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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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THE UNTRUSTWORTHY SHOCHET
"Moses said to the Israelites, 'You may eat as much meat as you wish, you need only slaughter your cattle and small animals that G-d will have given you in the manner that I have prescribed.'" (Re'eh 38:20-21)
And it happened that once, the Baal Shem Tov was traveling through the countryside, as he often did. It was already Friday afternoon when he came upon a small village. The local Rabbi invited the Baal Shem Tov to stay with him for Shabbos and the Baal Shem Tov was happy to accept the invitation. The Rabbi was so excited, that he rushed to tell his wife, the Rebbetzyn, "Quick prepare a very special Shabbos meal in honor of our guest, the Holy Baal Shem Tov."
"My husband, we are all ready, thank G-d, because I just bought a piece of beef from the shochet (a Jewish slaughterer that kills the animals in accordance with the requirements of Jewish law). I'll cook an especially good meal for our guest." But when she went to cut the meat, it was gone. She looked frantically through out the house but it was nowhere to be found.
In desperation, the Rebbetzyn asked her next door neighbor to lend her a piece of the roasted meat she had already prepared for Shabbos. Her neighbor agreed but when she went to get the cooked meat, it was mysteriously missing. When she went to a second neighbor to borrow a piece of meat, her piece was also missing.
In frustration, she returned home to ask her husband what to do. As she walked in the door of her home, she looked out the window and coincidently saw the local shochet walking by on the street. The Rebbetzyn rushed outside and told the schochet her story of woe.
"Don't worry Rebbetzyn," said the schochet, "Just a few hours ago, I slaughtered a fat calf. It'll be my pleasure to get you a prime piece."
Just then, the Baal Shem Tov happened to be walking by. He stopped and was introduced to the shochet by the Rebbetzn. He told the shochet, "You know, I really love to eat the head of a calf. Could you please bring the calf's head to me whole? I'd like to help clean it." The shochet readily agreed and immediately left. Soon thereafter, he returned to the Rabbi's house with the head of the calf.
The Baal Shem Tov was waiting for the shochet. After the shochet put the calf's head down on the kitchen table, the Baal Shem Tov asked him about the number of teeth a typical calf has in its mouth. The shochet wasn't sure of the number. The Baal Shem Tov explained, "Some say it's one amount of teeth and others disagree and say it's a different number of teeth. Would you please count the number of teeth this calf has?"
The shochet opened the calf's mouth and put his hand in to count the teeth. Just then, the calf's mouth closed on the shochet's hand. Then the calf's mouth began to close more and more tightly causing the calf's teeth to cut deeper into the shochet's hand. The shochet started to scream.
The Baal Shem Tov looked directly into the shochet's eyes and said, "Why are you crying? Isn't the calf dead?"
The shochet started to panic. "Help me, help me!" he pleaded.
The Baal Shem Tov started yelling, "Confess you wicked man! The calf wasn't kosher, was it?"
"I don't know Rebbe, I really don't know!" cried out the shochet. "I never check the lungs (as required by Jewish law) to see if a calf is kosher. Instead, I just decide by chance whether the meat is kosher or not."
"You mean you've caused all of your friends in this community to eat tref (non-kosher meat)?" asked the Baal Shem Tov.
The shochet just mumbled, "I guess so." Then he stood there looking out with a blank expression. When the local Rabbi heard the news, he had a fit. He just kept saying over and over, "You mean we've all been eating tref, G-d forbid."
He immediately ordered the shochet to resign from his position. By this time, the news had spread throughout the village. First the villagers discussed how the Baal Shem Tov had used a miracle to trap the shochet. Then how the shochet had been tricking them into eating tref. They were all furious with the shochet. The shochet was so embarrassed that he hid at home with his family and planned to sneak out of town as soon as Shabbos was over.
But before the shochet left the town in disgrace, the Baal Shem Tov instructed him what repentance he would have to do to for such a sin.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in SHIVCHEI HABESHT and translated in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Ben Amos and Mintz.
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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"And you will say, I will eat flesh." (Re'eh 12:20)
The Talmud says: "Love compresses the flesh."1 Meaning to say, love of G-d compresses and purifies the flesh, which is the body. It can also be said that love compresses and sweetens the flesh, which is Harsh Judgment; for the flesh comes from the side of Judgment, as is known.
Likutey Yikarim, p. 5c
"Of these you shall not eat, the buzzard (ra'ah)." (Re'eh 14:13)
Why is it called the ra'ah? Because it sees (ro'eh) very far. It is taught, the buzzard stands in Babylon and sees a carcass in the Land of Israel.2
An unrefined person is called Babylon, for he stands amidst the foolishness and vanities of the world.3 A Tzaddik is called the "Land of Israel." The one who stands in Babylon - in foolishness - looks at the Land of Israel - upon the upright man - as though he were a carcass.4 Understand this!
Ohr Ha'Emes, p. 107b
1Bava Metziah 84a. The context of this statement is a discussion in the Talmud between a Roman matron and Rabbi Yishmael bar Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon, both of whom the Talmud describes as being extremely fat. The matron said to them, "Your children are not your own." They answered, "Our wive's stomachs are bigger than ours!" "All the more so!" she replied. "Love compresses the flesh," they answered her.
2Chulin 63b
3The ancient settlement of Babylon (present day Iraq) is the site of the Tower of Babel, where the nations of the world were dispersed. To "stand in Babylon" means to be overwhelmed by the confusing thoughts (BilBuLim) that arise in a coarse and unrefined mind.
4I.e., something rotten and spoiled. This reflects the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov that the entire world serves as a mirror for each individual. If a person sees negative traits in others, it is because he embodies that same trait himself
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HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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7-d4 The practice of praying with mystical intentions.
A hungry person wants to eat something tasty and sees some food on some high place beyond his reach. He can imagine that he is eating it, but does that really help? In fact, the more he thinks about the food, the hungrier he gets. So too, people who practice thinking lofty and awesome mystical intentions which stand at the height of the Creation, yet their minds cannot grasp them for they are unable to perform mystical intentions. How, then, does their practice help? It would be better if they did not try to reach this high place - that so transcends their level and comprehension.
Ohr HaMeir, Vayeirah
From
HEART OF PRAYER by Tzvi Meir
Cohn
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light of the Baal Shem Tov
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64. ON the verses, "Then the L-rd your G-d will return your captives from exile, and He will have mercy upon you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the L-rd your G-d had dispersed you,"1 the Baal Shem Tov taught:
Every single Jew must perfect and make ready the part of the Moshiach that relates to his own soul. As it is known, the word "Adam" is an acronym for the words "Adam, David, Moshiach." 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 of eating the forbidden fruit, however, his stature was diminished. Likewise, Moshiach's soul will be made up of all the 600,000 souls of the Congregation of Israel, as it was before Adam's sin. Therefore, every Jew must make ready that portion of his own soul that corresponds to that of Moshiach until the entire structure of the worlds is fixed and established. Then there will be a universal Unification, without end. May it be soon in our days!
Me'or Einayim, Pinchas
1Devarim 30:3
From DIVINE LIGHT by Tzvi Meir
Cohn
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KESER SHEM TOV
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
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KST #4
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Every individual must live and conduct himself according to standards of his own spiritual level. However, when one tries to conduct his life by the standards of someone else's spiritual level, he will fail by both standards. This is the deeper meaning of the sages' teaching, "Many tried to emulate Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, but they were unsuccessful."1 This means that though they themselves were not on Rabbi Shimon's spiritual level, they tried to live according the high standard by which they saw him living, and that is why they were unsuccessful.2 Furthermore, the sages teach us that Truth is G-d's seal (Genesis Rabbah 81:2), and truth is the only gateway to G-d (Likkutei Moharan I 9:3; 112). If one is not living truthfully with oneself, one cannot be living with G-d. And finally, since no one can truly grasp the spiritual level of another person (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #1), following the unique behavior of another person can be nothing more than mimicking his conduct, and is doomed to failure, as the Baal Shem Tov says here.
1 Brakhot 35b
2The underlying thought of this teaching is that every person must be true to himself and live his own truth within the framework of the Torah. Every person was brought into this world for a very specific purpose, and if one tries be someone else, one has betrayed his own soul (Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, VaYishlach #8, Metzora #1).
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