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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE SIP OF WINE
"One does not see evildoers in Yaakov; and he has
seen no transgression in Yisroel......" Numbers 23:21
In the city of Brody, there lived a great number of
people who were strongly opposed to the Rabbi
Yisroel ben Eliezer (known as the Baal Shem Tov) and
the Chassidic movement he started. As more and
more people were drawn to the fledgling Chassidic
movement, those in the opposition tried even harder
to discredit the Baal Shem Tov and dispel the spiritual
aura that surrounded him.
One time, when the Baal Shem Tov was spending a
Shabbos in Brody, a local wine merchant thought of a
great way to discredit the Baal Shem Tov. He
instructed his servant, "Go into the wine cellar and fill
a bottle with that especially fine wine we sell only to
the wealthy, non-Jewish landowners. Then take it to
the Baal Shem Tov as a gift from me and tell him that
it is a very fine vintage wine. Insist that he taste the
wine and don't leave until you see him sip it with your
own eyes."
The wine merchant's servant fulfilled his masters
instructions and waited until the Baal Shem Tov had
taken a sip of the wine. Then he returned and
reported to his master that everything had been
completed, even the Baal Shem Tov drinking the wine.
The wine merchant was thrilled to have tricked
the "Holy Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov" into drinking
yayin neseck (non-kosher wine). He quickly spread
the word around the town of Brody. Everyone was
whispering about how the Baal Shem Tov had
committed a transgression of the Torah, by drinking
non-kosher wine.
The whole town of Brody was present at the Baal
Shem Tov's Shabbos meal where he expounded
teachings of the Torah. Of course the wine merchant
also attended the meal and gloated to himself that he
had personally caused the downfall of his enemy.
After the meal concluded, the Baal Shem Tov called
the wine merchant over and asked him. "I've heard the
report that you sent me the bottle of wine that I drank.
The rumor is that the wine was yayin neseck and that I
committed a transgression. I'd like to know if you
personally poured the wine into the bottle."
The wine merchant answered, "No, my servant poured
it at my direction."
The Baal Shem Tov responded, "In that case, will you
call him? I'd like to speak with him myself."
"Certainly," answered the wine merchant with a smirk
on his face.
When the servant arrived, the Baal Shem Tov
questioned him, "From which casket did you take the
wine that you brought me."
The servant answered that it was from the casket
which contained the wine normally drunk by the wine
merchant.
The wine merchant screamed out, "But I told you to
pour the wine from the casket with the fine wine
normally sold to the non-Jews!"
"I'm sorry master," answered the servant, "I made a
mistake and took the wrong wine."
"But you told me that you took the Rabbi the fine wine
normally sold to the wealthy, non-Jewish landowners!"
yelled the wine merchant.
"I made a mistake master," answered the
servant. "Once I realized I had taken the wrong wine, I
thought, 'What's the difference?' So I gave the Rabbi
the wine poured from the casket containing the wine
that you always drink."
The wine merchant realized that his plan was
stopped by Heavenly intervention and left in disgrace.
After this, the opposition of the people of Brody to the
Baal Shem Tov lessened.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane
(Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found
in Sipurei Chassidim and translated in STORIES OF
THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Klapholtz
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel dwelling
at peace by tribes, and the spirit of God came upon
him. (Numbers 24:2)
He saw that their doors were not opposite one
another, and he said, "It is fitting to bless
them."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
Sometimes, two
scholars who are debating one another cannot admit
to the truth. Each one seeks to disprove his friend's
words. Even though he knows that the other is right,
his intention in arguing merely to harass, G·d forbid.
Yet, the main intention in a debate should be to admit
to the truth, and to fulfill what our Sages have said: "If
two people sit together and share words of Torah, the
Divine Presence dwells among
them."2
Now, the mouth is called a "door," for
speech goes out from it. This is the meaning of: "Their
doors were not opposite one another." They did not
intend to oppose or provoke each other in their
debates, but to admit to the truth. And so he said, "It is
fitting to bless them."
Dudayim BaSadeh, Likutey Amorim, p.
29d
1Bava Basra 60a. See Rashi on this
verse.
2Pirkei Avos 3:2.
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 126.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The
Shechinah is called "prayer," as it is written: "And I am
prayer" (Psalms 109:4).1 When you
pray, intent on uniting the Shechinah with her
Husband, and don't think of your own benefit, G·d
forbid, for of this it is said: "The L-rd has delivered me
into the hands of those I cannot withstand"
(Lamentations 1:14). That is, if a person intents on
his own material desires to be fulfilled through his
prayers, he creates a division [between him and G·d],
for he has brought materialism into a spiritual realm,
and he will not be answered at all.
Tzafnah Paneach, p. 2c
1The
pronoun "I" (Ani) refers to the Sefirah of Malchus, the
lowest of the Sefiros in the Divine structure, and
paralleling the Shechinah, that dwells (shochen)
within creation.
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 10.
A great tzaddik who knows how to perform unifications
and combinations of Divine Names can rectify what is
wrong with a person, just by looking at him. Through
these unifications, the tzaddik immediately causes the
person to have thoughts of repentance. The Baal
Shem Tov said that he could fix a person instantly by
merely looking at him. But if the person stubbornly
refused to be fixed, the Baal Shem Tov would
completely remove the holy spark from within him.
Toldos Aharon, Vayera
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 168.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
The Baal Shem
Tov taught1:
Before prayer, one should fully surrender in one's
thoughts to be ready and willing to leave one's earthly
body during that prayer as a result of the deep
meditation. Some people are in fact able to
concentrate so deeply that they should naturally leave
their bodies after a few words of prayer that they say
before G·d.
When a person fixes such thoughts in one's mind,
one will surely say to oneself, "How can I entertain any
thought of self-interest or pride in this prayer, since I
am even willing to leave this earthly body after a few
words."
And the truth is that it is only by the grace of G·d, Who
continues to grant life, that one is able to finish the
prayer and still be alive.2
1Tza'vaas HaRivash #42.
2During deep meditation, one can enter
a state of such surrender of being that one is so
completely engulfed by G·d that one indeed wants
nothing else than to return to Him. Indeed, many
righteous people left their earthly bodies in this way.
This is referred to as "death by Divine kiss." The
intensity of the intimate experience overwhelms the
soul, which gladly leaves behind its earthly garment.
But on the other hand, G·d desires manifestation
specifically on earth, and so He sustains the soul to
endure the experience without being utterly swallowed
by it. And on another level, when in this state the soul
sees - or is shown - that G·d's presence can be
equally found in all worlds, it agrees to return to its
earthly body, where revealing that presence within the
earthly world is even greater than revealing it in the
heavens (Sod Yesharim II R'eh).
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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