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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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THE DEFECTIVE MEZUZAH
"[Also] write them on [parchments affixed to] the doorposts of your houses and gates." (Va'etchanan 6:4)
And it happened that once, the Baal Shem Tov was visiting the home of a member of the Holy Community of Nemirov. While going from one room to another room, the Baal Shem Tov "inadvertently" opened the door to the cellar. He reached out to kiss the Mezuzah affixed to the cellar doorway. (It is an age old Jewish custom to touch a Mezuzah with your finger tips and then kiss them.) But before he actually touched the Mezuzah, he suddenly stopped. Rabbi Yisrael looked over to his host and said, "This Mezuzah should be checked." [Mezuzahs need to be checked every few years because the inked letters can break or peel off, or even touch each other due to shrinkage of the klaf (animal skin) on which it is written. Even a slight imperfection in the letters renders the Mezuzah defective and non-kosher.]
The host replied, "Rabbi, just because you opened the wrong door, does that mean you need to justify your mistake by questioning the kashrut of my Mezuzah? Maybe you just accidentally opened the door to the cellar?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as an accident. In reality, everything, without exception, is directed by Divine Guidance and is not a matter of chance."
Later, the man found that the Mezuzah was in fact posul (not kosher).
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (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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"Behold, I have taught you rules and laws, as the L-rd G-d has commanded me, that you should keep them, in the land to which you are coming to possess. You shall observe them and do them." (Devarim 4:60)
"Observe them" - this is Mishnah.1 "And do them" as it implies. Rashi
You should be pure-hearted in your service of G-d. The main thing is not to forget [the essential] things, to study a certain amount of mussar every day,2 and to see that you are always attached to good character traits and proper behavior. Do not let a day go by without doing a mitzvah, whether it is easy or difficult to perform. This is alluded to in [the Mishnah]: Be as careful (zahir) in the performance of a minor mitzvah as of a major one."3 "Zahir" as in the words:"And the wise shall shine (yaZhiRu) as the brightness of the firmament."(Daniel 12:3) That is, the soul should shine and radiate [in the performance] of a minor mitzvah just as it does with a major one. For G-d desires the heart.4
Tzivos HaRivash, p. 2a
This is a very great thing. For then, a person knows that he did [a mitzvah] on that day, and created one angel. "And if there is for him an angel, an intercessor, one among a thousand5 to vouch for a man's uprightness, then He will be gracious to him, and say, "Deliver him from descending to the pit, I have found a ransom." (Job 33:23)
This is alluded to in [the verse]:"He who keeps (shomer) the commandment will not know an evil thing." (Ecclesiastes 8:5) That is when a person commits himself to being constantly attentive from morning till eve for a mitzvah to present itself to him. This is the meaning of shomer, as in "And his father watched out for the matter (shomar et hadavar)." (Genesis 37:11) Then, the result will be that he "will not know an evil thing." That is, he will not have an improper seminal emission, which is called "evil," G-d forbid.6
This is alluded to in the verse: "The kindness of G-d is all the day." (Psalms 52:3) That is, each and every day, you must do kindness to G-d.
Tzivos HaRivash, p. 3b
1I.e. the study of the Oral Torah, so as not to forget it.
2A general term for inspirational and ethical literature, such as Sha¡arei Teshuva or Reishis Chochmah. (The Baal Shem Tov predated the mussar movement of R. Yisroel Salant by about a hundred years.)
3Pirkei Avos 2:1.
4Sanhedrin 105b.
5A thousand accusers.
6The Torah considers the act of spilling seed as one of the most grievous sins possible, so much so that it is given the unique title of "evil" (ra). (As in the verse: "And Er, Judah's first-born, was evil in the sight of G-d," (Genesis 38:7), on which Rashi comments that he intentionally spilled his seed on the ground.) According to Kabbalah, this act was part of the sin of Adam, and causes damage even when it happens unintentionally, such as during sleep. Much of Chasidic thought deals with rectifying this sin on the personal and cosmic level. In addition to the mystical power of mitzvah observance to engender purity, the Baal Shem Tov may have meant that constant attentiveness to fulfilling the will of G-d protects a man from impure thoughts during the day, so that his dreams will be pure at night. This is as the Talmud states: "A person shouldn't think about illicit things during the day that will bring him to impurity in the night."(Kesuvos 46a)
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HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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7-d2 All the mystical intentions are included in words recited with great passion.
When you pray with mystical intentions, you can only use those intentions that you know. But when you recite each word with great passion, all the mystical intentions which you possess are included in your words. In every letter resides a complete world, and when you say the words with great emotion, you arouse those worlds above. Therefore, you should pray with great attachment and fervor, which will unquestionably have an effect in the upper worlds. This is because every letter makes its mark above.
Tzava'as HaRivash 118
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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62. Just before the Baal Shem Tov passed away and returned to his Heavenly abode, he told his only son Hirshel Tzvi, "My son, don't be afraid to take my place. I promise you that whenever you need me, whenever you call, I'll always come to help you."
The first Shabbos after the Baal Shem Tov died, the Chevryah Kadisha, his inner circle of Chassidim, were waiting and expecting Reb Hershel Tzvi to expound on the Torah. But he was still mourning his father's death and felt shy and inadequate to speak. The Chassidim kept urging him, "Reb Hershele, after all, your father always spoke Torah on Shabbos."
But he kept shaking his head no. Finally, the time for the third Shabbos meal arrived and the inner circle of Chassidim were sitting together with Reb Hershel Tzvi. During this time, the Baal Shem Tov always taught deep mysteries of the Torah to them, his closest followers.
The Chassidim became insistent. "Reb Hershele, your father always spoke at this time. Don't you remember when he said this and when he
said that?"
"You see father," said Reb Hershel Tzvi, "the Chassidim have already lost respect for me."
Just then, the Baal Shem Tov began to take form before all their eyes. Everyone froze in their seats.
"Reb Hershele," they said, "We didn't mean any disrespect to you or, G-d forbid, to insult you. We're just so used to hearing your father, the Rebbe, speak words of Torah at this time on Shabbos, that we
forgot ourselves."
From that Shabbos on, Reb Hershel Tzvi wore his father's white cloak, a symbol of leadership, and
expounded on the Torah.
The next Shavuos, however, exactly one year after the Baal Shem Tov had passed over to the next world, Reb Hershel Tzvi and the Chassidim were sitting together and discussing the Torah as usual.
Suddenly, Reb Hershele got up and said, "My father appeared and told me that the Shechinah (G-dly revelation) now dwells in Mezritch." Then Reb Hershele Tzvi removed his father's white cloak and put it onto the shoulders of Reb Dov Ber of Mezritch.
And so, Reb Dov Ber, who later became known as the Mezritcher Maggid, assumed leadership of the Chassidic movement.
Sipurei Chassidim
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-109
The Baal Shem Tov taught:1
Someone who tries to run away from pain and distress, but they follow him wherever he goes, is like a birthing woman who tries to escape from her labor pains by going somewhere else, but the pains follow her. The only way is to pray to G-d, and only that will get rid of the pain.
This is the meaning of the verse, "I called G-d in distress; G-d answered me with relief."2
This is also the meaning of the verse, "Egypt was pursuing them," upon which the Israelites realized their situation and, "The Israelites called out to G-d."3 Indeed, right afterwards the verse says, "As you have seen the Egyptians today, you will never see them again."4
1Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Beshalach #4.
2Psalms 118:5.
3Exodus 14:10.
4Ibid. v. 13. The Sefer Baal Shem Tov on that verse quotes a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov that renders the verse to be saying, "Because you saw the Egyptians today, you will never see them again." That teaching is obviously based on the one here.
But the question is, how can we say that the escape from distress - from Egypt - was in response to the Israelites' prayer, when the intermediary verses there relay their complaining to Moses?
The answer is, that on a deeper level, this teaching is based upon another one, that as soon as one realizes that one's distress comes from G-d, all suffering disappears (#51?), although not necessarily the painful situation itself. Thus, the Israelites were still confronted with what seemed like a dead-end, about which they only humanly complained, despite their having accepted their fate as coming from G-d. But because they had acknowledged their "Egypt" - their distress (the Hebrew letters are identical) - as coming from G-d, there was no longer any need for them to be confronted with it, and they therefore never had to see it again.
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