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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE FIRST
REVELATION
"[These words] shall [also] be a sign on your
arm and an insignia in the center of your
head." (Bo 13:16)
"These
words" indicates that this chapter of the
Torah must be included in the Tefillin
(phylacteries), which are worn as a sign on
one's arm and head. The center of your head
is written literally as "between your eyes."
This
is an idiom that means between your eyes and
just above the hairline. Insignia means
frontlets or totafos in Hebrew.
During the time of the Baal Shem Tov, it was
common for travelers to stay at inns. Many of
those small inns were leased by Jewish
innkeepers from the gentile
landowners.
Prior to revelation of the Baal Shem Tov as a
spiritual giant, he would disguise himself as an
ignorant, albeit pious peasant and was simply
known as Reb Israel. Rabbi Gershon Kitover,
his brother-in-law, wanted to help his sister,
the Baal Shem Tov's wife Chana, with their
material needs, so he attempted to find local
employment for Reb Israel. But the Baal Shem
Tov proved unsuitable for any work and an
embarrassment to Rabbi Gershon who was
well known as a famous Talmud Chocham and
Rav (expert in Jewish law) in his city of Kitov.
In desperation, Rabbi Gershon rented an inn
in a small village where Reb Israel could make
a living and support his wife.
When the couple took over the inn, the Baal
Shem Tov built a small study house in the
nearby forest where he studied all week with
his Heavenly spiritual master Achiya
HaShaloni. It was during this time that the
Baal
Shem Tov reached his spiritual perfection.
Rebbetzyn Chana tended to the inn.
Whenever a guest would arrive, she would
send for the Baal Shem Tov and he would
return to serve their guests. No one
suspected that Reb Israel was anything other
than a simple Jewish innkeeper.
For the High Holidays, it was the Baal Shem
Tov's custom to close the inn and spend the
entire month with Rebbetzyn Chana in the city
of Kitov.
Once during the intermediate days of Succot
(an eight day holiday following Yom Kippur),
Rabbi Gershon noticed that his brother-in-law
was not putting on Tefillin during his prayers.
The fact was obvious to everyone in the
Synogogue since the Baal Shem Tov davened
by the eastern wall at the front of the
synagogue. Feeling quite annoyed with Reb
Israel, Rabbi Gershon asked, "Reb Israel, why
didn't you put on your Tefillin today?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered, "I saw an
interpretation in a particular holy sefer (book)
that he who puts on Tefillin during the
intermediate days (between the first two and
last two days of the holiday) is sentenced to
death."
Rabbi Gershon turned from annoyed and angry
that his wife's brother was following the
customs of the Kabbalist from Germany
instead of the prevailing customs of the Jewry
of Galicia. So he took him to the Rav of the
city to discuss the matter.
When they came to the house of the Rav,
Rabbi Gershon touched the mezuzah at the
entranceway and then kissed his fingers, as is
the custom. The Baal Shem Tov also touched
the Mezuzah but didn't kiss his fingers. When
Rabbi Gershon saw this, he became
angrier, "Reb Israel, what is wrong with
you?"
When Rabbi Gershon and the Baal Shem Tov
entered the study of the Rav, the Baal Shem
Tov removed the spiritual disguise from his
face. The Rav saw a great spiritual light
shining from the Baal Shem Tov's face and
immediately stood up. The Baal Shem Tov
then replaced his spiritual disguise and the
Rav sat down. This happened several times.
The Rav was bewildered and frightened
because Reb Israel first looked like a holy man
and then returned to looking like a simple
man.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Gershon looked at the Rav's
strange antics and wondered what was going
on. Rabbi Gershon explained to the Rav
about Reb Israel's refusal to put on Tefillin
and
his failure to kiss the Mezuzah.
The Rabbi took the Baal Shem Tov aside and
asked him, "Who are you? Please tell me the
truth."
The Baal Shem Tov disclosed to the Rav that
in fact he was a holy man but ordered him not
to tell anyone what he saw or heard. "You are
the first to see my true nature because the
time has not yet arrived for me to reveal my
spiritual status to others."
When they returned to Rabbi Gershon, the
Rav said, "I have discussed the matters with
him. He would not knowingly disregard our
customs. He acted in innocence."
As soon as Rabbi Gershon and the Baal Shem
Tov left, the Rav examined his Mezuzah. Sure
enough, he found that it was
defective.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane
(Howard M. Cohn. Patent Attorney) from a
story in SHIVCHEI HABESHT and translated in
IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Mintz
and Ben Amos.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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"And Moses said: 'Thus says the L rd: At
about midnight, I will go out in the midst of
Egypt.'" (Bo 11:4)
The main thing is that one's intentions be for
the sake of G d, even when one's deeds are
questionable, such as in the case of the Lot's
daughters.1 And if you raise a
objection from the case of Baal Pe'or, where
the people's intentions were pure, but they
were punished anyway,2 we
would have to say that this requires deep
contemplation and deliberation, to know
whether one is acting for the sake of G d, or
not.3 One should seclude
oneself and study Torah to attain a level of
objectivity. Then the verse will apply: "And
G d said, Let there be light." (Genesis 1:3)
That is, G d will enlighten you from His
Torah as to how to proceed. This corresponds
to something I wrote elsewhere, on the
verse: "At about midnight, I will go out in the
midst of Egypt." Doubt occurs at midnight —
when an issue can go either
way4 — then "I will go out among
Egypt" — into a person's limited
awareness,5 to enlighten
him.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 18a
1After the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah, Lot's daughters engaged their
father in an incestuous act; however, their
intentions were for the best, as the verses
say: "And the first-born said unto the
younger: 'Our father is old, and there is not a
man in the earth to come in unto us after the
manner of all the earth. Come, let us make
our father drink wine, and we will lie with him,
that we may preserve seed of our father.'"
(Genesis 19:31-32)
2"And Israel joined himself to
Baal Pe'or, and the anger of the L rd was
kindled against Israel." (Numbers 25:3)
The Zohar (3:238a) explains that this was
done unintentionally. The worship of Baal
Pe'or included defecating in front of the idol.
The Israelites saw this, and assumed it to be
an act of desecration, and so unwittingly
participated in the ceremony.
3Literally, "If it is for G d or for
Azazel" — a reference to the Yom Kippur
service (Leviticus 16), in which two
identical goats were used: one sacrificed in the
Temple, and the other sent to a demon in the
wilderness. The Baal Shem Tov uses the
latter as a metaphor for one's own ego.
4I.e., midnight represents the mid-point
between the two possibilities.
5The Hebrew word for
Egypt, "Mitzrayim," is related to the word
metzer, which means narrowness or
constriction.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer
Shore
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THE PILLAR OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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Section 52
Sometimes, a person can only serve G d with
constricted consciousness.1
That is, he does not enter the Supernal
Worlds at all, but merely thinks how the entire
world is filled with His glory, and that He is
close to him. Then he is like a child, whose
mind has developed only a little bit.
Nonetheless, though he serves G d in
smallness, he does so with great spiritual
attachment.
Tzava'as HaRivash, p. 7b
1Literally, Katnus — "smallness"
(often referred as Mochin d'Katnus, "small-
mindedness") as opposed to Gadlus —
"largeness" (or Mochin d'Gadlus, "expanded
consciousness").
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer
Shore
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THE LIGHT OF THE EYES
On the Greatness of the Baal Shem Tov
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Section 42
My teacher and father-in-law, Rabbi Abraham
Mordechai of Finshtov told me that one of the
disciples of the Baal Shem Tov once asked our
Master, "What will be my livelihood?" The Baal
Shem Tov answered him, "You will be a
cantor." The disciple said, "But I can't sing!"
And the Baal Shem Tov replied, "I will bind you
to the World of Melody." My father-in-law told
me that he knew that man, and said that there
was not another cantor in the entire world
equal to him.
Once, this cantor came to our
Rabbi, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk. An
argument ensued between the Rebbe and his
son, the Tzaddik, Reb Elazar, over whether or
not to honor the cantor with Kabbalas
Shabbos. Rebbe Elimelech was afraid that the
cantor would disrupt him from his holiness.
The Cantor had two men who accompanied
him: a bass singer, and another
singer.
After the debate, they decided to
honor the cantor with his two accompanists.
This was out of their great fear of the holiness
of the Baal Shem Tov, for the cantor was
known as "the Cantor of the Baal Shem Tov."
Out of respect, they were forced to honor him,
and whatever would be, would be.
When the cantor began to receive
the Sabbath, Rebbe Elimelech sent word that
the second accompanist should leave, and
only the cantor and the bass singer should
sing together. Afterward, he ordered them
both to stop, for he was afraid that he would
be completely annihilated in the great light and
supernal holiness and illuminations that they
opened up for him through their
singing.
On subsequent Sabbaths, the
Rebbe showed great honor to the cantor, but
he would not let him pray before the
congregation, out of fear, as we
explained.
From the Manuscripts of R. Yitzchok Isaac
of Komarna
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr.
Eliezer
Shore
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KESER SHEM TOV
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
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Section 68
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"Avoid evil and do
good."1
This means avoid evil by transforming it into
good.2
1Psalms 34:15
2Ben Porath Yoseph.
There are two ways of dealing with evil:
overcoming it and subduing it, or transforming
it, as said here. While the path of overcoming
entails a constant struggle, and is based on
the perception of inherent evil, the path of
transformation entails a shift in perception, an
awareness that all perceived evil is in reality
only an illusion. This idea is embedded in the
parable of the king who created walls around
him by the use of optical illusions, so that his
son would eventually see through the illusion, and in
the parable in the Zohar of the
king who hired a prostitute to entice his son.
In practice, this means that instead of
struggling with one's baser desires, one
should elevate one's intentions while involved
in actions usually motivated by one's baser
desires.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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