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BAAL SHEM TOV STORY
Following the Weekly Torah Reading
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THE MAN WHO BELIEVED
HE WAS G·D
The Torah portion begins with G-d telling Moses:
"You shall command the B'nei Israel (Children of
Israel) and have them bring you clear olive oil, made
from the olives that were crushed for lighting, to keep
the lamp burning constantly." (Exodus 27:20)
The advice given in the Holy Zohar is, as the President
of the Academy in Gan Eden said: "A wooden beam
which does not catch fire should be splintered, and
similarly a body into which the light of the soul does
not penetrate, should be crushed."
(Zohar
III,168a. Tanya Ch. 29)
Once, the Baal Shem Tov had a vivid dream of
a
Heavenly man speaking to him, "Dear Holy Rabbi, I
beg of you to save the soul of my grandson who lives
in Vienna. After he was blessed with great wealth, in
his arrogance he started to believe that he is G·d. He
lives in a castle and has renamed his servants with
the name of Heavenly angels, like Michael the butler
and Gabriel the wine steward. Worse, he has
everyone call him Lord Elokim (One of G·d's names).
I beg of you to wake him up from his delusions. My
soul is connected to him and I can't rest in peace until
his conscience is awakened. Please help."
The Baal Shem Tov answered in the
dream, "Holy Jew, I'll go to Vienna and do what I can to
awaken his soul."
On Friday morning, when the Baal Shem Tov awoke
from this dream, he called to his devoted wagon
driver, "Alexei, immediately harness the horses to the
wagon. We're going to take a long journey and we'll
have to leave immediately to reach our destination
before the arrival of Shabbat."
After the Baal Shem Tov was comfortably seated and
the wagon was underway, he told the driver, "Alexei,
put down the reins of the horses and join me. Here
take a big L'Chaim (drink of alcohol), it's going to be
quite a journey."
Soon Alexei fell asleep and the Baal Shem Tov was in
deep meditation causing kefitzat haderech (spiritual
shortening of the way) so that the wagon sped along
at a speed allowing them to reach Vienna in a few
short hours.
Alexei awoke just as the horses brought the wagon to
a stop in front of a large castle. The servants of the
castle were mesmerized by the Polish Rabbi with the
flaming beard who stepped off the wagon.
"Could you please tell the master of the castle that he
has a visitor?" requested the Baal Shem Tov of the
servants.
"We're sorry Rabbi but he is away looking at some of
his land holdings. Why don't you come into the castle
and wait for him?" Then the servants helped Alexei
put the wagon and horses in the barn for the Sabbath.
Later, when Lord Elokim the master of the castle
returned, his servants ran up and said, "Lord Elokim,
a Rabbi has come to visit. He is waiting for you in the
library."
When Lord Elokim came into the library and saw the
Baal Shem Tov, he was transfixed. "Shalom Aleichem
Rabbi. It must have been a long trip. Won't you stay
here for a few days as my guest? Please join me for
dinner tonight." Then he called his servant, "Michael,
please make our guest comfortable. Rabbi you'll have
to excuse me I have some business to which I have to
attend."
Later that night, Lord Elokim passed the guest room
expecting to find his guest asleep. Instead, he found
the room lit with candles and the Baal Shem Tov
sitting at a Shabbos table covered with challah, wine,
fish and chicken. The Baal Shem Tov, with his eyes
closed, was chanting over and over the
verse "Mashpeil gayim aday aretz...." ("He humbles the
haughty into the earth..." found in the daily morning
prayers before the eighteen benedictions).
Lord Elokim sat down at the Shabbos table and found
his heart opening to the words of the Baal Shem Tov's
chant. But then he started to feel uncomfortable and
was wondering what was going on. As he looked out
the window overlooking a Catholic monastery located
directly next door to his castle, he noticed the Abbot
sitting at his desk and studying by candle light. He felt
an uncontrollable desire to go next door and speak
with the Abbot.
Without thinking, he left the guest room and rushed
next door. When he knocked on the door to the
monastery, he was greeted by two monks, "Welcome
Lord Elokim." He told them he wished an audience
with the Abbot. "His Holiness will be down shortly."
The Abbot took his time before he arrived. "Lord
Elokim, I am honored by your visit. Please join me in
my study where we can have a drink."
After they were comfortable and sipping a strong drink,
Lord Elokim announced, "My dear Abbot, I wish to
convert immediately to Christianity."
The Abbot was very pleased to save the soul of his
neighbor. "Lord Elokim, this is a serious decision.
How do you know you won't change your mind
tomorrow, in the light of day?" asked the Abbot.
"Your Holiness, my heart drives me to this. My only
wish is to convert to Christianity. To prove my sincerity,
I'll even transfer all of my possessions to the Church."
The Abbot replied, "Would you even sign a document
transferring all of your possessions to the Church?"
Lord Elokim immediately consented and the Abbot
had a monk draw up the documents. As soon as Lord
Elokim had signed them, the Abbot ordered the most
potent wine brought up from the wine cellar to
celebrate the generosity of Lord Elokim. After a few
drinks, Lord Elokim fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, the Baal Shem Tov had been chanting
over and over the words "Mashpeil gayim aday
aretz...." ("He humbles the haughty into the earth...")
After several hours, Lord Elokim awoke in a daze.
When he sat up and realized that he been laying on
the dirt floor in the basement of his castle, he started
to yell for his servants. Several monks, carrying a
torch and followed by the Abbot, came running down
the steps to the cellar.
"What are you doing in my castle!" yelled Lord Elokim
in an aggravated voice.
"Just a minute said the Abbot, this happens to be our
castle." He drew the signed document from his cloak
and held it up to Lord Elokim. "Don't you remember
last night when you decided to convert to Christianity
and transferred all of your property to the
Church?"
Lord Elokim ran past the Abbot and the monks to the
guest room where the Baal Shem Tov was still
chanting the words of the Prayers, "Mashpeil gayim
aday aretz..."
Lord Elokim realized that the Rabbi was no ordinary
person. He fell down before the Baal Shem Tov. "Holy
Rabbi. Please help me. I beg of you. I don't know what
to do."
The Baal Shem Tov told Lord Elokim about the
appearance of his holy grandfather in the Baal Shem
Tov's dream and how the grandfather couldn't rest in
heaven until his grandson had returned to the ways of
his forbearers, that of a Jewish life filled with acts of
kindness.
When Elokim heard about his grandfather, he
confessed his cruelty to people and promised not to
act that way again. He begged the Baal Shem
Tov, "Please Rebbe, tell me how to heal my soul."
The Baal Shem Tov took his hand and said, "I know
your repentance is from the heart. Come look out the
window into the monastery with me."
The Baal Shem Tov started again to chant over and
over, "He humbles the haughty into the earth..."
Just then, Elokim could see the Abbot light a candle
on his desk to read. Suddenly, the Abbot got up from
his desk and tripped causing the candle to fall over
and ignite all the papers on his desk including the
document transferring Elokim's property to the
Church. The Abbot could not extinguish the flames on
his desk and finally he ran from the room screaming
for help. What remained of the document was only a
pile of ashes.
After this, Elokim was a transformed person. He
changed his name to Rachamim (the compassionate
one) and began living his daily life according to the
ancient Hebrew ways of the Torah. From then on, he
traveled at least once a year to his teacher and
mentor, the Holy Baal Shem Tov.
And so it was.
Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir Cohn (Howard M.
Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story in Kol Sippurei
HaBesht as translated in MEETINGS WITH
REMARKABLE SOULS by E. Klein.
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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 spoke to Moses, saying:
And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of
Israel on the Breastplate of Judgment upon his heart,
when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial
before the L·rd continually. And you shall put
in the Breastplate of Judgment the Urim and the
Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart,
when he goes in before the L·rd. . . "
(Exodus
28:29-30)
It is known that the Breastplate barely contained all
twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as our
Sages have said. Therefore, when they had to ask a
question that used several of the same letters, such
as "Should I go to Bavel," how were they answered?
There is a very great mystery in this . . .
I
heard from
my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov], that each of the
twenty-two letters [of the Hebrew alphabet] contains
within it all the other letters of the alphabet (except for
the letter mem ). Since G·d commanded that
all twenty-two letters be inscribed on the Breastplate,
when the priest would be enwrapped in Divine
inspiration, the letters would shine in their expanded
forms. This enabled them to receive everything they
needed to know. Understand this!
This is the meaning of "onyx stones, and
stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the
breastplate" (Exodus 25:7).
Degel Machane Ephraim, Likutim
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 106.
When you have foreign thoughts [in prayer], you
should think that everything comes from letters, which
are holy. It is just that in you mind, they form foolish
patterns. If you can rearrange these letters [to spell
out] holy matters, it would be very good. Alternatively,
you can rearrange the words of the foreign thoughts,
or divide one word into two, or [extract] the first letters
of the words, so long as you do not break your
spiritual attachment.
Darchei Tzedek 25
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 43.
The holy Rabbi Mordechai of
Chernobyl said: "I believe that until the coming of the
Redeemer - soon in our days - whenever a Jew
sighs and his heart breaks with thoughts of
repentance, it comes from the power of the Baal
Shem Tov.
Mefalos HaTzaddikim
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 139
'You besieged me back and front, laying Your hand
upon me.'1
The Baal Shem Tov explained 2:
'The chayot/angels run to and fro.' 3 The
chayut/spiritual life force in man vacillates between a
constricted immature state and an expanded mature
state. But when a person acknowledges that he is
presently in an immature state, he ameliorates the
constrictions at their source. 4 This is
alluded to by the
five constrictions being in the Daat of Zeir
Anpin. 1
1Psalms 139:5.
2Toldoth Yaakov Yoseph, Chukas
#4.
3Ezekiel 1:14.
4That is, when one comes to the
realization that G·d is equally found within
constriction
as He is within expansion, then one can equally be
with Him in either condition. The "constriction"
and "expansion" are actually only different states of
our perception, while that Which is perceived is
always the same.
5The represent five types of constrictions
that
are ameliorated when they are incorporated within
Daat, within Knowledge - the knowledge that
G·d is
found equally within them as within the five types of
expansions.
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi
Yehoshua
Starrett
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