb Michel's family
had carefully watched over him during that time of
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 speak words of Torah
and to sing with his Chassidim until the third Shabbos
meal was over. Then he would return to his private
study and pace back and forth in deep devekus. Reb
Michel would repeatedly utter the words, "In that time
of will, Moses departed"3 until his face
burned like a
fire.
Once at such a time, Reb Yosef of Zemigrad, a devout
follower of Reb Michel, asked his brother the Tzaddik
Rabbi Avraham Mordechai, "Do you see how the heels
of our Reb Michel are standing in the Upper Garden of
Eden?" Thus, it is understood why Reb Michel
required special supervision.
On the occasion of his soul's passing, however, no
one had been there for him. He had paced quickly
back and forth in his room saying, "In that time of will,
Moses departed." Just then his daughter looked in
upon him. She rushed to tell her brother, Rabbi
Yitzchak. He ran into the room and grabbed his father
in an attempt to disrupt his thoughts and bring him
down from his devekus. But to no avail. Reb Michel fell
on his son's shoulder and cried, "Shema Yisrael,
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad." 4
With those
words, he departed this world.
Meanwhile, Reb Yosef was still standing before the
Heavenly Court where he remained until Sunday
morning. It was then that he heard a proclamation
that all the Tzaddikim should go to welcome his father,
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. Without saying more, Reb Michel just
left his son and continued to his place.
Then, the Baal Shem Tov arrived. He quickly
understood what was being debated by the Heavenly
Court. Without hesitation, he 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 evening 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 physical body that was still below began to sweat
profusely. He awoke and found he had been healed of
his sickness. His mother and sisters were there
caring for him.
He said to them, "Remove
your jewelry!5 Our father has passed
away."6
Nesiv Mitzvosecha:
Nesiv Emunah, Shevil 3:25
1Disciple of the Baal Shem Tov (1721-
1786)
2The Dinur is a river of fire, in which
souls must
immersed before being admitted to heaven.
3The 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.
4Hear O Israel, the L-rd is One
the L-rd is G-d.
5As a sign of mourning, one must
remove jewelry
and make-up upon the death of a close relative.
6Perhaps 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 crying 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 45
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
All letters of the aleph-beth are included in each
individual letter. This is because the source of all
letters is the Aleph, which is close to the Oneness of
the Infinite One.1 Afterwards, the rest of
the letters expanded from the Aleph. For instance, the
Beth is really two Alephs, and so on, until one reaches
the Tav, which is equivalent to four hundred Alephs.
Thus, the letter Tav, the last letter, is the furthest from
the Creator.2
However, the
tzaddik is able to gather all the letters
and return them to the Aleph, and then
harsh
judgment is sweetened at its
source.3
1The gematria (numerical value) of the
Aleph is one.
Although the Oneness of G-d is
beyond "counting,"
that is, G-d is not the "First" of a set, but the
Absolute,
Indivisible and All-Encompassing One beyond any
relationship to any other entity, the letter Aleph
represents the "closest" one can get to G-d's
Oneness. The metaphor provided here for this is that
just like the Aleph - the numerical value of one - is
included and "hidden" within all other numbers, since
all other numbers are really only composites of the
number one, so in everything that exists is "hidden"
the Divine Oneness, for everything that exists is made
up of different "composites" of that Oneness. Thus, by
the same token, says the Baal Shem Tov here, all
letters are included in all others, since essentially,
underlying all letters is the One. In modern terms, this
phenomenon is called holography.
2The more complex and "multiple" one
is, the further
one is from the Undifferentiated One. The way out of
duality is to experience the underlying Oneness, which
is what the tzaddik teaches us to do, as the Baal
Shem Tov concludes.
3All harsh judgment is seen as only a
result of
duality and division. When one is able to see through
the apparent duality of this world, as expressed by the
duality of the numbers, which themselves represent
the duality of the world, and to perceive everything as
unique expressions of G-d's Oneness and
Design, all
judgment automatically disappears.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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