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ORIGINS OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
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OBST 11
In the last installment, the Baal Shem Tov continued telling the story of Reb Eliyohu Baal Shem of Worms Germany spreading mystical treachings to the masses of downtrodden Jews.
Reb Eliyohu came to Worms accompanied by his wife. They had already married off their son and two daughters. He had gained fame as a performer of wonders and now people streamed to him to find balm for their troubles. Barren women were blessed with children through his help, and many sufferers were healed.
But most of all came the poor people. They came from all over the land and stayed by him for weeks and even months. His name and fame grew steadily in his first years in Worms.
During this period there lived another tzadik, Reb Pinchas Zelig of Shpeier. He was known as a patient man, beloved by all. Reb Pinchas refused to believe in hearsay, and sent three of his students to Worms to
find out for themselves, and report to him, if the stories he had heard of the wonder-worker were indeed true.
Reb Eliyohu Baal Shem greeted his guests warmly. They stayed by him for ten days during which they studied Torah, Zohar, and hidden secrets of Kabbala, all of which brought them great satisfaction. During their visit, they also observed how Reb Eliyohu Baal Shem performed healing miracles for a myriad of people from near and far. His cures were simple but worked wonders. They didn't believe their eyes when they saw sick, broken people miraculously healed in a matter of days by partaking of simple honey cakes and wine or beer.
Many people didn't even get this much. Reb Eliyohu sometimes took some of his visitors into a room alone and rebuke them for their sins. These people would burst into tears, repent, and in a matter of days regained their strength.
The messengers returned to their rebbe, Reb Pin-chas Zelig, with an enthusiastic report. Because of their profound experience with Reb Eliyohu, they verified all the rumors that had been said about the wondrous Baal Shem. In passing, they also repeated the secrets in Kabbala that had been revealed to them.
Reb Pinchas objected vehemently to the study of Kabbala, and to the Zohar in particular. From the day it had been printed in Italy and had subsequently reached Germany, he had opposed the study of the Zohar, even though he had been a young man at the time. He fought his battle against the spread of the Zohar for thirty years. Now, when he heard from his students that Reb Eliyohu was a big Mekubol who used the Zohar to unlock the secrets of the Torah, his spirit was broken. He called a special session of the Beis Din to decide what should be done with Reb Eliyohu. Famous rabbonim assembled at this meeting. Reb Pinchas spoke fierily, blasting Reb Eliyohu's philosophy and arousing his audience. After a heated debate they decided to send special emissaries, learned men, to Reb Eliyohu, and to demand that he stop using the holy names to cure the sick and to prohibit him from learning Kabbala. If he refused to comply, they would force him to leave Germany.
The emissaries from the Beis Din of Shpeier reached their destination and were welcomed genially. They relayed their message to Reb Eliyohu, who listened patiently.
"As far as the study of Kabbala is concerned," he told them in reply, "it is a question of 'Divrei Horav Vedivrei Hatalmid, Divrei Mi Shomim - Whose word must be obeyed, the master's or the disciple's?' The Kabbala is G-d's Torah too and I must study it rather than listen to the decree of the Rov of Shpeier. But as for the healing of the sick, I assure you that I have never used any holy names or incantations." He declared himself willing to travel to Shpeier to confront the Rov and explain his theories to him face to face.
So he set out for Shpeier to try to influence Reb Pinchas Zelig but to no avail. Reb Pinchas refused to speak to him altogether. He decreed a ban on Reb Eliyohu
and his disciples.
Nonplussed, Reb Eliyohu returned to his home in Worms and continued his study of Kabbala and the healing of the sick.
To be continued . . . . .
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Sefer Hazichronos by Reb Yossef Yitzchok of Lubavitch, Zal
as translated in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y. Klapholtz.
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The Parable of the Palace with Many Chambers
And then there was the time, after morning prayers, that the Baal Shem Tov's disciples asked him, "Master, teach us about praying."
He sat down in the back of the synagogue surrounded by his closest hasidim, and related the following parable.
A certain king had a glorious palace with many chambers, one inside the other. Guards were stationed at the doors to each chamber to prevent anyone from entering or leaving without the king's permission. Among those who desired to enter the king's inner chambers are a number of different kinds of people.
One group, the least worthy, immediately became frightened when seeing the king's guards and fleed from them. G-d has no pleasure in such people; that is not what He desires.
The second group had no fear or dread of the guards, namely, the external negative forces, because they firured out how to bribe the guards with money. As the Sages say: 'One should give a coin to a poor person and then pray.' Then, he was able to bypass the guards and enter within.
But there is a further reason that prevents people from seeing the King's face. That is when a person of this second group passes through the inner chambers and gazes at the King's great treasures and all His manifold wonders, which he has never before seen, he experiences such pleasure and delight that he remains fastened to the spot and never moves on to see the King Himself in all His glory.
But the last group, the best and most worthy, pay no attention to their own pleasures, and focus only on their awe of the King Himself. When such a person arrives at the innermost chambers and his eyes are delighted by incredible wonders, he considers it as nothing compared to the greatest of all pleasures-- to see the King Himself-- and his only desire is to see the King in all His glory. And is anything lacking in the King's palace? Once he experiences the King's presence, all other pleasures are included within that one.
"Some people," continued the Baal Shem Tov, "never meet G-d in prayer because they are distracted by obstacles-- external negative forces. One must use various techniques to clarify and quiet your mind during prayer, for example, by giving charity before praying, which prevents thoughts of self-judgement arising about your worthiness to go forward and see G-d's face. Many other techniques can increase your meditative focus during prayer and help remove obstacles and distractions. Then, you begin to have various spiritual experiences during prayer, even visions and other revelations. But these pleasures too are distractions. The goal is to continually move forward, never stopping until you experience the greatest ecstasy and bliss possible: seeing G-d's face."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Patent Attoney) from a story recorded by Maggid Yitzchak Buxbaum
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SEFER BAAL SHEM TOV
The Teachings Of The Baal Shem Tov On Prayer
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"The messengers returned to Jacob with the report: "We came to your brother Esau, and he is also heading toward you. He has 400 men with him." And Jacob was very frightened and distressed." (Bereishis 32:7-8)
The Baal Shem Tov taught that It is written: "And like the fear of You, so is Your wrath" (Psalms 90:11). Meaning, a person should fear G-d at all times, just as when he is in distress,1 for then he fears G-d greatly.
The verse can also be interpreted in reverse. In a time of distress, do not merely be afraid [due to the situation], for it is proper to feel the fear of G-d always.2
Likutim Yikarim, p. 4c
1I.e. in a time of G-d's wrath.
2Even when a person is afraid of a mortal danger, he should realize that the situation is being orchestrated by G-d; thus, it is G-d whom he should fear, not the situation itself.
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DIVINE LIGHT
The Mystical Light Of The Baal Shem Tov
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8. The Tzaddik Reb Leib Sarah's1 once sat with a saintly friend of his and exchanged stories about different Tzaddikim. As soon as they began talking about the Baal Shem Tov, Reb Leib Sarah's body started trembling.
"You speak of this great Tanah!2 I will tell you what he was. Had he lived in the times of the Gaonim,3 he would have been a Gaon. In the generation of the Amoraim,4 he would have been an Amora, and in the era of the prophets5 he would have been a prophet. Had he lived in time of our Forefathers6 he would have been a significant figure. What do I mean by this? Just as we say 'The G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,' so would we have said 'The G-d of Yisrael.'"7
11730-1796
2Rabbinic Sages 70 CE to 200 CE
3Title given to the heads of the Jewish academies at Sura and Pumbedita in seventh century Babylonia until the middle of the 11th century.
4220CE to 500CE
51050BCE to 450BCE
6Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
7Siach Sarfei Kodesh
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-a6 You should be ashamed about the foreign thoughts you have while praying.
You should be ashamed of the foreign thoughts you have while praying. Understand that you are being pushed out of the King's palace. You should return in shame and submission. Having foreign thoughts is like giving birth to an illegitimate child. As the Talmud states, "one sheep follows the other."1
Thought has a masculine and feminine aspect; and voice and speech are masculine and feminine.2 If you have a foreign thought and speak holy words, the words are like an illegitimate child whose body is normal but whose soul is tainted.3 Here, the words are formed from holy letters, while the thought is bad.
Tzava'as HaRivash 89
1 Talmud Kesuvos 63a
2 Voice is non-differentiated sound and is considered masculine. Speech gives shape and meaning to sound and is considered feminine. This follows the principle that the vessel - the feminine aspect - gives form to the expansive masculine element.
3The Sages consider the soul of an illegitimately conceived individual to be blemished by the sinful act of his parents.
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 31
On the verse "And now, Israel, what does G-d ask of you - only to have awe of G-d your L-rd," the Baal Shem Tov taught:
That verse can be understood to mean that G-d asks "what" of you - "what" implies humility and selflessness. When a person reaches this level, awe of G-d will be easily attainable for him, just as it was for Moses, as the verse concludes, "only to have awe."
The Baal Shem Tov went on to explain that with this we can understand the verse, "His concubine." This refers to false humility. The verse "whose name was Re'umah" - that is, re'u mah, means, see that I am "what." That means that I possess humility. Wiith the verse "[Re'umah] gave birth to Tevach," tevach literally means slaughter, since this will eventually kill the person's soul.
Similarly, the names of the Tribes, Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, which have holy connotations, can also have unholy connotations. For instance, Re'u ben -means, see that I am a son (of G-d). Shim'on - means his fame. That refers to one who acts properly so that his fame becomes universally known. Now Levi and Judah mean accompaniment and praise, That is, one who accompanies the righteous so that he receive praise.
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