|
| |
| The
Ten Principles Of The Baal Shem Tov |
| |
| Translated by Yaacov Dovid Shulman. |
| |
| The following
is a summary of the principles that the Baal Shem Tov taught his holy students.
This precious text was found in the possession of a grandson of the Baal Shem
Tov in Hamburg (copied from the holy handwriting of the Admor
Moharash). |
| |
| 1. The entire
Torah and the entire world contain nothing but the light of the Infinite One
(blessed be He) concealed within them. All the verses that speak of this, such
as "there is no other than He" and "I fill the heavens and the earth," are to
be taken literally. |
| There is no
act, word or thought in which the essence of divinity is not constricted and
hiding. |
| And so when
you look and see with your mind's eye, you will see the inner, life-force
aspect of everything, not just its outer, superficial layer. You will see
nothing but the divine power inside all things that is giving them life, being
and existence at every moment. |
| And when you
listen carefully to the inner voice within any physical sound that you hear,
you will hear only the voice of God as, at that moment, it is literally giving
life and existence to the sound that you are hearing. |
| |
| 2. The "exile
of God's Presence" refers to the life-force and divine power that gives a
person life and existence even at the moment that he is transgressing God's
will. |
| |
| 3. The evil
inclination and lust are agents of God. They carry out God's will to mislead a
person in order that he will overcome them. |
| From them, you
can learn to be as mighty as they are. Just as they never slacken in their work
but are trying to destroy you day and night (because a person always desires
what his eyes see and what his ears hear), just as they are happy and delighted
to carry out God's will, it should be as clear to you that God wants you to
overcome them until you will conquer yourself and all your desires will be
under your control--until you transform them to good. |
| This idea is
alluded to in the verse, "we will take from it [from the flock] to serve God"
(Shmot 10:26), meaning that we will take a lesson from the evil inclination to
act just as it acts to fulfill God's will. And a word to the wise is
sufficient. |
| |
| 4. Having no
[divine] source, evil does not come down from heaven. Nevertheless, evil that
exists has an inner power giving it life. And this [inner power] is total
goodness. So if you look at the inner aspect of evil, you will only see the
good in it. |
| |
| 5. A person has
to cling to the words that he speaks. Because each word contains a soul and
divinity, when you cling to them, you are connected to divinity. |
| |
| 6. Everything
that happens in the world, no matter how insignificant, comes from God. And so
do not concern yourself with whether or not what has occurred is in accordance
with your will. |
| |
| 7. Neither
thinking about the day of one's death nor the fear of punishment in hell will
arouse a person's heart to serve God. But yearning to cling to the source of
life and goodness will do so. And neither fasting nor afflicting oneself will
be of any help. But forgetting oneself out of the depth of one's yearning will
do so. |
| |
| 8. Every person
in his own right is [essentially] a complete spiritual Torah. If he goes in
God's path, that [Torah] is absorbed into his being, according to his
level. |
| |
| 9. When a
person prays for something that he needs, he should pray for the divine
life-force hiding within that thing and giving it life, which is now suffering
because of whatever it is lacking. And so one should ask God to have pity on
His life force that is hidden in that thing. |
| |
| 10. God's
Providence extends to all created beings, even to inanimate objects and plants.
There is nothing that is not viewed from above in every detail. Everything was
made with a particular intent. And a word to the wise is
sufficient. |
| Kovetz Eliyahu,
p. 14 |
| |
| Contact Yaacov Dovid Shulman at
yacovdavid@aol.com regarding requests,
comments or information about his other work.. |
| |
