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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE BANISHED
RABBI
"You shall designate cities which shall serve you as
cities of refuge to which a murderer, who killed a
person accidentally, can flee."
Masei 35:11
G·d commanded Moses to form six cities
(cities of refuge) where an inadvertent killer could
escape. The purpose, of course, was to create a
haven to avert more unnecessary death if the family of
the victim would avenge their lost one. Upon reaching
a city of refuge, the inadvertent killer would be judged
by a Beit Din (court of Jewish law). In the event that he
is found to have killed accidentally, he was permitted
to remain within the city. However, should he be found
guilty of premeditated murdered, capital punishment
awaited him.
This procedure gives insight into Torah policy. A man
is judged based on his motivation, as opposed to his
actions. In other words, if a person does a mitzvah
(Biblical commandment) accidentally, he does not
receive credit for this mitzvah.
There were very specific guidelines
surrounding these cities of refuge, such as the
condition of the roads leading to the cities. The roads
had to be extremely wide and free of potential
obstacles. G·d did not want to risk the
possibility of the killer missing the opportunity to flee.
Amazingly, the accused person is obligated to
continue learning Torah, and his Rebbe is
commanded to follow the man into the city of refuge. If
his Rebbe is the dean of a yeshiva (school of Torah
study), then the entire yeshiva moves along with the
Rebbe into the city.
The accused man must remain in the city of refuge
until the death of the Kohen Gadol (high priest that
serves in the Temple). There are several
explanations for this policy. One is that following the
death of the Kohen Gadol, the resentment of the
deceased's family will surely subdue. They will
accept that everyone dies, even one of the greatest
men of the generation. Another possibility is that
since the Kohen Gadol brings G·dliness to
the Jewish people, and thereby lengthens their lives, it
would be inappropriate to have a killer anywhere near
this man (the Kohen Gadol lived in Jerusalem and the
killer was restricted to the city of refuge). A third
possibility is that this death serves as a penance for
the Jewish people and the sin of murder is thus
dismissed. However, the Torah is clear that should
the man leave the city of refuge, a family member of
the one he inadvertently killed is permitted to take his
life.
Freely adapted from Me'am Lo'ez.
And then there was the time that the Mezritcher
Maggid, one of the most
celebrated preachers of his time and an ardent
follower of the Baal Shem Tov, was a visitor in the city
of Shargorod for Shabbat. He approached the rabbi
(Rabbi Yaakov Yosef HaKohane) of that city and made
a request.
"Rabbi, I would like to stay at your house
for Shabbat and make a private Minyan (quorum of ten
men for prayer) for the Shabbat prayers"
The rabbi gave the Maggid
permission to stay, but did not participate in the
minyan. At one of the Shabbat meals at the rabbi's
table, the Maggid gave a discourse that completely
described Rabbi Yaakov Yosef. The rabbi was
flabbergasted, since the Maggid gave details that he
only could have known supernaturally.
The rabbi immediately
approached the leaders of the community and
excitedly told them of the Maggid and invited them to
join him and the Maggid at "Shalus Seudah" the third
Shabbat meal. However, the leaders were not
Hasidic and in fact were vehemently opposed to the
Hasidic philosophy. In particular, the community
leaders did not wish to have a relationship with the
Maggid. The rabbi was affronted and defended the
Maggid to such a degree that he was banished from
Shargorod on a Friday right before the Sabbath. The
Rabbi had to leave in haste in order not to be
physically harmed by the community leaders and their
followers.
Rabbi Yaakov Yosef took refuge in a nearby village
where the inhabitants were more supportive to the
Baal Shem Tov and his teachings.
The following Shabbat, the Baal
Shem Tov journeyed to the village where the rabbi had
taken refuge to console him. The Magid was also in
attendance. In an effort to comfort the expelled rabbi,
the Maggid described a prophecy.
"Rabbi, do not be too upset. I
had a vision that several of your adversaries will be
killed, and the entire city of Shargorod will be set
ablaze."
This prediction greatly upset the Baal
Shem Tov, and he reprimanded the Maggid. Rabbi
Yaakov Yoseph did not lose heart and eventually
moved to
Raskow, where he became the town rabbi. He
became one of the closest followers of the Baal Shem
Tov and lived a
pious life full of Torah and mitzvot.
Sometime later, the Maggid's
prediction did happen as he had said.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in PRAISE OF THE
BAAL SHEM TOV by Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome R.
Mintz
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THE PILLAR OF PRAYER
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on Prayer
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Section 129.
Three books are opened on
Rosh Hashana. The Book of the Completely Wicked,
the Book of the Completely Righteous, and the Book
of the Intermediaries. The righteous are immediately
written and sealed for life, the wicked are immediately
written and sealed for death, and the intermediaries
are left hanging until Yom HaKippur. If they are worthy,
they are written for life, if not, they are written for
death."1
"Books" - meaning to
say, "words."2 All the holy words of the
completely righteous - their prayers and Torah study -
unite speech with the World of Thought. For you must
believe that with every prayer and word of Torah
uttered with concentration, you certainly unite the
World of Speech with the World of Thought. Even
when you pray and your requests are not granted,
nevertheless, the "lower arousal" that unites the World
of Speech with that of Thought causes the same
union Above. Those individuals whose sole intention
is to unite these two worlds are perfect Tzaddikim.
Thus our Rabbis said: "One may
not pray except with a heavy head"3 -
meaning, with the realization that whatever you lack
personally is also lacking Above. "And even if the king
greets you, do not stop."4 That is, when
a person prays with concentration, G·d takes
pride in the World of Speech. This pride spreads
though all the worlds, even to the one who is
praying.5 Thus, be careful not to break
your connection with G·d and become proud
of praying with such concentration.
"Intermediaries" pray that G·d
should also fulfill their mundane requests. They are
left hanging until Yom Kippur. That is, the "World of
Thought" is called "Yom HaKippur." He is left hanging
until the thoughts,6 that is, until the
intentions of his heart [are revealed]. If his intentions
were for G·d's sake when he made his
request, for instance, so that he should be free to
serve Him, he is also written for life. For even these
intentions unite the World of Speech with the World of
Thought.
Tzava'as HaRivash, p. 15a 7
1Rosh Hashana 16b.
2The word "book" - sefer - is related to
the word sippur, which means "to tell" or "to
relate."
3I.e., amidst seriousness. Berachos 30b.
4Ibid.
5The feeling of pride a person can
feel during prayer is a fallen manifestation of the pride
that G·d Himself takes in the prayers.
6Until Yom HaKippur, when the
essence of thought is revealed.
7See also Ohr Torah, Rimzei Hagadot,
p. 65.
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 13.
When the Baal Shem Tov would
study Torah with his holy students, they would be
surrounded by fire, and the ministering angels would
gather around them. They would hear the voices and
thunder of Mount Sinai, and hear the words "I am the
L·rd your G·d," from the mouth of
G·d.
This is very famous.
Heichal HaBracha, Va'eschanan
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 171.
SUBDUING vs.
TRANSFORMING INCLINATIONS
"Which one is the mighty one?-the one who
conquers his inclinations."1
The Baal Shem Tov taught2:
Why is this question phrased, "Which one is?" rather
than simply, "Who is?"
This can be understood with a comparison to a real
life situation: There are two ways for a guard to protect
goods in a room from thieves. He can begin to shout
as soon as he hears a thief trying to break in, upon
which the thief will flee, or he can prepare chains to
capture the thief after he enters the room.
Similarly, there is a path of the righteous in which one
does not even allow untoward thoughts to enter one's
mind, as did Rav Amram Chassida,3or
one can take a desire or fear and channel it towards
G·d, using it to rouse love or fear of
G·d.4
This, then, is the question: Which of these two is
greater? And the answer is, the one who conquers his
inclinations, traits or desires and uses them to serve
G·d.5
1Tractate Avos
4 1.
2Quoted also in Sefer Baal Shem Tov,
Breishit #158.
3Recorded in Tractate Kiddushin 81b.
The story there is that when Rav Amram suddenly
noticed a beautiful young girl in his attic, he put up a
ladder to climb up to her. In the middle of his ascent,
he abruptly stopped and called out, "There's a fire in
Rav Amram's house!" in order that the
embarrassment of being in his neighbors' presence
would help him to overcome his passion. Although
this is not an example of not allowing an untoward
thought to enter one's mind in the first place, it is an
example of chasing out a thought that has already
entered, which amounts to the same thing, as
opposed to transforming the thought into love of
G·d.
4These are the two
paths
referred to in Chassidic texts as is'kaffia (subduing)
and is'hapkha (transforming) (see Likkutei Amarim
Tanya I:27 and Pri Tzaddik, Erev Yom Kippurim
#4).
5Transforming one's inclinations
requires a shift in perception, at which point all these
negative drives are perceived as neutral energy that
can equally be used in serving G·d, whereas
trying to subdue them sustains their negativity and
perpetuates the inner conflict. While subduing them
may seem to require greater strength, transforming
them requires a deep willingness to completely
surrender those desires, something which the one
who only tries to subdue them is not ready or capable
of doing.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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