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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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FALSE TESTIMONY
Do not distort justice.. (Deuteronomy 16:19)
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AND it happened that once there were three
men, Reb Ezriel, Reb Anshel, and Reb Eliezer, that
were partners in a business. Reb Ezriel bought
feathers and hides from Russia and Reb Anshel
bought similar merchandise from Galicia. The third
partner, Reb Eliezer, who was the son of The Belzer
Rebbe, Reb Sholom, arranged financing for their
ventures and kept the books, auditing all the
expenses and income of their various transactions.
For some time, all was well. Then, for some
unknown
reason, Reb Ezriel and Reb Anshel asked Reb Eliezer
if they could see the books.
"We would like to know where we stand," they said.
But Reb Eliezer refused to show them the ledgers, so
the two decided to go to his father, The Belzer Rebbe
with their complaint and to see if he could adjudicate
the matter.
"I cannot be a judge in this matter," The
Rebbe
told
the men. "I am the father of the accused and I am
therefore invalid to judge."
"Even so," the two partners assured him, "we
trust
your decision even though you have an interest in the
matter."
"Very well," said the Rebbe. "But it is late,
just
before
Minchah and there is no time to hear all the details.
For now, let me quickly tell you a story that relates to
this situation.
The Rebbe began, "There were once two
brothers,
one rich and one poor. The rich brother had a
daughter who was of marriageable age, and the poor
brother had a son who was a fine Talmud Chochom
of the same age. It seemed natural, therefore, that
when the rich brother had rejected the many offers of
marriage for his daughter, the shadchun (marriage
broker) urged him to take his nephew, (the poor
brother's son) as a son-in-law. The rich brother
agreed and the two were married.
The young man, Yisroel, soon found life
under his father-in-law's roof very uncomfortable.
Neither his wife nor father-in-law appreciated his
occupation with Torah study and would have preferred
that he involve himself in business. The situation
became tense, so Yisroel decided to leave and
become a melamed (teacher), for the sake of peace
for all involved.
Yisroel traveled far, to an isolated village and
there
became the melamed for the children of a chassid of
The Baal Shem Tov. In time, the chassid took a trip to
visit his Rebbe.
Just as he was about to depart with a group
of
other
chassidim, Yisrael asked: "Can you kindly mention
me to your Rebbe. I have a difficult personal matter
that is a great burden. Perhaps The Baal Shem Tov
will have some advice for me."
Yisroel's employer did indeed mention his
name
to
The Baal Shem, and returned home with an urgent
message. "As soon as we mentioned your name to
The Rebbe, he became quite upset. He told us to
advise you to immediately return to your home. The
Rebbe's words were, 'Reb Yisroel's return involves a
serious matter regarding his wife.' We didn't even
know you were married?"
"It is a painful story so I did not share it with
you,"
he
answered.
Yisroel was skeptical. He questioned the
Chassidim, "How would The Rebbe know of me?
How does he even know I'm married?"
"Never mind," they insisted. "If The Baal
Shem
Tov
was so adamant about your returning home, you must
do as he says. He told us that he looked at the root of
your soul and found a danger present. You must not
delay. You should leave immediately."
"How can I go home?" Reb Yisroel
answered. "My
belongings are here and besides, I don't have any
money for the journey."
The chassidim wouldn't take 'no' for an
answer.
They
all quickly contributed funds to hire a wagon and driver
to take Yisroel home and helped Reb Yisroel gather
his few belongings and load the wagon.
"What am I doing?" he thought to himself as
the
wagon bumped along the dirt road. "I wonder if the
Chassidim were just trying to get rid of me. I wonder if
they even mentioned my named to the Baal Shem
Tov. How could he know about me?" Such thoughts
filled his mind as he traveled. He had thoughts of
stopping the wagon and turning around, but the
urgent words of The Baal Shem Tov disturbed him
greatly.
Finally he arrived at his hometown. As the
wagon
came to a stop in front of his house, he hesitated. He
finally summoned the courage to knock on the door. A
strange man answered the door. "What did you
want?" the man asked.
"Is Reb Yisroel's wife at home?"
"She is no longer Reb Yisroel's wife, and she
doesn't
live here. In fact, she is planning to get married in two
days."
Reb Yisroel was shocked. He had never divorced his
wife. How could she get married again? He now
understood the urgency of The Baal Shem Tov's
words. The first thing he must do was to prevent his
wife from marrying another man. But how?
Reb Yisroel went to the Beis Medrash and
sat
down to
think. As he sat, he overheard several of the local
beggars talking about the impending wedding. "I
can't wait for the feast. It will no doubt be lavish
because the bride's father is certainly rich." Yisroel
then knew what he had to do.
He went
immediately to
the town Rabbi's home. He related his story, insisting
that he had never sent his wife a divorce.
The town Rabbi did indeed remember and believe
Yisroel. "Please stay here while I go to your father-in-
law and discuss this matter."
Reb Yisroel's father-in-law had been
deceived by
an
unscrupulous, traveling darshan (speaker). The
darshan had come to town and realized the rich
man's great despair because his daughter had been
deserted by her husband. So he approached the
girl's father and said, "In my travels, I've met your son-
in-law and we became friends. I'm quite sure that I
can get him to divorce your daughter. Just give me
power of attorney to act on your behalf and I will take
care of everything."
"That would be wonderful! And you can be
sure
that I
will pay you well for your kindness," the rich man told
the darshan.
The darshan quickly traveled to another
small
town
some distance away, where he was not known.
There he found three men of questionable character
and honesty who were willing go along with his ruse
for a profit. The darshan then went to a Bais Din
(Jewish court), claiming that he had recognized a man
at the local inn who was sought for abandoning his
wife. "His name is Yisroel and he refuses to give his
wife a divorce. Her father has asked me to force him
to give a divorce at any cost."
The Bais Din was convinced by the
darshan's
story.
They had the man in the inn (one of the three
conspirators) apprehended and brought before them.
After some "coaxing", the man admitted that he was
the husband that had deserted his wife. Then, the two
false witnesses (the other two conspirators) were
brought to testify that they also knew the man to be the
alleged Yisroel, the runaway husband of the rich
man's daughter. The Bais Din managed to extract a
divorce, which they gave to the darshan, having the
power of attorney of the rich man.
The darshan returned to the rich man with
the
prized
bill of divorce.
"How can I repay you for all your efforts?" the
rich
man
asked.
"I do not want any money," said the
darshan. "I
was
just doing a kindness. However, I would appreciate
the opportunity to introduce an eligible young man to
your daughter. That is all I ask."
The eligible young man just happened to be
the
darshan's son, and he made a favorable impression
on the family. The wedding date was set and plans
were made.
Once the real Yisroel spoke to the town
Rabbi,
the
Rabbi, accompanied by the local police, marched to
the rich man's home. The Rabbi explained Yisroel's
story and accused the darshan and his son of fraud.
The police promptly took the two scoundrels to jail.
The rich man realized that he had been deceived but
was very happy that the plot has been foiled in time.
Yisroel found that his wife had meanwhile deeply
regretted her unloving behavior towards her husband,
and she begged Yisroel remain as her husband.
"And," concluded the Belzer Rebbe, "they did
live
happily thereafter. Do you know why I told you this
story?" he asked the two men before him. "You, Reb
Anshel, and you, Reb Ezriel, were the two brothers
and my son Eliezer was Reb Yisroel in a former life.
You two owe him a great deal
for the shame and discomfort he suffered. I suggest
that you increase his share of the earnings and I am
sure he will show you the books."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in SHIVCHEI
HABESHT and translated in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL
SHEM TOV by Ben Amos and Mintz.
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TORAH BAAL SHEM TOV
Selection from Sefer Baal Shem Tov on the Torah
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And you shall come to the Priests the Levites. . .
(Deuteronomy 17:9)
"The Priests the Levites" - for all Supernal Outflow
comes in two aspects: Love and
Limitation.1 Love, on account of which G-
d bestows upon the lower world, and the aspect of
Limitation, which is that very Outflow which descends
from the upper world to serve the lower world.
1According to Kabbalah, the Priests,
Kohanim, correspond to the Sefiros of the right, which
convey the downward flow of love (Chesed), whereas
the Levites correspond to the Sefiros of the left, which
represent the forces of limitation
(Tzimtzum).
Ohr Torah, Shemos. Likutey
Amorim p.9b
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 81
I heard in the name of Rabbi Menachem Mendel (of
Vitebsk), that before you admonish the congregation,
you must bind yourself to G d, and then attach and
bind yourself to them in unity and inclusion; for the
leaders of the generation and the people share the
same root. Then G d will be with you, and you will rise
up together, and unite them with G d.
This is what the Zohar says: "Fortunate is
the one who takes sinners by the hand to uplift them."
Then, there is an immediate effect when you
admonish the Children of Israel.
I also heard from my Master (the Baal
Shem Tov) that this also applies to raising them up by
means of prayer.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p.66c
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 17
Be very careful what you say [in the morning, before
praying]. Our Sages were strict even regarding
permissible words, such as greeting someone before
prayer, because this can also cause a blemish. It is
known that the world was created with thought,
speech and action. The first level is thought. Speech
is an offshoot of thought, and action an offshoot of
speech. When a person rises each morning, he is
also a new creation, as the verse says: "They are new
every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). If his first words
are mundane (and all the more so, if they are
forbidden ), everything he says later will be influenced
by them, even his prayers and Torah studies.
Because just as speech follows from thought, so the
second word follows from the first.
This is similar to the teaching of the Zohar and the
Arizal on the obligation of siblings to honor the
firstborn.1 The firstborn takes the main
portion, whereas all other siblings are like offshoots
from him. In our case too, one must be very careful to
sanctify and purify his first words and thoughts, and
attach them to holiness, so that all subsequent words
should follow them. Then, when he starts to pray,
amidst the joy of having fulfilled the mitzvah of
sanctifying his speech and thoughts, his words will
surely be answered.
Kesser Shem Tov, 20b
1 The Arizal writes that just as children
are obligated to respect their parents, so must they
respect their firstborn sibling. For the firstborn
represents the initial creative act of the parents, from
which all subsequent births draw their vitality. Thus,
Jacob said about Reuben: "Reuben, you are my
firstborn, my might and the beginning of my
strength. . ." (Genesis 49:3)
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 106
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The reason why giving the body pleasure on the
Sabbath is a mitzvah is because the spirit is then able
to rejoice even more in being with God.
This can be understood with the parable of a captive
prince who received a letter from his
father.1
1Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Bo, #8. The
entire parable is found in the Toldoth in Kedoshim #1:
A king's only son was taken captive. After many years,
during which much effort and hope was put into
redeeming him and returning him to his father, the
prince received a letter from his father the king, urging
him not to become discouraged and not to forget the
ways of royalty, despite living all these years among
human wolves, for his father was still doing his
utmost to bring him home by whatever means,
whether by attacking or peacefully. The son was
immediately extremely happy, but since this was a
secret message, he could not rejoice openly. What did
he do? He went to the local pub and drank with others,
but while they were reveling in their liquor, he was
rejoicing in his father's letter (see also other sources
in the Sefer Baal Shem Tov, Beresheit n. #69).
The prince is the human soul, which is in "captivity" in
the earthly body. Every week, the king sends the prince
a letter of encouragement - the Sabbath. The body,
though, is not interested in rejoicing in this spiritual
message, and even scorns it, and must be "seduced"
into rejoicing by providing it with in its own pleasures,
so that the soul can then rise unfettered, in its ecstasy.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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