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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE LAST
REVELATION
On the day of his passing from the world (the first day
of Shavuot), the Baal Shem Tov was in his bed
surrounded by his closest Chassidim. Only Reb
Hershelah Tzvi, the Baal Shem Tov's son, was
absent.
The Chassidim warily
asked, "Rebbe, don't you want to give your son a few
last instructions?"
The Baal Shem Tom answered with a sigh, "How can
I? He is still sleeping."
A few Chassidim rushed out to wake Reb
Hershelah. "Reb Hershelah, quick, wake up, your
father the Rebbe is getting ready to leave the
world."
"Oh no," answered Reb Hershelah with a
shock, "that's impossible! I don't believe my father is
passing on to the next world."
"Reb Hershelah," they said with a solemn voice, "the
Rebbe said that he will leave the world today."
Reb Hershelah quickly dressed and rushed to his
father's room. When he arrived at his father's side,
Reb Hershelah started weeping, "Father, father,
please don't leave us."
The Baal Shem Tov reached out and held his son's
hand. "My dear son, I'm going to depart from this
world. One thing I want you to know is that you have a
very holy soul. When your mother and I conceived you,
the very Heavens shook. At that time, I had the power
to bring any soul I chose, even that of Adam HaRishon
(the first man). But I selected your soul because it
was very holy and possessed all that you will need."
"Please father, tell me something before you depart,"
begged Reb Hershelah.
So the Baal Shem Tov started to speak to his son, but
his voice was barely audible.
"Father, I can't understand what you are trying to tell
me," said Reb Hershelah in a
distraught voice.
The Baal Shem Tov gathered his strength and spoke
louder, "My dearest son, there is nothing that I can do
now. Just listen and remember this Name."
Then the Baal Shem Tov motioned to his son to come
closer. Reb Hershelah bent down very near to his
father and the Baal Shem Tov whispered the Name to
him. Then he said, "Whenever you concentrate on this
Name, I will come and study with you."
Reb Hershelah spoke, "But what if I forget the
Name?"
"Come close to me again," said the Baal Shem
Tov, "and I'll tell you a way of
remembering the Name."
After the Baal Shem Tov whispered the way to
remember to Reb Hershelah, he closed his eyes and
his soul ascended.
And to this day, no one knows the Name or how to
remember the Name.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane
(Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found
in IN PRAISE OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Ben-Amos
and Mintz
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Sefer Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah
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The Book of Ruth1
Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go you
after them. (Ruth 2:9)
It is written: "A good eye will bless" (Proverbs
22:9).2
The eye is called Wisdom, for truly, vision is the lowest
level of wisdom. And a person with a good eye, that
is, with good wisdom, brings blessing wherever he
gazes. When he looks at a thing, he realizes that it is
nothing compared to the Blessed One. That is, it truly
has no existence other than the Divinity within it, [for
the] the essence of a creator is in his
creation.3
Without this it is nothing, as it is written: "And what are
we" (Exodus 16:7).4 Through this type
of looking,
one draws from His Divinity increased vitality to the
thing. Thus, "A good eye will bless" that
thing.
The opposite also applies. When a
person with a bad eye looks at something and is
impressed with it; for instance, [he says] "How
beautiful is this thing," then he separates it from its
root and vitality, that is, from the divinity. For it is known
that all vision creates a vessel, and because of this
comes the evil eye, G·d save us.
Likutey Amorim, p.11c
1It is the custom of most Jewish
communities to read
the book of Ruth during the Shavuot morning prayer
service. Ruth was the ancestor of King David, who
died on Shavuot, according to the Talmud. (See
Tractate Chagiga 17a, Tosephos, "Beis Shammai
Omrim."
2The literal reading of this verse should
be: "A good
eye will be blessed." However, without the vowel
points, the verse can also be read as above,
according to the interpretation of the Baal Shem
Tov.
3Whenever a person creates something,
an
essential part of his soul is captured in the creation.
This is even truer of the universe, which is continually
being created and sustained by G-d.
4When the Children of Israel
complained to Moses
and Aharon in the desert, after the food they took out
from Egypt was exhausted, they responded: ". . . for He
has heard your murmurings against the L-rd; and
what are we that you murmur against us?" They
realized that they were nothing without the presence of
G-d within them.
On a deeper level, the Hebrew word "what" - mah (
"") - corresponds to the sefirotic structure of Zeir
Anpin. It also has the same numerical value as the
word "Man" - Adam (à"'), because the essence of a
human being is neither the body, nor the thoughts and
emotions. Rather, it is the Divine soul, which derives
from this supernal level.
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 122.
I learned from my Master how to know if a
foreign thought derives from the side of Chesed
("Love"), that fell in the Breaking of the Vessels and
now needs rectification and uplifting. Whereas, on the
other hand, there are also sinful thoughts. When
these enter one's the mind, a person should realize
that there are Judgments upon him that want to
punish him. In such a case, he should be extremely
concerned and make a unification between "fear"
and "awe." Then "all the workers of iniquity will
disband" (Psalms 92:10).
Thus, he explained the verses: "And it
came to pass, when [Abraham] approached to Egypt,
that he said to Sarai his wife: I know now that you are
an attractive woman" (Genesis 12:11), and "When the
local men asked [Isaac] about his wife, he said: 'She
is my sister'; for he was afraid to say: 'My wife'; 'lest
the men of the place should kill me for Rebecca,
because she is fair to look upon.'" (ibid. 26:7). For the
fact that they thought about female beauty was a sign
of impending punishment.
Ketones Passim, p. 42d
1 The Sages explain that before these occasions,
neither Abraham nor Isaac recognized their wife's
beauty. According to the Baal Shem Tov, the fact that
these Tzaddikim suddenly becoming attracted to
physical beauty was a sign that there were Supernal
Judgments upon them, as reflected in the Egyptians
and the Philistines who threatened to kill them.
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 6.
6. "If a person were to come and
tell me, "I saw the Baal Shem Tov build a ladder and
climb to heaven alive, physically, in his clothing," I
would believe him. For whatever they say about the
Baal Shem Tov is possible to believe."
The Seer of Lublin1
1Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin
(1745-1815)
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 155
"Then you will see the difference between the
righteous one and the wicked one, between the one
who serves G·d and the one who
doesn't."1
"What is the
difference between the righteous one and the one
who serves G·d, and between the wicked one
and the one who does not serve Him? Rather, [the
one who 'doesn't serve' G·d is also righteous,]
but there is no comparison between the one who
reviews his lesson one hundred times and the one
who reviews it one hundred and one
times."2
The Baal Shem Tov taught3 :
Why should this righteous person, who reviewed his
lessons one time less, be considered as not having
served G·d?
This can be understood with a parable: ["He who goes
around weeping bears a measure of seed, but] he
who comes back with songs of joy carries
sheaves."4
That is, if the foundation of one's Torah study and
service of G·d is for self-interest, then one's
study and service is meaningless, since he is lacking
the One, that is, lacking the intention of serving
G·d, the True One. Therefore, even though
this person is "serving G·d," he is referred to
as not serving Him, because there is no comparison
between the one who reviews his lesson one hundred
times and the one who reviews it one hundred times
with One.5
1Malakhi 3:18.
2 Tractate Chagigah 9b.
3 Toldos Yaakov Yoseph, teachings
following Zos HaBrakhah.
4 Psalms 126:6.
5 And regarding the parable, the one
who always weeps over his distance from G·d
will bear seed, whereas the one who sings joyous
over his perceived closeness to G·d carries
only sheaves (Tzofnath Paneach 37c).
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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