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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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And now, if You would, please forgive their (the
Children of Israel) sin. If not, erase me (Moses) . . . .
(Exodus 32:32)
WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER
One Saturday night at a Malave Malka, the
Sadigora Rebbe recounted the following Baal Shem
Tov story.
Our Holy Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, had
the custom of visiting a certain small Ukrainian town
located in a valley, deep in the Carpathian Mountains.
Although many of the town residents were followers of
the Tzaddik, he always stayed at the home of the
same person, a prosperous townsman.
One Friday afternoon, the Baal
Shem Tov unexpectedly arrived in the town. Alexei,
his wagon driver, stopped the wagon in front of the
large synagogue at the center of the town. The Baal
Shem Tov immediately stepped down from the
wagon, entered the synagogue, and made
preparations for the Sabbath.
Word spread around the town that the Baal Shem Tov
was mysteriously staying at the Synagogue for the
Sabbath. His usual host hurried to the synagogue
and asked him to be his guest as always, but the Holy
Rebbe declined.
All the townsfolk soon
assembled
in the synagogue for the Sabbath evening prayers. As
soon as the prayers were
concluded, the Baal Shem Tov requested that all the
worshipers remain (instead of returning home for the
traditional Sabbath meal) and recite Psalms together.
Just before midnight, the Baal Shem had his Shabbos
evening
meal brought to him. At the same time, he told the
worshipers to join their families for the mitzvah of
eating the Shabbos meal and then to return.
Later, the whole congregation returned and recited
Tehillim in unison through the night. After the
Sabbath morning prayers, the Baal Shem Tov
approached his usual host and said that he would be
pleased to accept his invitation for the midday meal.
Upon completing the Shabbos afternoon
meal, the Baal Shem Tov and the other invited guests
relaxed around the table feeling refreshed by the
joyous spirit of Shabbos. Suddenly, a knock was
heard at the door.
When the host went to the door, a gentile stood there
and asked for a drink of vodka. The Baal Shem Tov
signaled to the host to oblige.
Then, the Baal Shem Tov motioned for the gentile to
sit next to him at the table. When everyone was quiet,
he asked the gentile to tell everyone what had
happened yesterday.
He began, "just before evening, the Squire (the local
landowner) summoned all the peasants from the
surrounding villages to meet at his estate. When they
had gathered, he handed out weapons including
guns and ammunition and told them to prepare to
murder all the Jewish people living in this very town
located near his estate. All night long we waited
impatiently for the order to go and begin the killing.
But just before dawn, a carriage appeared and an
important looking official stepped down and spoke
with the Squire. When they finished, the Squire told
all the peasants to go home."
The Baal Shem Tov now
explained to the Chassidim sitting around the
table: "This poritz (landowner) is so wealthy that he's
never in a hurry to sell his grain, and no price offered
is high enough for him. Because of this, the harvests
of many years have piled up in his granaries and have
begun to rot. When he discussed this with several of
his friends, being anti-Semitic, they convinced him
that his Jewish sales agents were to blame for the
spoilage of the grain by dissuading customers from
buying his produce.
Being incensed, the
poritz
decided to get revenge by wiping out all of the Jews
in this town. I tried to intervene in the spiritual
worlds but was unsuccessful. I finally had to bring
back one of the squire's old school friends. This
friend had been dead for the last forty years, but the
local poritz did not know because they had lived so far
apart. The "friend's" first question to the squire
was, "Who are all these dangerous looking peasants
gathered here on your estate? And why were they
armed?"
The squire told his friend how he was about to take
revenge on the Jews because they had maliciously
caused his grain to accumulate and rot.
"You
don't
say!" exclaimed the important looking visitor. "Why, I
frequently deal with Jewish sales agents and I've
always found them to be honest and reliable.
Tomorrow, after their Sabbath, why don't you ask
them to sell your rotting grain. I'm sure you'll find that
they will not only sell the grain for you, but get you a
good price."
That's when the squire went out and told the waiting
peasants to disperse.
When the Sadigora Rebbe
finished telling the story, he remarked: "There
remains something problematic about this story. Why
did the Baal Shem Tov go to the trouble of traveling to
that town? After all, he could have done what he did
without moving from his home." The Rebbe
continued, "I heard the Baal Shem Tov thought as
follows: "If my plan works, well and good; but if it
doesn't, then I want to be there together with the Jews
of that town."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a Story translated in A
TREASURY OF CHASSIDIC TALES ON THE TORAH
by R. S. Y. Zevin
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And now, if You will forgive their sin! and if not, erase
me now from Your book which You have written.
(Exodus 32:32)
There are two aspects of sin. The first is when the
leader of the generation has a sinful thought, which
causes the general populace to sin, G-d
forbid. The second is when the people sin, which can,
at times, cause the leader of the generation to have
sinful thoughts.
The difference between them is that in the first case,
the leader cannot pray on behalf of the people, since
the evil started with him. In the second case, the
leader was compelled [by the people], and his
prayers are still efficacious.
This is what Moses said: "And now, if You will forgive
their sin" - that is, if You forgive them [on account of
my prayers], then I will know that it is their sin that
they committed themselves. "And if not" - if You do not
forgive them and my prayers are not accepted, then it
is possible that my own thoughts are the cause.
Therefore, "erase me now." Thus, the verse
continues: "And the L-rd said to
Moses: 'Whoever has sinned against Me, him will I
erase from My book."
Imrei Tzaddikim in the name of the Kedushas Levi
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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7-a1 Praying with total concentration.
The soul of the Baal Shem Tov told him, "You did not
merit all these Supernal revelations because you
learned Talmud and the legal codes but because you
always pray with total concentration. This brought you
to your high level."
Tzava'as HaRivash 41
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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43. The Baal Shem Tov was once asked by his
students, "Why is it that although we study Torah, pray
and perform mitzvos and good deeds, our prayers
remain Above, while your prayers and words are
heard in Heaven, for we see that your supplications
bear fruit."
The Baal Shem Tov answered them with the following
parable.
There was a king's son who became lost, and found
himself in a field of grazing flocks of sheep. He was
very hungry, thirsty, and tired. The flock's shepherd
found him
and invited him to his home. But the poor shepherd
didn't have anything to graciously host a person of
royalty.
So he took the cleanest and best piece of cloth from
his knapsack and spread it on the table as a
tablecloth. Then he lay
the prince down on the ground on a clean, white
blanket. The poor shepherd had nothing else with
which to honor the prince, neither bread to put on the
tablecloth, nor a pillow to put on the blanket. But what
he could do, he did with great honor and courtesy.
Later, when the prince returned to his father's
palace
home, he summoned the shepherd before him, and
exalted him before all the noblemen in his Court. The
noblemen then asked the prince, "Why do you exalt
this shepherd so much? We always do your will in
whatever you ask us."
The prince answered, "All the honor and prestige that
I bestow upon the shepherd is only because he gave
me a clean white blanket on the earth."
This is what the Baal Shem Tov said. Understand
these words, for they are very profound. Shoshana
Dovid, Tehilim 2
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 79
"He thinks evil on his bed, he stands on a path that is
not good."1
This refers to someone who prayed in his illness on
his bed, fooled by the evil inclination into asking
G-d's assistance in merit of his good deeds,
when in truth, he stand's on a path that is not
good.2
1Psalms 36:5. This verse follows the
one quoted at the end of the previous teaching (Kst
78), and is
explained as continuing the same idea.
2Not only is a person fooled into acting
improperly and justifying himself by believing that he
acted properly, but he then turns around and expects
G-d to assist him in the merit of that good
deed.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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