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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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SINGING A SONG
As everyone knows, Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov
was one of the most mystical men of all time. Such is
seen in the following story.
The Baal Shem Tov raised a boy named Meir (later
known as Rav Meir of Ustrahan) in his home. One
Saturday night, right before Purim, the Baal Shem Tov
told Meir to put on warm clothes and get ready. They
were going to go on a carriage ride. But this was no
ordinary carriage. Oh no, my friends. It was almost
as if the horses feet weren't touching the ground.
This is known as kefitzas haderech (the shortening of
the way).
Finally, the next day, they reached
a small forest and stopped to daven and eat. Meir
was a little disappointed, for all of those years he had
wanted to go somewhere with the Baal Shem Tov,
and this was it?
After a while, the Baal Shem Tov asked Meir to sing.
Being that it was right before Purim, he began to sing
in a sweet voice the famous Purim song, Shoshanna
Yakov.
All of a sudden, three peasant boys named Ivan,
Stephan and Gorvan came out of the forest,
approached Meir and said, "Hey boy, what's your
name?"
"My name is Meir," he answered.
"Well, we love your voice, and we want to be your
friend," said the three peasant boys.
The Baal Shem Tov came over and said to Meir and
the boys, "Just like you're friends now, you should
always be friends."
So the boys said in unison, "Yes, we'll always be
friends."
The Baal Shem Tov and Meir they got into the carriage
and returned home
Years went by and the entire incident was forgotten.
Meir was a diligent and studious young man and he
eventually became a revered Rav. By that time the
Baal Shem Tov had already passed from the
world.
Once Meir traveled to another city to handle a
Rabbinical matter. On the way home, walking through
a particularly wild stretch of forest, a group of highway
robbers attacked Meir and stole all of his
possessions. He was then informed that he was
going to be killed. He begged the men, imploring
them not to take his life. But they told him they
couldn't let him go. "What is your last wish?" they
asked.
"I just want to sing to myself. It was the night before
Purim so Meir sat down and sang Shoshanna Yakov.
Just then, the robbers burst in laughter. "Don't you
remember us?" they asked Meir. " We're Ivan,
Stephan and Gorvan, your old friends!"
All of a sudden a memory flashed into Meir's mind.
Many years ago, when he had been singing in the
forest.."You are the three boys I sang for!" cried
Meir.
The three robbers looked pleased. "That's right.
We
had a grand time that day."
The men then returned all of Meir's possessions
and
escorted him out of the forest. This was all part of a
vision that the Baal Shem Tov had foreseen many
years before. Just as on Purim of long ago when
everything suddenly turned around to save the Jews,
here also everything mysteriously turned around to
save Meir's life.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story heard directly from
Rav Shalom Ber Chaikin of Cleveland, Ohio.
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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"And with this, the maiden came before the king."
(Esther 2:13)
This refers to the pillar [that ascends] from the lower
Garden of Eden to the Higher Garden of Eden, which
is created by the mitzvos, which are 620 pillars of
light.1
Tzror HaChayim p. 38b
"and these days of Purim should not pass away
from among the Jews, nor the memory of them perish
from their seed. (ibid. 9:28)
They will never pass away, for in each and every
generation, they are recalled and re-experienced, as
my grandfather (the Baal Shem Tov) said.
Degel Machane Ephraim, derash Purim
One who reads the Megilah backward, has not
fulfilled his obligation. (Mishnayos Megilah 2:1)
That is, one who thinks that the miracles happened
then (i.e. back in time), and not now, has not fulfilled
his obligation.
Divrei Shalom, p. 33c
1Rabbinic tradition counts 613 mitzvos
in the Torah. There are an additional seven mitzvos of
Rabbinic origin that make the number 620."
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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6-12 Speaking words of Torah and prayer with
ulterior motives creates kelipot that enclothe
themselves in wicked people who will take
vengeance upon you.
"We will make you circlets of gold with dots of silver."
(Song of Songs 1:11) "Circlets of gold" is fear of
G-d; "Dots of silver" means love of
G-d.1 That is, do not speak
words of Torah and prayer with ulterior
motives,2 for that creates kelipot that
enclothe themselves in wicked people who will take
vengeance upon you. This is the meaning of
[G-d's promise to Noah], that the wicked
people of the generation would not kill
him.3 Understand this!
You also need more fear than love, the
latter being called "dots of silver."
Sefer Baal Shem Tov
1
Kabbalistically, gold corresponds to the Sefirah of
Gevurah, which is the root of fear of G-d. Silver, kesef,
is related to the word to long for l'kesof, implying
love, and relates the Sefirah of Chesed.
2Such as to gain respect from
others.
3When he built the ark. See Rashi on
Genesis 6:18.
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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42. The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Be very careful what you say in the morning before
praying. Our Sages were strict even regarding the use
of permissible words, such as greeting someone
before prayer, because such an action can cause a
blemish. It is known that the world was created with
thought, speech, and action.
The first level of creation is thought. Speech is an
result of thought, and action a result of speech. When
a person rises each morning, he is also a new
creation, as the verse says, "They are new every
morning."1 If a person's first words are
mundane, and all the more so, if they are
forbidden2, everything said later in the
day will be influenced by these first words - even
their prayers and Torah studies.
This is similar to the teaching of the Zohar
3 and of the Arizal on the obligation of
siblings to honor the firstborn brother.4
The fatrher's spirit resides more in the oldest son
than the other sons who obtain their father's spirit
from the oldest son. Due to this spirit residing more in
the oldest son, they are obligated to honor him as
they are obligated to honor their father.
The firstborn takes the main portion, whereas all the
other siblings are as offshoots from him. Similarly,
one must be very careful to sanctify and purify the first
words and thoughts of the day, and attach them to
holiness. Then, all subsequent words will follow their
character. And when one starts to pray, amidst the joy
of having fulfilled the mitzvah of sanctifying speech
and thought, the spoken words of his prayer will
surely be answered. 5
1Lamentations 3:23
2Forbidden words are profanity, gossip,
or slander, among others.
3Zohar 3:83a.
4The Arizal writes that just as children
are obligated to respect their parents, so must they
respect their firstborn sibling. For the firstborn
represents the initial creative act of the parents, from
which all subsequent births draw their vitality. Thus,
Jacob said about Reuben, "Reuben, you are my
firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my
strength . . . . " (Genesis 49:3).
5Sipurei Baal Shem Tov.
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 - 78 The evil inclination
What is the onus for slaughtering? One opinion says
for coloring, and another opinion says for taking life.
[The opinion that says for coloring means for coloring
and not for taking life? No, he means also for
coloring.1
The Baal Shem Tov taught: 2
We are taught that the evil inclination will be brought
to justice in the Future. The question is, How can it be
held responsible for doing what it was created to do?
The answer is, It will be brought to account for
disguising itself as the good inclination.3
This is alluded to in the above teaching, What is the
onus for slaughtering? This refers to the evil
inclination that slaughters man's soul. Why is it held
responsible, since this is what he was created to do?
The answer is, because it 'colors' itself and
disguises as the good inclination, and is thus able to
trick man and take his soul.
This is also alluded to in the verse, "The words of his
mouth are evil and deceit:"4 evil refers to
sin, and
deceit refers to fooling man into believing he is doing
a good deed. As a result, as the verse concludes, "He
refrains from understanding to improve:" man does
not repent from his sins," because he believes them
to be good deeds, and one does not repent from
doing good deeds.
1Tractate Sabbath 75a-b.
2Ben Porath Yoseph 127a.
3If the average person would be
confronted by
something about which he was absolutely sure was
improper conduct that he could not justify to himself,
let alone to others, he would not have the temptation
to do it. So the evil inclination fools man into
rationalizing away his negative behavior, denying its
true nature, and perceiving it as impeccable conduct
with the noblest motivations.
4Psalms 36:4.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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