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ORIGINS OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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OBST 9
In the last installment, the Baal Shem continued telling the story of how Reb Avraham Moshe, following the instructions of his teacher and rabbi, Reb Eliyahu Baal Shem, to save his great-grandfather's soul by helping his great uncle Moshe return to the the path of Torah and Mitzvahs.
After his great uncle Moshe shoed how he wanted to do teshuvah, Reb Avrohom Moshe concentrated on the significant prayers and meanings that his rebbe Reb Eliyohu Baal Shem had given him.
That very day, he went to the nearby city of Belze and bought a pair of tefillin and a tallis for his great uncle.
At the conclusion of the very next Shabbos, Moshe paid all his servants their wages and added an extra large amount to sustain them in their old age. He also endowed them with many gifts before he dismissed them. He left his house and possessions to the non-Jews who lived by his house.
Then he took his seforim and one servant to tend to his needs and moved to the city of Belze. There he bought himself a small house near the shule and became a Baal Teshuvah, tasting no meat and drinking no wine.
From the day that he moved to Belze until the day he died, nine months later, he didn't speak a word to anyone. Every week he gave a considerable sum to the Rav of the community to distribute among the needy families of Belze. He ate only bread and drank plain water. Several days before he died, he gave his entire fortune to the Rav to distribute among various charities.
Moshe's sentence, as ruled by the Heavenly Court, was one hundred and seventeen years of torment in Gehennom, in Sheol, and in wandering. This term ended in Tammuz. On that day, one hundred and seventeen years later, it had been necessary to purify the Torah he had studied so that it might accompany him to Gan Eden. The great Rov of Lvov accomplished this when he learned in seclusion the four chapters in Brochos of the Rambam and immediately afterwards davened minchah.
The Satan and his hosts, knowing that the end of their reign over this soul had arrived, did all in their power to prevent his neshamah from leaving them.
"But you, Reb Chaim," said the Baal Shem Tov to Reb Chaim at the end of his story, "through your mighty efforts succeeded, and were rewarded with holy enlightenment and dedication to G-d's Torah and service.
"Yet another purpose was accomplished," concluded the Baal Shem Tov. "It is written in the Zohar Hakodesh that all the earthly bodies of water cry and plead that they be used in the service of the L-rd, such as washing hands or immersing in a mikvah before prayers, washing to make a blessing on food, or to quench the thirst of a Jew who pronounces the necessary blessing. Since Creation, when Hashem divided the earthbound waters from the heavenly waters, they have pleaded to be used for holy purposes.
"There is a spring that lies in the forest of Moshe's property whose waters have been sobbing for five thousand five hundred and nineteen years for salvation. On that day, when Reb Moshe Chaim drank of its waters, and recited the blessings before and after, the spring had fulfilled its purpose. This exemplifies the Hashgocha Protis - the special Divine Providence which guides the destiny of each and every thing in Creation to bring about its fulfillment and when each and every soul finds its purpose and place to fullfill its ultimate purpose.
To be continued . . . . .
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Likutei Diburim
by Reb Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch, Zal as written in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y. Klapholtz.
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A Combat in Magic
And then there was the time that a priest, allied
with the governor of the holy community of Medzibush, caused great trouble to the Jews of that town. The local townspeople frequently urged the Baal Shem Tov to pray for the priest's banishment from Medzibush.
The Baal Shem Tov would always answer: "I don't want to incite him because he is a very great sorcerer. I'm sure that he will sense the moment that I begin to deal with him."
And so time went on without the Baal Shem Tov doing anything about him.
But then the time came when the priest severely oppressed the people of Medzibush with an outlandish decree. Upon hearing the decree, the townspeople hurried to the Baal Shem Tov and begged the Baal Shem Tov to take some action against the priest.
He answered them: "I agree, he's gone too far. I will begin to deal with him slowly and carefully so that he will not take notice."
The Baal Shem Tov started with prayers, but the priest sensed it immediately and was able to counteract the Baal Shem Tov's spiritual influence.
Soon after, while ascending a mountain in a wagon, the Baal Shem Tov encountered the priest coming down the mountain in his wagon. The Baal Shem Tov used his spiritual power to affect the priest.
Later, he told his followers that the priest would have a disgraceful downfall. He went on to say, "If it were the other way around, G-d forbid, it would not have been good for me."
Soon after this coincidental meeting, the governor of the city confiscated all of the priest's property and much of his money. If that wasn't enough, the priest was dismissed from his post, and had to pay the claims of every Jew in the town until he was financially ruined. In the end, he left the town in a broken-down wagon harnessed to a single horse.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Patent Attoney) from a story in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Ben-Amos and Mintz
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Teachings Of The Baal Shem Tov On Prayer
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And Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and G-d had blessed Abraham with everything. (Genesis 24:1)
Based upon what I heard from my grandfather on the verse: "It came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods . . " (I Kings 11:4), we see here that [when Abraham was old] "G-d had blessed Abraham with everything."
"Everything" - bakol - has the numerical value of ben - "son."1 The wise will understand this.2
Degel Machane Ephraim, Chayeh Sarah
1The words bakol and ben both have the numerical value of 52.
2 The verse says "For the ways of the L-
rd are right; the just walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them" (Hosea 14:10). The Torah is comprised of two aspects - spirit and matter, revelation and concealment, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Thus, the Talmud states: "If a person is unworthy, the Torah becomes a potion of death for him; if he is worthy, it is a potion of life" (Yoma 72b). These two aspects also correspond to the spiritual paradigms of Giver and Receiver, or Lights and Vessels, and Kabbalistically, are represented by the Masculine and Feminine dimensions of creation. Only when they are united can harmony reign in the universe. Even then, however, the influence must be from above to below - from giver to receiver, spirit to matter. When the aspect of receiver dominates, then the vessel can be too strong, and the light can be concealed. This model applies to every word of the Torah, and is the meaning of the verse: "his wives turned away his heart." Abraham, however, merited "everything" - i.e. a son. He learned Torah from the side of light and revelation.
Along these lines, the Degel Machane Ephraim (parashas Masai) writes: "I heard from my grandfather, in the name of the sefer Bris Menucha, that if you see a Torah scholar who has incorrect opinions and acts improperly, he certainly has drunk from the 'bitter waters.'" Thus, the Rabbis taught in Pirkei Avos (1:11): "Sages, be careful with your words, lest you incur the penalty of exile, and be banished to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who follow you there will drink and die (spiritually) and consequently, the Name of Heaven will be desecrated."
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light Of The Baal Shem Tov
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5. The Holy Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin (1784-1858) said, "We must believe all the stories, miracles, and wonders attributed to the Baal Shem Tov. We should believe that even if they didn't happen, they could have happened."
Imros Tahoros, p. 34
From DIVINE LIGHT by Tzvi Meir
Cohn
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HEART OF PRAYER
Anthology Of The Teachhings Of The Baal Shem Tov
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9-a3 When you pray, the Divine Presence clothes itself in you and speaks your words.
As soon as you pray, "L-rd, open my lips...,"1 the Divine Presence clothes itself in you and speaks your words. If you believe this, you will be fearful and awestruck for G-d reduces Himself, as it were, to dwell within you. As it says, "He peers through the cracks"2 - through the letters, which are themselves palaces. During prayer, you go from one palace to another, and you are continually judged if you are worthy to enter. This judgment occurs when the extraneous thoughts enter your mind. If you only realized this, you would pray with greater concentration. The problem is that you forget that they are judging you.
Likkutei Amarim p. 1b
1Psalms 51:17. This verse is recited at the beginning of the Amidah. The implication is that the mouth declares G-d's own words of praise, not merely our praise of Him.
2 Song of Songs 2:9
From
HEART OF PRAYER by Tzvi Meir
Cohn
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KESER SHEM TOV
An anthology of Teachings on the Torah by the Baal Shem Tov
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Kst 25
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
When a person becomes aware of what deeply ails him, of the fact that he is spiritually ill - that his mind is constricted in katnut/immature consciousness - this very awareness softens his constriction, and this awareness itself is the healing of his illness. 1
However, if one is unaware - referred to as hester/concealed consciousness (as the verse says, "I will conceal Myself" (Deuteronomy 31:18) - and does not realize that he is spiritually ill, then there is nothing that can heal his wounds.
1The workings of person's soul are very deep and convoluted, and most people are not aware at all of what motivates them and why they act in certain ways. These motivations are usually based on deep-seated emotional needs that were formed in one's early years, in one's "katnut," one's childhood/adolescence. Because one's consciousness if constricted and limited during these years, these dynamics develop without one's awareness, and sink deeply into the unconsciousness. It may only be many years later that one begins to become aware of these deep-seated motivations, and of how so much of his behavior arises from this immature consciousness. The Baal Shem Tov teaches us here that simply becoming more and more aware of these dynamics softens their grip on us, and gradually releases us from our constricted behavior patterns, revealing to us depths of soul that had previously been concealed. There is no other way to healing oneself, as the Baal Shem Tov concludes.
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