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ORIGINS OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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OBST 7
Once Reb Yehuda Arye went to visit his father's elderly friend, Reb Elimelech, taking his grandson, Reb Avraham Moshe along with him. When Reb Elimelech started with his usual disparaging comments about about those that studied kabbalah , Reb Avraham Moshe was reminded of his great-uncle whom he had long forgotten. And then when he looked over at his grandfather and saw how much these words pained him, he felt his heart constrict. Reb Avraham Moshe was especially upset when Reb Elimelech laughingly spoke how Reb Avraham Moshe's great grandfather also used to mock those that studied kabbalah, for he knew that his great grandfather had been a famed scholar.
Reb Avraham Moshe started to remind himself how many times he himself had benefited from his great grandfather's explanations and clarifications of difficult passages in the Gemmorah. Like the time that he had studied a difficult section in the Gemorrah Yevomos and was at a loss to understand its meaning. Even his mosgt learned friends could not come up with a logical explanation of the meaning of the section.
Finally, Reb Avraham Moshe had looked into his great-grandfather's writings and found an explanation that made the section understandable. When he told his friends the explanation without revealing its author, they were astounded at their friend's erudition, and praised him to all the other students in their group.
For two days and nights Reb Avraham Moshe's soul could find no rest. He kept asking himself whether he should reveal that the answer came from his great grandfather's writings? As he was turning it over in his mind, he suddenly thought, "Doesn't it say that the jealousy of scholars increase wisdom?" If he let his friends think that the explanation was his own, they would be spurred on to think deeply for themselves. But if they learned that the explanation had been discovered by someone of a past generation, they would not be so stimulated.
In the end, his sense of justice did not let him rest, and he decided to put the solution to chance. So he randomly opened a Gemorrah Sotah with a silent prayer that Hashem would reveal to him the correct thing to do. When he gazed down on the page to which the Gemmorah was opened, he read; "The Heavenly Court will punish anyone who dons a garment which is not his own." Reb Avraham Moshe understood this to mean that he must reveal the author of the explanation.
But still he could not rest because he imagined his great shame when he told his friends that the explanation to the section of Gemmorah was not his own.
The following day, he went around skulking like a thief, nervous and confused. He tried several times to reveal the truth but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and he was unable to speak the words of the true source of his explanation. In the end, he finally overcame his shame and told his friends everything.
Reb Avraham Moshe's friend, Reb Chaim Shmuel, was the first to rebuke him for hiding the source of the explanation. His other friends just looked askance at him, making him feel very ashamed for not immediately revealing the source of the explanation.
And now, as the elderly Reb Elimelech spoke disparagingly of those that studied kabbalah, Reb Avraham Moshe clearly remembered the depression he had felt at that occasion.
Heaing Reb Elimelech speak about others, as well as seeing his grandfather's distressed expression, made a deep impression on Reb Avraham Moshe, and the words rang in his ears, "Your father was a brilliant and famous man but he was not careful about the observance of mitzvahs and he used to mock the mystics. Therefore Ha-shem punished him with a son whose Torah knowledge is vast but who also desecrates the commandments."
Reb Avraham Moshe had previously learned the Halachos of repentance and knew the details of retribution. He studied and examined his great-grandfather's case. He came to the conclusion that even though thirty years had already passed since his death and his great grandfather had by now was in a Heavenly abode, he surely still had to suffer the trials of restless wandering. He pored over the Holy books dealing with repentence, reviewing their contents many times. This study itself depressed him because he now knew exactly all the punishments that were meted out to people who took the mitzvahs lightly and the even worse fate in store for those who mocked Torah scholars. It is written (Gemorrah Shabbos 119), "He who shames a Talmid Chochom can find no cure for what ails him." This statement weighed on his mind for he felt that his great-grandfather's soul was now forced to sufferf by the Angels of Retribution. Of course, Reb Avraham Moshe knew well that the maxim of Chazal, "He who shames his friend will in the end be ashamed himself," meant that if one shames his friend in this world he will suffer the curses of the avenging angels in the next world.
For several months, Reb Avraham Moshe went around confused and melancholy, obsessed by the unhappy fate and the possible amends which could be made. But he could find no solution for elevating his great grandfather's soul or saving it from its suffering. He finally decided to turn to his teacher and rabbi, Reb Eliyahu Baal Shem for advice and to follow everything he commanded.
To be continued . . . . .
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Sefer Hazichronos by Reb Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch, Zal as written in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y. Klapholtz.
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I Know who the Ba'al Shem Tov is!
Rabbi Machluf Aminadav Krispin, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Bialik, (married to the grand-daughter of the Baba Sali) narrates:
"In 1980 I had the privilege of seeing the Rebbe in private audience. The Rebbe asked me to tell him something about the Baba Sali and I told him the following story:
When the Baba Sali came to live in Israel in 1964, he first lived in Yavne where his son-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Abuchatzira, lived. In the town there was a "Kollel" (place of full-time Torah-studies for men, usually married). The head of the Kollel was a great Torah-scholar of distinctive lineage, a descendant of the Gaon of Vilna.
This rabbi asked me to arrange a meeting for him with the Baba Sali. I went to the Tzaddik and gave him the message that the head of the Kollel wishes to see him. He was invited to come in and the Baba Sali showed him great honor and requested of his household to bring cakes and drinks to say "l'chaim".
I do not know how the topic of their talk came to touch upon the Ba'al Shem Tov and the Gaon of Vilna, but among his other words, the head of the Kolel said in a condescending voice: 'The Ba'al Shem Tov cannot be compared to the greatness of the Gaon of Vilna in terms of studying the Talmud."
The Baba Sali heard this and became extremely upset. He said: "Who are you to voice your opinion and decide who is the greater of these giants?! I know who the Ba'al Shem Tov is! And now, stand up and get out of here. I do not want to see you by my side!"
I was present in the room during the entire conversation.
When the Tzaddik became upset, the head of the Kollel left.
I left the room after him, feeling very ashamed for being the cause of all this by arranging the meeting.
Standing outside, I asked the rabbi: "How did you dare to enter the lion's den and say such words?"
I was ashamed to go back and see the Baba Sali. I went to see my uncle, Rabbi Avraham, when suddenly I was told that the Baba Sali was looking for me.
When I came to his room, he said: "What did you do to me? You brought me a man who speaks against the Ba'al Shem Tov!" He added: "You wjll see, if his Kollel is still here in Yavne tomorrow, then I am not the Baba Sali."
I left the room and told the entire story to Rabbi Avraham, the rabbi of the town. Tears rolled down his cheeks out of sheer agony. He said: "What will we do without the Kollel?" I answered him: "The Baba Sali knows what he is doing."
Neither the Baba Sali nor I told anyone about what had transpired. Nevertheless, the very next morning the mayor of Yavne called the head of the Kollel to come to his office and told him: "I have received a notice from the Interior Ministry that they will not finance the expenses for the Kollel any more."
That same day the Kollel was no longer there.
After some time the Baba. Sali called his son-in-law Rabbi Avraham and asked him to pack his belongings. He wanted to leave this town and move to Ashkelon.
I told the Rebbe this story while in private audience. The Rebbe listened intently, and when I finished he lifted up his holy hands and said with deep affection: "That is what happened? You know of such stories and you keep them to yourself?!"
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Patent Attoney) from a story in Shemen Sasson as translated in Chassidic Gems by Tuvia Litzman
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Teachings Of The Baal Shem Tov On Prayer
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"And Avram went up out of Egypt." (Bereishis 13:1)
I heard a parable from my Master (the Baal Shem Tov):
A road passed through a forest where a den of thieves lurked. Anyone traveling on the road was in great danger. Once, two men went through the forest together, one completely drunk and the other sober. The thieves attacked them both, robbed them and beat them. They barely escaped with their lives. Afterward, they encountered a group of travelers. Some of the travelers asked the drunk man if he had passed through the woods safely. He replied that he had, and that it was not dangerous at all. But when they asked him to explain his wounds and bruises, he could not. Others asked the sober man, and he told them at length just how they must be careful because of the robbers.
There is a difference between these two individuals. The sober one could warn others as to how to pass through quickly, with guns, etc., but the drunk one could not warn them at all.
This is how a tzaddik serves G-d. He knows the battle with the evil inclination, and the danger that lurks on the way. He realizes that the path is dangerous, and he is always alert to escape its trap. And he knows how to warn others of this dangerous thief, for "He that increases knowledge, increases suffering" (Ecclesiastes I:18). This is not the case of a wicked person, who rejoices in the pleasures of the evil inclination, and declares "Peace! There is no danger in this world."
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 203c
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light Of The Baal Shem Tov
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3. The Zohar says, "If a person is worthy, Heaven gives him the nefesh-soul. If he is more worthy, Heaven gives him the ruach-soul. If he is even more worthy, Heaven gives him the neshama-soul. If he is still more worthy, Heaven gives him the neshama to the neshama-soul." Zohar 2:94b Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl (1770-1837) said that the Baal Shem Tov attained this highest of levels.
It is known that the nefesh-soul comes from the spiritual world of Asiyah (Action), the ruach-soul from the spiritual world of Yetzirah (Formation), the neshama-soul from the spiritual world of Beriyah (Creation), and the neshama to the neshama-soul from the spiritual world of Atzilus (Emanation). The soul of Baal Shem Tov was from the spiritual world of Atzilus.
Tzror HaChaim in the name of the Trisker Rav
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-a1 Foreign thoughts are like revelations that a person has in their dreams.
A person must be exceedingly clever in dealing with foreign thoughts that come to him during prayer, for they are his very own powers that come to him to be fixed. These foreign or extraneous thoughts are like revelations that a person has in his dreams, where the matter is not explicitly revealed but is clothed and hidden within some act which represents the thoughts. Thus, a person must be very wise to appreciate the implications of the dream (and the extraneous thoughts) in order to understand and fix the underlying matter by way of removing the limitations relating to this matter(s). Once he fixes the underlying matter, he will begin to pray with even greater intensity and spiritual attachment. Through this, he uplifts the sparks of holiness.
Divrei Moshe, Lech Lecha
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 16
"I see G-d from my flesh" Job 19:26.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Just as with physical relations, one cannot father a child without a "live" organ, which requires passion and joy, so with spiritual "relations," that is, the words of Torah and prayer, (Which is how one relates to G-d.) one can only be spiritually productive if one has a "live" organ, that is, if one experiences joy and pleasure. 1
1The point here is that it is not enough to study and pray with serious devotion, but that one must truly enjoy doing these things. The vivid metaphor implies that one's entire body must be enthusiastically involved in the practice, and not just the mind.
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