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TALES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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"If an individual person from among the people of the
land unintentionally sins by violating any of
G-d's
commandments which are prohibited, (then) when
the sin that he has committed becomes known to
him....... " VaYikra 4:27
THE REVOLVING WHEEL
Once, a stranger came in to have yichudus (a
private meeting) with the Baal Shem Tov.
When they met the, stranger
said, "Sholom
Aleichem, holy Rebbe."
"Aleichem Sholom Reb Yid," answered
the Baal
Shem Tov, "What can I do for you?"
"Thank G-d, I require nothing. I
earn a
comfortable
living and the members of my family are all well. I
was just passing through Mezibuzh and said to
myself that it was only proper for me to come and pay
my respects to the famous Baal Shem Tov. So, thank
G-d, I really don't have need for your advice or
help."
The Baal Shem Tov looked at his visitor
with a
strange expression. "If you really don't require
anything of me, let me at least tell you a story." The
Baal Shem Tov began speaking to his spell bound
guest and told him the following story:
Once, in a distant Polish city, there lived
two close
friends. When they were young, the two boys studied
together in Cheder and later continued studying
Talmud together in the Beis Medrosh. When they
were older, they made a solemn promise to each
other that their friendship would last forever.
In time, the two young men were married. One
married a girl from his own city in Poland and
remained there, while the other found his mate in
Berditchev and went there to live. Before parting, they
promised each other to correspond. But as time went
by, and they each became busy with their new lives,
the correspondence slowed down and finally stopped.
As "luck" would have it, the wheel of
fortune turned
in favor of the friend who had remained in his
childhood Polish city, while it turned against his friend
in Berditchev. The latter lost all his property and
possessions and was reduced to begging. He then
remembered his loyal friend and decided to turn to
him for aid.
When the poor friend arrived at his
friend's house
he was greeted warmly. The two sat over a pipe
reminiscing about the good old days. Then the guest
stated his reason for coming. When the host heard of
the misfortune that had befallen his friend he
announced decisively, "Are we not true friends? We
made a promise that our friendship would remain
forever. Not only will I help you now but I will share my
whole fortune with you equally."
The poor man gratefully accepted his
friend's
generous gesture and returned to Berditchev with a
substantial amount of money. He was able to pay
back all his debts and to invest in a business. This
time luck was with him and he prospered. Meanwhile
his friend back in Poland did not fare well. Now it was
he who lost his entire fortune, incurring heavy debts.
Finally in desperation, he decided to go to his friend in
Berditchev whom, he had helped in his hour of need.
When he arrived in Berditchev, he heard that his friend
had prospered and was exceedingly
wealthy.
The poor friend confidently went to
his
wealthy
friend's home to ask for his help.
"I will never forget how you
helped me
when I was in similar circumstances," said the
wealthy friend from Berditchev. "However, my
conscience will not permit me to help
you!"
The now poor friend was shocked at
these words
and waited for some sort of logical
explanation.
"The wealthy friend went on. No,
I'm afraid
that I cannot help you at all. Don't you see, when you
were fortunate, then I suffered, and now that I'm the
fortunate one, you are impoverished. If I were to help
you, then our positions would be reversed again. You
would become wealthy while I would lose all of my
riches. I'm very sorry, but even a close friend cannot
be expected to dig his own grave."
The poor man was forced to return as he
had
come. But his spirits did not fail him. There were
good men in his city that came to his aid and their
loans soon put him back on his feet. He was soon
able to pay them back and he continued to prosper.
His hard-hearted friend in Berditchev
fared poorly,
however. His turn now came to suffer poverty and
deprivation. Having no one to turn to, he remembered
his childhood friend and went to beg for help. The rich
friend bore his impoverished comrade no ill will. On
the contrary, he again bestowed upon him half of his
wealth, assuring him that he had forgiven him the
ungratefulness he had shown when he had
approached him in Berditchev. Since he had trusted
in G-d, he said, his help had come from other
sources.
The two friends died on the very same day. They
were both summoned simultaneously to the Heavenly
court. The two cases were carefully tried. The
resulting verdict announced that the generous friend
was to proceed to Gan Eden while the ungrateful
friend was to go to Gehennom. When the generous
friend heard this decree, he refused to go to Gan
Eden without his childhood friend.
The Heavenly court reviewed the two
judgments
and came up with a solution. Both souls were to
descend again to earth. The generous friend would
be a pauper in his next life while his companion
would be a rich man. If the latter succeeded in
correcting the faults of his previous life he would be
pardoned, but this would be his only chance for
salvation.
Time passed and, as decreed in Heaven, the
pauper appeared at the wealthy man's home to beg
for a donation. He found a watchman posted by the
door who refused to let him in. He pleaded loudly just
to be admitted for an audience with the master of the
house. The wealthy man heard the commotion and
came out. When he saw the beggar on his doorstep
he commanded his servant to throw him down the
stairs. The poor man, weakened by his many
hardships, tumbled down the stairs and died.
The Baal Shem Tov's visitor listened to
the story
with mounting interest, and when the Rebbe reached
this point the man exclaimed: "Oh my G-d, I'm
the
wicked man who hardened his heart to the beggar. It
was I who ordered the man thrown down the stairs.
Oy vey! What is to become of me?"
The Baal Shem Tov gazed at the
man and
said: "Didn't you say to me, not twenty minutes ago,
that you were not in need of help? Does there exist a
person in the world who does not require any help or
advice whatsoever?" The man looked shamefacedly
through his tears at the holy Rebbe Baal Shem Tov
and pleaded, "Rebbe, is there any hope for me at all?
Can I still mend my ways?"
"Yes, you still can," answered the Baal Shem
Tov. "Go and find the man's orphaned children and
widowed wife. Care for them, support them, and
distribute large sums of money to charity. For
repentance, prayer and charity can alter unfavorable
decrees."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in KAHAL
CHASSIDIM and translated in STORIES OF THE BAAL
SHEM TOV by Y. Y. Klapholtz.
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And He called to Moses, and G-d spoke to
him from the Tent of Meeting. . . . (Leviticus 1:1)
The Baal Shem Tov said that he learned all his
remedies1 from the verse, "And He
called to
Moses. . . ."2
Heichal HaBracha, Vayikra
The Baal Shem Tov cured only through the use of
Unifications.3 He would uplift the
Shechina and unite
it with the trait of Ayin,4 and the lower
world would
automatically be repaired.
Ma'or Eynayim, Naso
1Besides being a mystic and a
communal leader, the
Baal Shem Tov was also a renowned healer, who
used both natural remedies and segulot -
supernatural methods - to affect cures.
2R. Yitzchok Isaac of Komarno (Heichal
HaBracha)
explains that the letter aleph at the end of the word
Vayikra represents the level of Keter (Crown) and Ayin
(Nothingness). (Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew
alphabet, and in this word, is written small in the
Torah scroll, suggesting the idea of ego-nullification.)
The Baal Shem Tov knew how to uplift the world to
this supernal root and draw down healing energy.
See footnote 4, below.
3Yichudim. These lie at the basis of
kabbalistic
meditation, prayer and ritual acts, and include the
mystical recombination of letters, as well as the
uplifting and unification of one's emotions and
intellect with the Divine.
4The Shechina is the Divine Presence
that dwells
within creation. Ideally, it receives light from
G-d and
reveals it in the world, so that Divinity shines from
within creation itself. At times, however, the Shechina
falls into "exile," and a breech occurs between
G-d
and creation (from our perspective). This is the
spiritual root of all suffering and illness. When the
Shechina is uplifted and united with G-d, all
the forces
of negativity are annulled. Ayin refers to the sefirah of
Keter, which contains a revelation of the Divine Being
completely beyond human perception, just as a crown
is above the mind of the wearer. Ayin therefore
means "Nothingness," since it transcends human
cognition, and can only be accessed through mystical
self-annulment. The Baal Shem Tov taught that a
person should never pray for his own needs, but only
for the fulfillment and redemption of the Shechina, for
when the Divine Presence is rectified, so are all of
her "limbs," which are the individual components of
creation.
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HEART OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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7-a3 Be so devoid of physicality that no self-
awareness or strength remains.
As long as you can still intend to say, "Blessed are
You," you have not reached the height of prayer. For
you must be so devoid of physicality that not an ounce
of self-awareness or strength remains in you.
Avodas Yisroel, Metzorah
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light of the Baal Shem Tov
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45. The Baal Shem Tov taught his students to bring
themselves to a state of awe by meditating on the
greatness of G-d before prayer.
"When you want to pray, first bring yourself to a state
of awe,1 for this is the gate to enter
before the
Blessed One.2 Say in your heart: 'To
Whom do I want
to attach myself? To Him Who created all the worlds
with His words, and Who enlivens and sustains
them!' You should meditate on His greatness and
exaltedness; then you can enter the supernal worlds."
Tzava'as HaRivash,
66
1Reverance of
G-d
2See Shabbat 31b.
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 81
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
If all suffering and other issues for which one should
pray will disappear with the times of the Messiah,
what will happen to prayer itself? - for we can surely
not say that prayer itself, which is considered a "limb
of the Shechinah/Divine presence,"1 will
be
abolished. Furthermore, the verse says, "On that day,
the iniquity of Israel will be sought but there will be
none, and the sin of Judah but not
found."2 Why will
they be sought? Who will need the iniquities of Israel?
The answer is that there are four categories of
suffering that evoke prayer. The first is when one is
pained by the desecration of G-d's Name
among the
nations, and prays for this. The second is [when one
is pained] for having sinned, for the greatest suffering
is sin. Sin, in fact, is even worse than death, for while
death atones for sin, sin causes many types of death.
The third is prayer for one's sustenance, and the
fourth is for life itself.3
Now, the "limbs of the Shechinah/Divine presence"
are enwrapped within the four categories of suffering
just mentioned, so that one should be moved to pray,
while seeing through the veil of those superficial
circumstances and elevating the Divine sparks
hidden within them.4 However, when
one is not
confronted by one of those four painful
circumstances, one does not realize that one should
pray.5
This, then, is the meaning of the verse, "The iniquity of
Israel will be sought," so that it could be prayed for,
but there will be none, or "The sin of Judah" - the
Hebrew word "sin" means a lack, in this case, the
lack present in any of those painful circumstances -
"but it will not be found." Thus, on that day there will
be nothing to pray for, and prayer will then be only to
make unifications.6
For all physical acts that are done in this world are all
alluded to in the Torah, and are all included in the
World of Atzilut/Closeness. The main thing, though, is
to believe
beyond any doubt that the words of prayer bring about
the immediate reality of that for which one is
praying.7
This also explains the verse, "Jacob sent
messengers to Esau."8 Jacob [Ya'AKoV]
represents
the Shechinah, for the first letter yud is the raw
potential9 that becomes enclothed in the
seven
levels of material existence, which are represented by
the second letter 'ayin,10 each of which
is inclusive of
the ten levels of existence, each of which are inclusive
of the ten Sephiroth, which are represented by the
third letter kuf.11 All this is accomplished
by way of
Binah, which is represented by the fourth letter beyt,
which refers to the two "angels"12 that
were sent "to
Esau," to the world of Asiyah/Action.13
1Zohar I 10b (where the metaphor is
actually wings).
2Jeremiah 50:20
3These four categories seem in an order
of
descending levels, from the most spiritual to the most
physical. One who prays for the desecration of
G-d's
Name is not praying for any personal salvation, but
rather of that of mankind and the entire universe.
Praying for having sinned, however sincerely, involves
a personal salvation.
4When one prays with an
awareness that one is
indeed talking to G-d, he experiences himself
being in
G-d's presence. At that moment, one has
indeed "revealed" G-d in the world - in his
world. G-d
was always there, but we did not see Him. So
G-d
puts us through painful experiences so that we call
out to Him from our suffering, so that perhaps we may
come to realize that the suffering was only a means to
bring us to Him. Nevertheless, when one has indeed
reached this level of prayer at which one is "at
Oneness" with G-d, the prayer itself has
becomes
transformed from a means to the goal. This may be
alluded to in the metaphor of "limbs." On the one
hand, limbs are not actually part of the main part of
the body - the head and torso - but only extensions
that serve it, to bring things to the body or to bring the
body somewhere. On the other hand, though, the
limbs are certainly part of the totality of the body, and
the entire body can be seen as one entity.
5Regarding this, Rebbe Nachman
of Breslov said
that one should train oneself to speak to G-d
about
everything that is going on in one's life, as if one were
talking to one's best friend.
6Until here is from the Toldot
Yaakov Yoseph,
VaYikra 2, and the remainder is an addition of the
compiler. As said, the goal of prayer is to attain
Unification with G-d, for which suffering is only
a
means. But when mankind will reach this level,
suffering will no longer be needed as a means, and
prayer will then be to reach ever higher levels of
Unity.
7This idea was already presented in the
previous
piece (#80).
8Genesis 32:4
9The letter yud is "raw potential,"
because it is only a
dot of ink, from which all other letters can be drawn.
10The letter 'ayin is numerically 70,
composed of the
seven levels times ten levels.
11The letter kuf is numerically 100.
12The letter beit is numerically two.
In the writings of
the Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, the two Supernal Sephirot of
Chokhmah and Binah are referred to as "angels" (Pri
Etz Chaim, Shabbath ch. 20).
13The physical world, represented by
the lower
seven Sephirot, are "mindless" and "chaotic." Each
function seeks its own fulfillment, and does not
interact with another. This creates our world of
apparent separateness. However, by bringing Mind
into play - the Mind of the two higher Sephirot,
Chokhmah and Binah, the dissonance of the different
Sephiroth are transformed into the harmony of a
single orchestra, all interacting harmoniously to
produce something beautiful. This is an aspect of the
Oneness and Unity that one must strive to achieve in
one's personal life, and for the world at large.
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