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ORIGINS OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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OBST 23
In the last installment, a young man left his family and went to a Yeshiva, married the daughter of a richman, became rich himself and was installed as the Rabbi of the time.
The years passed and the couple lived happily except for the fact that they had no children. The rabbi once said to his wife, "You see that G-d withheld from us the blessing of children. Come, let us go to the Holy Land, maybe there we will be blessed with offspring."
She agreed and they set out on their journey. They traveled by ship until they reached a -deserted island.
The ship docked there to make some repairs and the rabbi got off to tour the area.
When he returned he saw that the ship had already gone. He had been left behind, solitary, frightened and despaired. He wept and shouted but to no avail.
Suddenly a stranger approached him and offered, "If you agree to my demands, I'll be willing to take you to your destination in my ship." He told him to sign a written promise that the son which would be born to him in the Holy Land should become the stranger's own after the age of thirteen. The rabbi was puzzled over the unusual bargain but having no choice he was forced to sign the agreement. Then the stranger took him to his ship and brought him to Eretz Yisroel. The rabbi told his wife nothing of the bargain he had signed.
To be continued. . . . . .
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Moroim Gdolim as translated in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y. Klapholtz.
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It so happened that some 300 years ago, one of the pupils of the Baal Shem Tov had a strong desire to see Elijah. He knew that it would require much preparation and purity of mind and soul and he also knew that the Baal Shem Tov usually discouraged such endeavors but he felt himself ready and worthy. . . . and certainly asking couldn't hurt.
And to his surprise when he asked, the Baal Shem Tov readily agreed!
It happened to be just days before Pesach (Passover) so the Baal Shem Tov gave him a long list of things to do to prepare himself spiritually, told him to load a wagon with food, wine, matzot etc., travel to a certain house in a nearby village and spend the first two days of Pesach with them; there he would see Elijah for sure.
The Chassid filled the Baal Shem Tov's orders to the letter and early the next morning he was knocking on the door of a poor, almost dilapidated hut in the nearby village.
"Shalom!" he announced as a middle aged woman answered the door. "I am a Chassid of the Baal Shem Tov and he sent me here to spend the two Seder nights of Pesach with you. And you don't have to worry about food", he said as he pointed to his wagon "I've brought it all with me, enough for you and your family and I assure you it's of the highest standards of being kosher for Pesach."
Her husband came to the door and they couldn't believe their ears and eyes. They invited him in and began to carry in and prepare the food he had brought.
The Seder night was unforgettable, the woman, her husband and their five children had never been in the presence of one of the Baal Shem's holy pupils and had never seen so much food! They drank the four cups of wine, explained each sentence of the Hagadda with joy, sang and even danced till the wee hours of the night.
But no Elijah.
The Chassid didn't forget for a moment what he had come for. Perhaps Elijah would appear in the form of a beggar at the door, perhaps it was the man of the house or his wife or even one of the children. The Talmud tells us how he even appeared as a gentile.
At every stage of the Seder our hero was on edge, peering into every corner, at the windows at the children for some hint, something unusual. But nothing happened.
So it was the second night; the Seder was wonderful, exciting but no revelations.
Of course the Chassid was terribly disappointed. The Baal Shem Tov was never wrong. If he said that Elijah would be revealed it must be true. Elijah was there for sure but somehow he must have missed it.
He thanked the family for their hospitality and despite the hour (usually no one traveled at night in those days) jumped into his wagon and sped back to the Baal Shem Tov to pour out his heart.
"I don't understand it," the Baal Shem Tov said. "He must have been there. How could it have been that you didn't see him? Tell me exactly what you did, every detail of both nights!"
Our Chassid related every detail, what he did, said and even thought . . . . . and when he finished he gazed expectantly into the Baal Shem Tov's face waiting for a reply.
The Baal Shem Tov thought for a few seconds and answered, "Go back to the house where you were, stand by the window and listen to what the woman says to her husband. There is hidden the secret."
Without hesitation the Chassid ran back to his wagon and set off for the house he just left. An hour later he was standing outside in the cold moonlit night trying to hear what was being said inside without being noticed. Sure enough he heard the woman speaking. He concentrated with all his being to make it out.
"Nu, Shlomo" She was talking to her husband. "Nu, what do you think of our guest? What do you think?"
"What do I think?" he replied "I think it was a miracle from HaShem! That's what I think. I think we should give thanks to G-d and to the Holy Baal Shem Tov for sending us such a wonderful guest! And so much food! It was amazing!! What a Pesach!!"
"No no!" She replied emphatically, "You don't understand. Did you get a good look at him? Well I did . . . . that that was no Chassid. That was Elijah the prophet! That's right. That's who it was!!! Elijah the prophet in person!!"
Suddenly the Chassid understood, the Baal Shem Tov was telling him that if Elijah doesn't appear then he himself has to be Elijah.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney)
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Teachings Of The Baal Shem Tov On Prayer
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And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying:
And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the Breastplate of Judgment upon his heart, when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before the L-rd continually. And you shall put in the Breastplate of Judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the L-rd. . . " (Exodus 28:29-30)
It is known that the Breastplate barely contained all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as our Sages have said. Therefore, when they had to ask a question that used several of the same letters, such as "Should I go to Bavel," how were they answered? There is a very great mystery in this . . .
I heard from my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov], that each of the twenty-two letters [of the Hebrew alphabet] contains within it all the other letters of the alphabet (except for the letter mem ). Since G-d commanded that all twenty-two letters be inscribed on the Breastplate, when the priest would be enwrapped in Divine inspiration, the letters would shine in their expanded forms. This enabled them to receive everything they needed to know. Understand this!
This is the meaning of "onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate" (Exodus 25:7).
Degel Machane Ephraim, Likutim
"And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart prompts him, you shall take My offering." (Terumah 25:1-2)
A person should seek ways to transform his mundane desires1 - all that "his heart prompts him" - into good qualities. From his habitual, bad traits, he should learn how to serve the Creator with the same passion and desire, even more intensely.
Tiferes Shlomo, Toldos
1Literally, "external desires" (tava'ot chitzonim). See below, where the Baal Shem Tov explains that within every mundane desire the love of G-d can be found.
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light Of The Baal Shem Tov
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20. When the Baal Shem Tov first took up residence in Mezibush, several of the local rabbis opposed his teachings and his way of practicing Judaism. These same rabbis visited him during the holiday of Succos and told him that his succah was not built in accordance to Torah law. The Baal Shem Tov argued that his succah was kosher. Then, he rested his head in his hands for a few moments. When he lifted his head and opened his hands, he held a piece of parchment. On the parchment was written, "The succah of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov is kosher. Thus says Matat,1 the Prince of the Countenance."
That parchment was inherited by the Baal Shem Tov's grandson, the holy Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov. Whenever someone became ill, he would tell the family to place the parchment under the sick person's head. The person would immediately recover.
This practice continued for two years. The parchment was put under the pillow of every sick person and he or she would immediately get better. During the entire two-year period, not one person in the city of Sudilkov died.
One day, they put the parchment under the head of a sick person, and it disappeared. Reb Moshe Chaim1 explained that it had been revealed to him that Heaven was not pleased with what he was doing, for all those born must eventually die. Therefore, he had prayed that the parchment be taken back.
I heard from honest people who heard directly from the Tzaddik Rabbi Yoskie, the grandson of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim, that he personally saw the parchment in his grandfather's possession.
From a Letter of the Rabbi of Mezibush
1Matat is one of the most important angels in the heavenly hierarchy. He is a member of a special group that is permitted to look at G-d's countenance, an honor most angels do not share.
The author of Degel Machane Ephraim (1740-1799)
From DIVINE LIGHT by Tzvi Meir Cohn
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HEART OF PRAYER
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov on Prayer
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9-c2 Force yourself to pray at those times when you think you cannot.
DO not tell yourself, "I pray enthusiastically when I can, but otherwise, I will not force myself" -for the opposite should apply. When a king comes to the battlefield, he disguises himself so that the enemy will not recognize him and try to kill him. Yet, his servants nearby can discern him from his mannerisms, and those who are far off can tell that the troops are guarding a certain place. The king is probably there.
This also applies to prayer. The distracting thoughts and emotions are guarding the King so that you cannot see Him. You should therefore push yourself even more, for the King is there. They are merely hiding Him from you.
Tzava'as HaRivash 85
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 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 Malkhut [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."
1 Ani 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.
2 The 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. 3
Until here is a quote from the Baal Shem Tov in Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Korach #3. Regarding the remainder, the Toldot 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.
4 Tractate Avot 3:1
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