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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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STEALING FROM A WIDOW
"Do not mistreat a widow or an orphan. If you mistreat
them,and they cry out to me, I will hear their cry. I will
then display my anger. . . ." (Exodus 22:21 - 22:23)
During the times of the Baal Shem Tov, it was practice
for the local Poritz (the governor of estate lands) to
grant an "arrendeh" - a privileged contract to perform
services for the estate, such as milling grain, or
distilling liquor, or even collecting taxes. Such an
arrangement could be quiet profitable, but also
precarious because the Poritz could change his mind
at a whim, and discontinue the arrangement without
notice.
Once, a widow had assumed the 'arrendeh' that was
managed by her late husband. She was a capable
woman, and able to successfully continue managing
business which provided a modest income for her
and her children.
All was going well, until a man, known as Reb Faivel,
approached the Poritz to transfer the 'arrendeh' to him.
Reb Faivel was known as 'Reb Faivel Haandler,'
because he was always eager to 'haandle' for a
profitable business deal. He had a silver tongue and
was able to convince the Poritz that he could better
manage the Poritz's affairs than the widow, and thus
earn a better income for the Poritz. The Poritz readily
agreed to transfer the lease.
When the widow heard the news, she began to
cry; "My livelihood. He's stealing my livelihood. What
will my young children eat. "
The whole village was in an uproar. All agreed that the
underhanded ploy of Reb Faivel to enrich himself and
thus take the income of a widow and her family was
an outrage, and that such an act would not go
unpunished. The local towns folk suggested the
widow present her dilemma to the Baal Shem Tov
and ask for his assistance.
The widow promptly traveled to Mezibush and was
able to arrange an audience with the Baal Shem Tov.
He listened carefully as the widow tearfully described
her plight. He then said: "Don't worry. I will speak with
this man - Reb Faivel. I am sure there is a
misunderstanding. With G-d's help, all will
work out in
the end."
The Baal Shem Tov sent a message to Reb Faivel,
who soon arrived to discuss the matter. The Baal
Shem Tov learned that indeed Reb Faivel intended to
assume the management of the inn. Despite the Baal
Shem Tov' efforts to dissuade Reb Faivel from doing
something inappropriate for a G-d - fearing
man to do,
Reb Faivel departed without changing his mind on the
matter. After all, in Reb Faivel's mind, business was
business, and the Baal Shem Tov was only trying to
mix into his affairs.
As Reb Faivel mounted his horse, he yelled through
the open window of the Baal Shem Tov's room. . "I'm
going to take the widow's arrendeh, and we will see
what G-d is going to do to me."
The Baal Shem Tov put his head in his hands and
wept.
Reb Faivel decided to expedite the matter, and on
returning to his village, he promptly called on the
Poritz with a large purse of coins. "I'm ready to rent the
arrendeh from you as we agreed. Here is the agreed
sum of money to finalize the arrangement."
The Poritz, pleased to receive such a well-paying
guest, sat down to write the contract to hand over the
arrendeh to Reb Faivel.
Suddenly, Reb Faivel grabbed his head turned to the
Poritz and said, "Oh my G-d, I have a terrible
headache"
The Poritz helped Reb Faivel sit down.
As the Poritz picked up a pen to continue writing the
contract, Reb Faivel winced and moaned in pain. "My
head is killing me! I can't take it. Please help me lie
down for a few minutes"
The Poritz quickly called his servants to help Reb
Faivel.
Suddenly, Reb Faivel turned pale. His eyes began to
bulge, and he began frothing at the mouth. He
realized he couldn't move - he was paralyzed.
The Poritz panicked! "What kind of a mad man am I
doing business with Get him out of my house," he
yelled to his servants
Our sages teach us...."be wary of those in power, for
they befriend a person only for their own benefit; the
appear to be a friend when it is to their advantage, but
they do not stand by a man in his hour of need.'"
(Avoth 2:3)
The servants grabbed Reb Faivel by his hands and
feet and quickly carried him to his home - depositing
him at his doorstep like a sack of potatoes. Reb
Faivel's family did all they could to help him - they
called the best doctors, but Reb Faivel's limbs remain
paralyzed. His toungue swelled and he could not
speak - he could hardly utter a sound.
Reb Faivel's family came to the Baal Shem Tov and
begged that The Tzaddik cure him.
The Baal Shem did visit Reb Faivel and soon
afterward, the man began to recover somewhat. But
later, the Baal Shem Tov learned that the family had
hired a non-Jewish sorceress to cure Reb Faivel, and
thereafter the Baal Shem Tov would not visit Reb
Faivel again.
Reb Faivel recovered only slightly, and was never able
to utter more than a few words.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in SHIVCHEI
HABESHT and translated in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL
SHEM TOV by Y.Y. Klapholtz.
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And you shall serve the L-rd your G-d,
and He will bless your bread, and your water. . .
(Exodus 23:25)
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When you speak words of Torah during your meals,
the words become the soul for the physicality [of the
food] that is on the table. You should always speak a
lot of Torah over your meals - during the week, and all
the more so, on Shabbos.
Keser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 4b
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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6-10 There is a type of fear that makes you tremble at
the words coming out of your mouth.
There is a type of fear that makes you tremble at the
very words coming out of your mouth, for this is the
World of Speech.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 2d
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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40. Our master the Baal Shem Tov said to his
disciple, the Rabbi of Kalamaya, "I love the Jew who
is the least significant in your eyes, more than you
love your only son."
Leket Imrei Peninim, p. 208b Heichal Habrocho
Rebbe of Komarnoh
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 -73
Transforming the evil
inclination
The Baal Shem Tov told this
parable:1
There was a king who had three servants. Once, a
rumor reached the king that they were not loyal to him,
so he ordered that each of them should choose one
of the dogs in the royal courtyard and feed and
support it.
One of the servants was wise, and made a crown for
the king with the money that could have gone to
support his dog. The second servant only fed his dog
enough that it shouldn't die. The third servant, though,
fed his dog very well.2
The king provoked the dog to attack the third servant,
but not the one who made him a crown.3
1Ben Porath Yoseph 126d.
2This parable is a metaphor for
G-ds
intention regarding the evil inclination, similar to the
metaphor in the Zohar of the king who hired a
prostitute to entice his son. Here, the king wants to
test the loyalty of his servants, so he orders them to
feed a dog - the evil inclination. The king's intention,
of course, was not that they really feed the dog, which
the wise servant understood. So this servant takes
the money that he would have put into the dog and
puts it into glorifying the king. By the same token, our
task is to take the energy that we could put into
fulfilling our evil inclinations and transform it into
glorifying G-d. We crown G-d when
we are able to
see through the veil of evil and to recognize how
G-d
is hidden even there. We have then coronated
G-d
over all corners of existence. This is the path of
transformation spoken about in KST 69 (see there, n.
2).
The second servant, though, followed the path of
overcoming and subdoing, he virtually starved the
dog, a method of mortification once commonly used
to overcome the evil inclination. The third servant, of
course, is the one who fulfills his desires and evil
inclinations, and thus only increases their hold on
him, as represented by the king provoking the dog.
1The parable only speaks about the
king's response to the first and third servants, but the
second servant seems to be ignored. Indeed, as said
in the previous note, the second servant represents
the one who tries to serve G-d, but his path is
not
what G-d really desires.
3
The parable only speaks about the king's response to
the first and third servants, but the second servant
seems to be ignored. Indeed, as said in the previous
note, the second servant represents the one who tries
to serve God, but his path is not what God really
desires.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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