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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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THE THREE BROTHERS
"Yaakov stepped forward and rolled the rock off the
mouth of the well effortlessly showing his great
strength." (Bereishis 29:10)
In a small village deep in the Carpathian mountains,
there lived three learned, G-d-fearing
brothers, Reb Chaim, Reb Yaakov and Reb Dovid.
Reb Chaim and Reb Yaakov were devoted followers
of the Baal Shem Tov but Reb Dovid was
a "mitnagid" - one strongly opposed to the customs
and teachings of the chassidim.
Whenever the Baal Shem Tov visited the village, he
always asked Reb Chaim and Reb Yaakov as to the
physical and spiritual welfare of their brother. The two
brothers found it quite curious that the Baal Shem Tov
always inquired about the wellbeing of Reb Dovid.
After all, it was well known that Reb Dovid had spoken
demeaningly about their Rebbe.
Once, the Baal Shem Tov arrived at the village on a
Thursday. Before he even encountered Reb Chaim
and Reb Yaakov, he inquired about Reb Dovid from
the other townfolk. "So how is my adversary Reb
Dovid?" he asked.
The villagers thought that the Baal Shem Tov would
be pleased with the news: "Reb Dovid is on his
deathbed and has lost the power of speech."
But the Baal Shem Tov was distraught at the news
and went immediately to the home two brothers Reb
Chaim and Reb Yaakov. The Baal Shem Tov told
them that it was urgent that he pay a visit to their dying
brother. The two brothers were a little upset and
confused at their Rebbe's request. "Rebbe, it might
be better if you don't visit him right now," they said.
The very next day, Friday, the eve of the holy Sabbath,
the Baal Shem Tov told the two brothers that it was
imperative that he pray at the home of their ill brother
on the holy Sabbath.
"Rebbe," they implored him, "even if he was healthy,
he would certainly not let you pray at his house." But
the Baal Shem Tov insisted. The two brothers were
not about to get involved in "Rebbesheh maysehs"
(the workings of holy men), so they arranged for the
Baal Shem Tov to use a small room in their sick
brother's house for prayers and study over the
Sabbath, and they arranged to have a Holy Ark and a
Torah scroll brought there.
In this small room, the Baal Shem Tov prayed
Minchah and Maariv on Friday, the holy Sabbath Eve,
and the following morning he prayed the Sabbath
Shacharit prayer. In the morning, he prolonged his
prayers until nearly two o'clock in the afternoon.
Before reading the Torah, he paused as if waiting for
something to occur. Just then, he heard a terrible,
deep groan from the dying Reb Dovid. The Baal Shem
called out to Reb Dovid's two brothers, "Let us all go
into visit your sick brother together." They entered the
room and the Baal Shem Tov sat next to the dying
Reb Dovid.
Reb Dovid's crying mother sat nearby reciting Tehillim
(psalms). She leaned over to her son and
whispered "Dovid'll, a holy rabbi is here to visit you."
But Reb Dovid didn't move. She took her son's hand
and placed it in the Baal Shem Tov's hand.
The Baal Shem Tov gazed at him with a furrowed
brow. "Reb Dovid, I understand that you study
Talmud?"
But Reb Dovid lay motionless. The Baal Shem Tov
repeated the same question several times, but Reb
Dovid remained silent. Finally, the Baal Shem Tov
raised his voice: "Where are your manners? I am
asking you a question!?"
The pale Reb Dovid slowly opened his sunken eyes
and looked at The Baal Shem Tov. "Yes," he
whispered, "I have studied Gemara."
The Baal Shem Tov then asked, "In which tractate
does it state, "'Are your sufferings welcome to you?'"
Reb Dovid replied: "In the tractate Berachot."
"And what is said there?" continued the Baal Shem
Tov.
"Neither they nor their reward," he slowly answered.
The Baal Shem Tov then asked "Reb Dovid, are your
sufferings welcome to you?"
Reb Dovid answered: "Neither they nor their reward."
The Baal Shem Tov then said, "Give me your other
hand." Reb Dovid slowly raised his other hand, and
The Baal Shem helped him sit up. "Now place your
feet on the floor, stand up, dress yourself slowly and
wash your hands." Amazingly, Reb Dovid followed all
of the Baal Shem Tov's instructions. He slowly
regained his strength hour by hour. Later, he prayed
the Musaf prayer and with the help of G d, he made a
full recovery.
As to whether Reb Dovid became a follower of the
Baal Shem Tov, we don't know.
And so it was.
Adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard Cohn,
Patent Attorney) from a story in SHIVCHEI HABESHT
as 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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Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said "Surely,
G-d is
in this place, but I did not know it. And he was afraid,
and said. "How awesome is this place! This alone is
G-d's house, and this is the gate to heaven."
(Genesis
28:16-17)
There is a problem [with this verse]. Had another
person been standing there claiming that it was not
G-d's house, but another house, such as an
inn or
something similar, it would have been correct to tell
him: "It's not as you say. This alone is G-d's
house!"
But since there was no one there to contradict him,
why did he say it that way? He should have said: "This
is surely G-d's house!"
This can be explained with the Gemara: "Rabbi Yinai
proclaimed, 'Woe to one who lacks a courtyard, but
makes a gate to the courtyard!"1
According to Rashi, the Torah is the gate that leads to
the fear of G-d.2 Now, it is
known that
before going to Haran, Jacob learned Torah for
fourteen years in the study hall of Shem [and Ever].
3 Yet, during that entire time, he never
felt the awe of G-d that he felt on Mount
Moriah, the
place of the Holy Temple.4 Therefore, he
said, "Since I see how awesome this place is, I
decree and declare that this alone is G-d's
house.
This is His main dwelling place. As it says: 'My house
shall be a house of prayer. . . . (Isaiah
56:7).5 And all
that I learned in the study hall of Shem is only the gate
to heaven; it is only the gate to fear.
Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 5c
1Shabbat 31b. Meaning, woe to one
who studies Torah (the "gate"), but has no fear of
G-d
(the "courtyard").
2Yoma 72b.
3Megilah 17a.
4The Midrash states that Jacob slept at
the place of the future Holy Temple. See Rashi on the
verses above.
5The Baal Shem Tov puts this verse in
the mouth of Jacob, as if he said it.
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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5.c6 Speak for G-d's sake alone to arouse
the Supernal speech to radiate throughout all the
worlds.
WHY is the Divine Presence in exile? Because "with
the word of G-d, the heavens were made"
(Psalms 33:6). You must speak for G-d's
sake alone; that is, in order to arouse the Supernal
speech that created the worlds, to radiate throughout
all the worlds. However, because of our sins, we
discuss only physical desires. Even our words of
prayer and Torah are filled with foreign thoughts and
self-interest. Thus speech is in exile.
Kisvei Kodesh, p. 22b
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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29. Another positive trait of our Rabbi, the Baal Shem
Tov, was that the Divine light of Moshiach began to
shine with him - a tradition we have received from
Tzaddikim.
The Baal Shem Tov himself asked Moshiach, "When
are you coming Master?" Moshiach replied, "When
your teachings have become well-known and
revealed throughout the world, and when your well
springs have spread outwards, imparting to others
what I have taught you, so that they too will be able to
perform contemplative unifications and ascents of the
soul . . ."
Thus G-d arranged for many great
Jewish sages to become the Baal Shem Tov's
students in order to spread his teachings.
Divrei Shalom, Introduction
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 55
The Baal Shem Tov taught::
Someone who performs a great mitzvah, learns a lot
of Torah or prays with devotion should not allow
thoughts of pride to enter his heart, as if he had done
this. Rather, it was the Malkhuth [Indwelling Divine
presence] - the ANI1 from AdoNaI -that
has done this. But when one prides oneself in having
done this, he causes the letter yud 2
from ANI to disappear, and then only AN is
left.3
This is the meaning of, "Know from whence - from
ayin - you come,"4 literally, from
nothingness, because when a person considers
himself as nothing, then he comes close to
G-d. On
the other hand, when one prides oneself that one has
done something, then one goes away from
G-d - the
yud has disappeared, and only an remains. This is
alluded to in the conclusion of the Mishnah, "To
where - to an - you are going."
1Ani means, "I," and is the same letters
as ayin,
which means nothing. The implication of this is that
each individual person's "I" is only a manifestation of
the Divine "I," but to connect with this Higher "I" we
must transcend our lower "I," our egos, and realize
that ultimately, we are ayin, we are nothing.
2The letter yud represents nothingness,
since it is
written as a single point of ink. It also represents
wisdom. Living with a sense of our nothingness
before G-d is true wisdom.
3Until here is a quote from the Baal
Shem Tov in
Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Korach #3. Regarding the
remainder, the Toldoth in Ben Porath Yoseph 77a is
not sure if he heard this too from the Baal Shem Tov,
or if this is his own interpretation.
4Tractate Avoth 3:1
Translation and commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua Starrett.
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