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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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SINCERE
PRAYER
But on the tenth of this
seventh month (Yom Kippur), it is a day of atonement,
it shall be a holy occasion for you. . . . . You shall not
perform any work on that very day, for it is a day of
atonement, for you to gain atonement before the
L·rd, your G·d. Leviticus 23:27-
23:28
Wherever the word "but," or "only"
appear in the Torah, they denote an exclusion.
[Thus,] Yom Kippur atones for those who repent, "but"
it does not atone for those who do not repent. Rashi
And then there was the time, early on the
morning of Yom Kippur, that the faithful were gathered
in the Beit Midrash (House
of Study) of the Baal Shem Tov. They were all wearing
their white kittels (robes) and waiting to begin the
prayers on this most holy of Jewish holidays. It was
already late and the Baal Shem Tov had still not
arrived. Of course no one would think of beginning
without him. As the morning wore on, everyone got
more and more restless while they speculated as to
the whereabouts of the Baal Shem Tov.
Suddenly, the Baal Shem Tov walked into the Beit
Midrash and sat down at his usual place without
saying a word. The worshippers were at first relieved
until he put his head down on his shtender (reader's
stand) for a long period of time. Their mood lifted
when they saw him raise his head but their concern
returned when the Baal Shem Tov put his head back
onto the shtender. To everyone's dismay, he repeated
raising his head and then putting it back on the
shtender a number of times.
Finally, the Baal Shem Tov gestured to begin the
prayers. Reb Dovid Firkes (a close disciple of the
Baal Shem Tov) started toward the ark to serve as the
chasan (communal leader of the prayers), as was his
custom on Yom Kippur.
Before Reb Dovid reached the chasan's shtender by
the ark, the Baal Shem Tov began to speak harshly to
him for quite some time. He said things like, "You evil
old man, where are you going?"
Waves of
embarrassment went through Reb Dovid. Reb Dovid
was visibly upset and started to think, "Oh my
G·d, the Rebbe must see some ugly sins in
me." He decided to return to his seat but as he turned
around, the Baal Shem Tov shouted out, " Don't you
dare leave. Stand there and pray."
Reb Dovid stood trembling, as if he were frozen to the
spot, while he cried and prayed from his heart. Big
tears rolled from his face as he babbled the words of
prayer. No one could understand what he was saying
through all of his crying out and sobbing. Everyone in
the congregation knew that poor Reb Dovid's prayers
were spoken from his broken heart and they were
carried along with his heartfelt enthusiasm. His
passionate prayers did not stop until Yom Kippur was
over.
After the fast had concluded, the Baal Shem Tov
appeared to be in a joyful mood. Reb Dovid, still
broken hearted, approached the Baal Shem Tov and
asked, "Rebbe, what did I do that made you so angry
with me? Do you see some ugly sins on my soul,
G·d forbid? "
The Baal Shem Tov replied, "My sweet Reb Dovid, I
don't see any sin in you. G·d forbid that I would
accuse you of evil deeds or thoughts."
Reb Dovid was totally confused and looked for an
explanation.
The Baal Shem Tov
continued, "This morning, before I came to pray, I saw
Satan standing at the heavenly crossroads where all
the prayers must pass to reach the throne of
G·d. He planned to collect our prayers and
take them for his own evil purposes, G·d
forbid. I thought, 'why should we pray and hand the
prayers to the Satan?' So before coming to the Beit
Midrash, I focused my attention on clearing a heavenly
path for our prayers to ascend without the Satan being
able to intercept them.
By the time I reached
the Beit
Midrash, I thought I had cleared the path for the
prayers. But when I sat down and saw you go up to
begin the Yom Kippur prayers, I started to think, 'that
crafty Satan will probably enter your heart and ruin my
efforts.'
So I spoke to you in a way that would
break
your heart and stop you from having wayward thoughts
while you recited the prayers for the congregation. As
soon as I perceived that your heart was broken, I told
you to begin the prayers. Thank G·d, we were
successful and our prayers ascended and were
accepted by G·d, Blessed be His Name.
And
Reb Dovid, my dear friend and one who is free of sin,
thank you and may your strength be great."
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaKohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in In Praise
of The Baal Shem Tov by D. Amos & J. Mintz
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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And the L·rd said to Moses: Speak to the
priests.... (Leviticus 21:1)
This is what the verse says: "Day to day utters speech"
(Psalms 19:3)1
I heard from my Master [a commentary on the
verse]: "Day to day utters speech, and night to night
expresses knowledge." The Sages have said, "A
person is judged first2 for the time he
wasted from Torah study, as it says: 'The beginning of
strife is [like] the release of water' (Proverbs
17:14)."3
Does a person really believe that he can escape
judgment due to the burden of making a living by day,
and the [need to] rest from his work at night? The days
of winter contradict this, and the nights of summer
destroy [his argument].4
Ben Poras Yosef,
p. 127c
1From the Midrash on this
verse (Vayikra Rabbah 26:4).
2In the World to Come.
3Sanhedrin 7a. The simple meaning of
this verse is that strife and contentiousness break
forth like a gush of water. Water is a classic metaphor
for Torah, as in the verse: "Ho, every one that thirsts,
come you for water. . . " (Isaiah 55:1). However, the
Talmud interprets this verse different: "The beginning
of strife" - that is, the beginning of a person's
judgment is over "the release of water" - the time he
wasted from studying Torah.
4In the past, most people would work
only until nightfall. The short winter days prove that a
person can finish work early and still make a living,
thus contradicting the argument that a person must
work long hours, leaving himself no time for Torah
study. Likewise, the short nights of summer
demonstrate that a person can make do with less
sleep and still function. Why, then, should he need so
much sleep the rest of the year, rather than study
Torah?
The connection of this teaching to the verse from
Psalm 19 may be that day and night express words
that negate a person's arguments. Alternatively, the
Midrash that cites this verse (Vayikra Rabbah 26:4),
speaks of the day and night as "borrowing" from each
other throughout the year. The long summer days
borrow hours from the night, and the long summer
nights borrow hours from the day. Only on the spring
and autumn equinoxes are day and night equal. This
is in order to prove to people that there is always time
to study Torah.
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 118.
Whoever says "Shema, Shema. . . "
Foreign thoughts that come to mind during prayer or
Torah studying contain the very sparks of holiness that
fell among the kelipos on account of that person,
whether in this incarnation or in a previous one, or due
to the sin of Adam, who had in him all the souls of
Israel. Thus, each Jew must fix the sparks that belong
to him. For when a person stands in prayer and
wants to be attached to holiness, those sparks also
come to be repaired.
I heard this myself from the Baal Shem
Tov, who said: "One must be very
insightful1 concerning the foreign
thoughts that come during
prayer, for they are one's own potencies that come to
be fixed."
Divrei
Moshe, Lech Lecha
1To be able to discern the point
of holiness that the thought contains.
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 2.
The soul of the Baal Shem Tov was so lofty that it
would have been impossible for it to enter this world, if
his father1had experienced any physical
desire.2
Therefore, his father was one hundred years old when
the Baal Shem Tov was born. His desires had already
been annulled, and the Baal Shem Tov was only
conceived with G·d's help.
Imrei Noam
1Rabbbi Eliezer
2There is a classic teaching, stretching
as far back as the Midrash, that the thoughts of the
parents during
marital relations affect the nature of the children who
are born. The soul of the Baal Shem Tov so
transcended physicality that he could only be born to
elderly parents, individuals who no longer had
physical desires.
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 152
"G·d tips [the scales of justice] towards
kindness.
How? One opinion says by pushing down [the side of
merit], and another opinion says by lifting [the side of
sin]. And this is the procedure, but sin itself is not
erased."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught2:
The three channels of Chesed/Gevurah/Tiferet expand
from the highest heights till the lowest depths, the
realm of the kelipot. Hence, bliss, which is
Chesed/Kindness in the realm of holiness above,
becomes prostituted into gross carnal pleasure in the
realm of the kelipot. This is the meaning of the
teaching that what is oneg, bliss, on a higher level, is
nega, a pestilence, on a lower level.3
Similarly, the channel of Tiferet/Grandeur becomes
distorted into arrogance in the realm of the kelipot,
and the channel of Gevurah/Harshness becomes
distorted into anger and idolatry in the realm of the
kelipot.
This can be compared to a flame bound to a coal,
each one in the other, all the way up to the highest
levels.4 Only on lower levels is without
Daat, as alluded in the mystery of, "The Daat of
women is lax,"5since the wicked
are "feminine," in that their Daat is lax. On higher
levels, though, it is with Daat, in that one applies one's
Daat to derive more pleasure from serving
G·d, rather than from the realm of filth. The
concept of teshuvah/repentance is also Daat, as
alluded in the teaching, "One who says, 'I will sin and
then repent,' [will not be allowed to
repent]."6
With this we can understand the above
teaching: "G·d [tips the scales] by lifting [the
side of] sin, but sin itself is not erased," because
something gross and material cannot rise above to
the source of pleasure.7 And, "this is the
procedure," the procedure of G·d's abundant
kindness, which is pleasure, which is Chesed, and
the pleasures become enclothed in each other. . .
And the other opinion says by pushing down [the side
of merit].8
1Tractate Rosh HaShannah 17a.
2Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Zot HaBrakhah
#1.
3Sefer Yetzirah 2:4.
4A flame and its material fuel are
inextricably tied together. They are in fact different
manifestations of the same thing. By the same token,
the very same act can be experienced as the most
sublime spiritual bliss or as the grossest sensual
pleasure. It all depends upon where one is on the
spiritual ladder, and what level of "knowledge" and
consciousness, what Daat, one brings to the act, as
the Baal Shem Tov says immediately.
5Tractate Shabbath 33b.
6Tractate Yoma 85b.
7As said, by bringing G·d into
one's experience, the grossest material pleasure can
be transformed and elevated into the most sublime
spiritual bliss, but lacking this, it remains a "sin."
8That is, by "compressing" the spiritual
experience into the sensual pleasure.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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