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| Reb
Tzvi Meir on the Legends of Israel Baal Shem Tov |
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The legends of Israel Baal Shem
Tov, as well as the other Tzadikim (spiritual masters), were passed down for
the last three hundred years, orally and more recently in writings from Chassid
to Chassid. It's very important to remember that Chassid embody a fundamental
belief that stories about their own Rebbe are
 definitely true, and those of other Rebbes are probably true. The
closest analogy of how the stories were passed down to us in 1998, about 300
years from the Baal hem Tov's death in 1760, is the game called Telephone. A
message is passed from person to person. When the last person tells the others
the message, it has usually changed so dramatically from the message as it
began, we get a good laugh. So just because Baal Shem Tov stories are the
result of several hundred years of Eastern European Telephone, does that mean
that the stories are not true? Well there is an old saying. "If you believe all
of the Baal Shem Stories you're a fool, and if you don't believe any of them
you are an apicoris (a disbeliever who was once a knowledgeable believer). No
help in our quest for the Truth. |
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Let's look at a Mice-ah (story)
for the answer. Once, while the Baal Shem Tov was experiencing an aliyah
(elevation) of the Neshamah (Soul) in the heavenly worlds, he encountered the
Satan (the Angel in charge of our experiencing diificult situations). The Satan
was strutting around studying a Sefer (book) and gesturing so that the Baal
Shem knew the sefer contained the Baal Shem Tov's own transmission of the
Torah. Upon return to his earthly body, the Baal Shem called together all of
his close Chassidim (disciples) and inquired as to who among them wrote a sefer
of the Baal
 Shem Tov's Torah. One of the Chassidim sheepishly came
forward holding a small sefer (book) in which he had carefully recorded Torah
teachings which he personally heard from the lips of the Baal Shem Tov. The
Baal Shem Tov immediately sat down and read the entire Sefer. After he
finished, he handed the Sefer back to the student and said "There is not a
single statement that I said within this sefer." |
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| Comment: |
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| Of course its impossible that a
Chassid in the inner circle (generally brilliant scholars of exreme piety and
with high spiritual awareness) could have made more than a slight mistake in
recording the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. |
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| Rather, the teachings of the
Baal Shem Tov were actually projections of spiritual vibrations that were
enclothed, so to speak, in the garment of a Torah teaching or Story. Thus, the
actual words or expressions, as spoken by the Baal Shem Tov, were not the point
of what he spoke, but rather just a convenient mechanism to direct spiritual
vibrations of different frequencies, depending on the circumstances, to the
listener. |
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 Today,
the stories and teachings of the Baal Shem Tov serve the same function as over
250 years ago. That is, to direct spiritual vibrations onto our soul to heal
any weak aspect of our soul body and enable us to intensify our service to God,
i.e. to serve God while remaining in the spiritual flow that originates in God
by living life b'simchah (with a joyful attitude). |
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| Since the specific spiritual
vibrations associated with each story still exists, my goal in presenting the
stories is to connect the reader or listener to the original spiritual
vibration still associated with that story and thereby affect some healing.
Presently, few Beings are openly teaching and/or applying these healing
spiritual vibrations. I have humbly attempted to present with a full heart a
few stories with the intent to spiritually uplift my Brothers and Sisters of
the Jewish Nation to heal them of any sickness, either of a spiritual or
physical nature, and help them move quickly and efffortlessly onto the path of
a Jewish life with a Joyous attitude. And while on the path, I bless us to
serve as beacons of Gods light to help guide our soul brothers and sisters on
their journey along the path to greet our Holy King Moshiach, May he come
quickly in our days |
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 I bless
everyone I've encountered along my path and pray for each of my Soul Brothers
and Sisters that they enjoy a spiritual expansion and physical renewal of such
an astounding degree that the only explanation can be that we truly are
directly connected to the vibrational flow surging from God through the
Universe. And I bless us that this realization be accompanied by our private,
indisputable experience that the degree of spiritual expansion and physical
renewal is proportional to the degree of joyous attitude we have during the
living of our life. |
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