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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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It was Simchat Torah at the synagogue of the Baal
Shem Tov. After the evening, Yom Tov (holyday)
prayers, the Chassidim left the synagogue to eat the
special Yom Tov dinner and then returned to join their
Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, in the festivities.
They
gathered in the study hall of the synagogue and
danced and whirled and twirled around in a circle for
many hours while they passed the Sefer Torahs from
one to another, sang the traditional Simchat Torah
songs, and drank lots of wine.
By early morning, the faithful were feeling very
b'simchah (joyful) and some even a little shicher
(drunk). They begged the shammos (synagogue
caretaker) to bring up more wine from the Baal Shem
Tov's wine cellar.
When Chana, the Baal Shem Tov's wife, heard the
commotion from the study hall and the Chassidim
pleading with the Shammos caretaker to bring up
more wine from the wine cellar, she became worried
that there wouldn't be enough wine left for making the
blessing over Kiddush and Havdalah (brief ceremony
to separate the weekdays from the Sabbath or Holy
days).
So, she quickly went into the private study of her
husband, the Baal Shem Tov, and requested of
him, "YIsrael, go into the study hall and tell your
Chassidim to stop drinking and dancing because we
won't have enough wine for making Kiddush and
Havdalah.
The Baal Shem Tov chuckled and said, "Chana, I
agree. Would you please tell them to stop and go
home?"
She immediately went into the study hall to give the
Chassidim the message from the Rebbe. But when
she entered the hall, she saw them still dancing in a
circle with flames of fire burning above their heads in
the shape of a circular canopy. She immediately
collected the empty wine containers scattered around
the hall, went down to the wine cellar to refill them,
and brought them back to the dancing Chassidim.
A while later, the Baal Shem Tov inquired, "So Chana,
did you tell them to go home?"
Chana answered, "Next time, Yisrael, it might be
better if you tell them yourself."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaKohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story entitled The Dance
of the Chassidim from In Praise of the Baal Shem
Tov.
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In the beginning - Bereshis (Bereshis 1:1)
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When the Moshiach comes, may it be speedily in our
days, he will expound upon the letter combinations of
each word in the Torah, from beginning to
end.1 Then
he will combine the entire Torah into one
word,2 so
that the letter permutations will be infinite. Then he
will expound upon all the combinations.
Teshuos Chen, Tazria
1The letters of the Torah, though
inscribed in a
pattern that tells the story of the creation of the world,
and the history and laws of the Jewish people, are not
fixed. It is possible to rearrange the letters to gain new
insights into the meaning of the text, and
G-d's will for
man. Furthermore, the letters of Torah represent the
creative energies of G-d that enter the world,
and
arranging them in different patterns can affect the flow
of energy from above. By meditating on the letters, in
their different combinations, mystical states of
consciousness can be obtained. There are various
techniques for letter combination, such as tzerufi
osiyos, letter recombination; gematria, using the
numerical value of each Hebrew letter, roshei tevos
and sofei tevos, words derived from the first and last
letters of words in a verse; the division of letters into
their component parts. Thus, there is an infinite
amount of meaning that can be derived from the
Torah.
2See Zohar 3:36a: "The Torah is all one
holy Name of
the Holy One." Also, ibid. 2:90b: "The Torah is really all
one Name of G-d. Fortunate is the lot of one
who
merits it. One who merits the Torah, merits the holy
Name." See also ibid. 3:73a, 3:268b, 2:144a. See,
also, Bris Menucha, Introduction, p. 3c: "About this,
they said that the entire Torah is all one Name, and all
the words are Names that can cause effects."
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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5b5 Pray by saying the letters and the words simply
and understanding their meaning.
There are people who sing the words of prayer.
They even have specific melodies for the different
prayer sections. They imagine that this is a holy way
to serve G-d, that it will generate enthusiasm
in them,
and that through this they will please G-d.
However,
their way is foolish. It is empty and false worship.
They walk in darkness and have not yet come upon
the path of truth.
The true path is as follows: A person must strip
themselves of all physicality during prayer until it
seems that they are not in this world at all. They
should say the letters and words simply, attaching
their thoughts to the holy letters and understanding
their meaning. Then, suddenly, a great and powerful
fire of Supernal fear and love will ignite in them. This
is the true way in serving G-d.
Rabbi Aharon of Zidichov
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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I heard in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that the
prayers from a person's intellect, do not physically
ascend like smoke leaving the mouth. Rather, it is
when a person's desires and intentions are with
feeling and enthusiasm that the prayers will ascend.
Ohr HaMeir, Shir ha-Shirim
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 38
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Any fear of something in the external world that rises
in a person's heart is actually G-d's right arm
outstretched to rouse him to an existential fear [of
G-d].1 Thus, when a person
becomes aware
that
this fearful experience is really G-d's
kindness meant
to rouse him, as said, this fear is transformed into
love, because one then accepts it with love, and one
is thus released from that fear.
For the fear [of G-d] permeates all creatures
and all
worlds,2 and the underlying source of all
fears is the
deep, inner, existential fear of G-d. Thus, even
the fear
of something external in the material world that rises
in a person's heart is meant to rouse him to the fear
of G-d. This is G-d's kindness, His
right arm
outstretched and begging man to become aroused to
fear Him, as referred to in the verse, "What does
G-d
ask of you besides fearing
G-d."3
And if a person would be aware of G-d's
kindness
and love towards him, in His sending him this fear of
something external so that he become roused to an
inner fear of G-d, then his fear is transformed
into
love, since he accepts the fear with complete love,
and he is released from the fear. However, if one's
sole intention is to become released from the fear,
then this will not happen.4
And this is the meaning of the teaching, "Vis-à-vis
Moses, fear is a minor thing,"5 that is,
from fear of a
sage it is easy to reach fear of
G-d.6
1In the text, and Chassidic texts in
general, these
fears are respectively called, Yir'ah Chitzonit, and
Yir'ah Pnimith, literally, an external or superficial fear
and an internal fear, alluding to the teaching relayed
here that the two are indeed just two levels of the
same thing. In fact, the experience of fear itself is one
and the same, and the difference is only how we
perceive it. Do we become afraid of the superficial
appearance that merely enclothes the Divine
presence, or do we behold the Divine presence Itself,
and stand in awe in front of It? (see Toldoth Yaakov
Yoseph #5; Degel Machaneh Ephraim, VaYishlach, Ki
Yareh).
2Fear for one's life - and all fear is a
response to a
situation perceived as a danger to one's life in some
way - is actually something very existential to all living
creatures, as is readily evidenced in the lower forms
of life, and this fear is related to the survival instinct.
However, on a deeper level, this existential fear can
be traced back to the fact that ultimately, all creatures
draw their lives from G-d at every single
moment.
Hence, since G-d can withdraw this life force
at any
given moment, it is only natural that at a very deep and
unconscious level, all creatures have an existential
fear of survival, knowing that G-d can indeed
withdraw
the spirit of life within them, and hence, this fear is
actually a fear of G-d (see Degel Machaneh
Ephraim,
Korach, q.v. Va'ani, Balak, q.v. V'yesh).
3Deuteronomy 10:12
4As with everything, an ulterior motive
does not
achieve its goal. Here too, one must completely
surrender to the fear and accept it as G-d's
love, and
only then is it transformed, but if one is trying to be
released from the fear, one has not surrendered to
it.
5Tractate Berakhoth 32b.
6That is, while surrendering to the fear
of a fearful
situation in real life is not always easy, surrendering
to the fear and awe that one has of a great sage and
holy man is much easier, and it is that much easier to
see G-d through him.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett
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