The Baal Shem Tov was once in a certain city whose rabbi was a great Torah scholar. This rabbi did not believe in the Baal Shem Tov, but, having heard the extraordinary things people were saying about him and the miracles he was performing, very much wanted to meet the Besht and talk with him. However, he was reluctant to lower his own dignity by going to the Besht. He felt that since he was the rabbi of the city it was proper that the Baal Shem Tov come to him, and visit him in his house. When they reported this to the Baal Shem, he said, "Not only doesn't he come to me to welcome me to his city, he wants me to go to him."

Finally, the rabbi went to the Baal Shem Tov, but when he entered the room where the Besht was staying, the Besht was not there, for he had gone to the outhouse. An agunah* was also there waiting for the Baal Shem Tov. When he returned, he picked up the vessel with water to ritually wash his hands. But before he could pour the water, the woman immediately began to weep and plead hysterically that he tell her (by means of his holy spirit) about her husband-- was he alive or dead (God-forbid)? If he was alive, where was he? She did not even allow the Besht to wash his hands. Finally, he told her that her husband was alive, and in such-and-such a city, and that if she went there, she would find him.

After she left, the rabbi, who had observed all this, said to the Baal Shem Tov, "If you were speaking words of prophecy, shouldn't you first have washed your hands, and then spoken to her in a state of cleanliness?"

The Baal Shem Tov replied, "If you came into your house after having relieved yourself, and saw that two chickens had gotten in from outside, and were jumping up on a table on which there were expensive glass objects, would you wash your hands first before you chased them out? Because, meanwhile, the glass would be broken. And I, praise God, see her husband walking around in that city, and he is actually before my eyes-- just as you would see the glass objects on the table and the chickens. And you are standing there and able to do something. In the same way, I see her husband there, and she’s here, weeping and crying out in front of me. Can I wait until I wash my hands first? Every minute, her heart is breaking into a thousand pieces and she’s dying a thousand times. How could I wait?"

The Besht, with his holy spirit, could see the wayward husband at a distance, but his greater achievement was that he could see and share the suffering of the woman who was standing right in front of him. And he was ready to help her in any way that he could.

Later, when the Baal Shem Tov told his disciples about this incident, he said, "The moment you see anyone suffering, no matter who it is-- whether someone important or ordinary, whether someone righteous or wicked, and whether a Jew or a non-Jew, even animals, birds or insects-- you must act immediately to relieve their pain and suffering, doing everything you can, even beyond your ability, to help them, for that’s the essence of Judaism."