Story of the Baal Shem Tov - Rosh Hashanah

 

B"H

Please spread the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov v'nishmas my parents:
Yoel ben Avrohom and Malka bas Avrohom. May their Neshamas have an Aliyah

STORIES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV

ROSH HASHANAH

THE SECRET OF THE SHOFAR

"You shall sound a broken blast on the shofar." (Leviticus 25:9)

"In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a rest day for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation." (Leviticus 23:24)

And then there was the time that the Baal Shem Tov summoned one of his close disciples, Reb Wolff Kitzis.

"Reb Wolff, would you honor us with blowing the shofar in shule (synagogue) this year on Rosh Hashanah?" he asked.

"Of course Rebbe, even though I do not feel qualified for such a holy task," Reb Wolff immediately answered. "If you could instruct me on what I should I meditate on while I'm blowing the different blasts of the shofar, I would be most grateful."

For the two weeks before the Yom Tov, The Baal Shem Tov instructed Reb Wolff on the kavanos (intentions) that he should meditate on. Reb Wolff began practicing blowing the shofar, and studied intently the kavanos that the Baal Shem Tov had instructed him.

To be certain he would not forget, Reb Wolff wrote down the kavanos - the mystical significance of the Divine Names associated with each of the blasts - on a piece of paper so that he could glance at them while blowing the shofar.

The Baal Shem noticed that Reb Wolff had written the kavanos down, and spoke to him about it. "Reb Wolff, do you really have to write out the kavanos? It is not wise to write down such secrets, and besides, I am sure you'll remember them when the time comes."

But, Reb Wolff was nervous. So he finished writing them on a small piece of paper that he carefully placed in his pocket.

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, as Reb Wolff made his way to shule, a sudden gust of wind blew the note from his pocket.

When the time came for the sounding of the shofar, Reb Wolff carefully removed his shofar from its velvet bag, and walked to the bimah (readers stand). As he reached into his pocket he froze in horror! The piece of paper with the kavanos was gone! Reb Wolff frantically searched his pockets but the note was nowhere to be found.

The whole congregation stood ready to hear the holy sounds of the shofar. Reb Wolff was a nervous wreck, but had no choice except to start blowing. At this highest moment in the Rosh Hashanah prayer service, all stared in anticipation at Reb Wolff as he placed the shofar to his lips. He tried as hard as he could to remember, but could not recall one single intention that he had studied so diligently. He was distraught. "Not only did I stupidly lose the note with the kavanos, but I can't even remember a single one!" Reb Wolff was broken hearted, and he began to weep. With a broken heart and tears streaming down his cheeks, he blew the shofar as best he could.

When the prayers had ended, the Baal Shem Tov approached Reb Wolff and said: "In the King's palace, there are many doors and each requires its own special key. But there is another way that one can open all of the doors and that is with an ax. The mystical kavanos that you so intently studied are the keys to each of the different gates to the Heavenly palace, where each gate requires its own specific kavana. But a broken and humbled heart can break open all of the gates. My dear Reb Wolff, this is what you accomplished with your blowing of the shofar."

And so it was.

Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Treasury of Chassidic Tales by Rabbi S.Y. Zevin and reprinted with the kind permission of the Baal Shem Tov Foundation. Please visit www.baalshemtov.com

 

Join a class on the Perekim from the Kesser Shem Tov:  Shabbos morning 9am in the Shteibel Minyan Beis Medresh and around 2pm after Shabbos lunch at 7495 Malibu Crescent, Montoya Estates East.

 

Also, write to Bentzion@besht-yomi.org to receive the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov in your email inbox

 

Publicize the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov to help bring Moshiach right NOW!

 

 

Kesivah Vachasimah Tova

You Should be Insribed and Sealed for a Good Year

 

Publicize the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
Bentzion Meltzer
954.242.9208
www.besht-yomi.org
bentzion@besht-yomi.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

RE: [Be'er Mayim Chaim] Keser Shem Tov

i think the idea behind the posuk 'and  Noach found favour in G-d's Eyes' alludes to the fact that all sparks come from 'G-d's Eyes' [as in 'the breaking of the vessels'], thus the verse shows us, as you said, that the favour found is due to those sparks [from G-d's Eyes] having a connection with that person's soul.
It may also allude to the fact that Noach was a dwelling place for G-d: hence he found favour etc

 You are a part of Go-d, part of His Essence. Just as His Essence is infinite, so too is the 'part'. You are beyond limit, estimation or assessment. 

"Man's steps are established by G-d," means that you are here to purify or improve something specific in a particular place. For centuries, even since the world's creation, that which needs correction has been waiting for you. Your soul too has been waiting, ever since it came into being, for its time to descend and perform the tasks of improvement assigned to it. 

> From: tal.zwecker@gmail.com
> To: Tal.Zwecker.baalshemtov@blogger.com; beermayimchaim@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [Be'er Mayim Chaim] Keser Shem Tov
> Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 22:34:55 +0300
>
>
> B"H
> Please spread the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov v'nishmas my parents,
> Yoel Ben Avrohom and Malka ben Avrohom. May their Neshamas have an Aliyah
>
>
> Kesser Shem Tov Hashalem Perek 15
>
> "There are three types of favors: The favor of a dwelling place in the eyes
> of those who dwell there; the favor of a woman in her husband's eyes, and
> the favor of merchandise in the eyes of the purchaser."1
>
> The Baal Shem Tov taught: When G.d told Jacob, "I will give to you -- the
> Land upon which you are lying," 2 He had folded the entire Land of Israel
> underneath him.3 This alludes that he would not have to travel from one
> place to another in order to find his sparks, but would be able to find them
> wherever he would be.4 Hence, "Noah found favor in G.d's eyes." 5
>
> 1Tractate Sotah 47a.
> 2 Genesis 28:13.
> 3 Tractate Chulin 91b.
> 4 This alludes to the teaching that everything we come in contact with,
> everything that belongs to us, even everything we eat, are all part of our
> own souls. These parts have been separated from us and we must reunite and
> elevate them within ourselves. But how do we know what things are really
> part of us? The answer is, to those things to which we are attracted are
> really part of us. These include, things we are attracted to eat, the items
> we are attracted to purchase, and the person we are attracted to marry. The
> attraction is G.d's way of telling us, Look here, these are the parts that
> are really apart of you! This is why the sages said in the opening teaching
> that there are three types of favor - the favor is our attraction to those
> things, which includes our attraction to live where we do, because that is
> where most of those things are to be found. Some people, though, travel
> around a lot, whether for their livelihood or for other reasons. This is
> because their sparks are scattered around in those places. But G.d's
> blessing to Jacob was that He would bring those scattered sparks to him.
> 5Genesis 6:8.
> The connection of this verse here is not clear. Perhaps the allusion is that
> Noah also merited that his sparks come to him, as indeed happened when the
> designated survivors of all life on earth came to him to enter the Ark.
> Furthermore, it may also allude that Noah found favor in G.d, just as the
> three things find favor in the eyes of their beholder. That is, Noah
> represents the righteous person, the tzaddik, who reunites his soul with
> G.d, and is thus with G.d wherever he is, which is another way of
> representing G.d folding the Land of Israel under Jacob.
>
> Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua Starrett and reprinted with the
> kind permission of the Baal Shem Tov Foundation. Please visit
> www.baalshemtov.com
>
> Join a class on the Perekim from the Kesser Shem Tov: Shabbos morning 9am
> in the Shteibel Minyan Beis Medresh and around 2pm after Shabbos lunch at
> 7495 Malibu Crescent, Montoya Estates East.
>
> Also, write to Bentzion@besht-yomi.org to receive the Teachings of the Baal
> Shem Tov in your email inbox
>
> Publicize the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov to help bring Moshiach right
> NOW!
>
>
>
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> Groups "Be'er Mayim Chaim" group.
> To post to this group, send email to tal.zwecker@gmail.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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Chai Elul - Rav Levi Yitzchak Berditchev, Noam Elimelech, rav Chaim Czernowizer and the Baal Shem Tov

 

Chai Elul, the 18th of the month of the Elul.  It is the birthday of the Holy Ba'al Shem Tov the founder of  Chassidut, whose students we so admire and study through Be'er Mayim Chayim.

 

In the honor of this day, we are pleased to bring reflections of him through the eyes of the Kedushat Levi--whose book we hope im yirtzeh Hashem to publish soon-- and the Noam Elimelech--whose book were were zokeh to publish last year. 

 

 Kedushat Levi:

 

The Holy Tzadik and Rebbe Rav Levi Yitzhak of Berditshev was born in the year 500 of the Hebrew calendar which is around 1740 and the Holy Ba'al Shem Tov twice honored his students with cake and drinks to toast his birth saying: "A soul has come down to this world that will be an advocate for good on behalf of our brethren Bnei Yisroel." (Eser Oros 3:1)

 

To understand the power of the Kedushas Levi's soul we must read the words of the founder of Chassidus our master the Holy Ba'al Shem Tov, who once told his students "At the time the holy soul of Rav Levi Yitzhak of Berditshev came down to us, the accuser Satan prosecuted and said 'the actions of this holy and lofty soul will nullify the entire process of free choice since the entire world will repent and do good, and desist from evil. Then what good will my own position be?' Hashem answered Satan, 'this soul will serve as the Rabbi to several different cities and others will chase and persecute him [because of his beliefs], together with the burden and yoke of the Rabbinate it will weaken him enough that his influence will wane to the point where it will not nullify free choice.' " (Toldos Kedushas Levi Munkacz 1:3)

 

Rebbe Elimelech:

 

The soul of our master the G-dly Ba'al Shem Tov, may his merit shield us, included all the souls of the Jewish people. This story is well known, how our holy and awesome master the Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk was greatly pained and distressed wondering why he never knew the Ba'al Shem Tov?

He therefore had a great longing to somehow see the Ba'al Shem. Therefore once he heard someone knocking on his window pane at midnight, and it was revealed to him that he would be able to see the holy Ba'al Shem Tov.

Across from the Rebbe's home was a low hill and the Rebbe saw there a great fire blazing, and within the flames the vision of a man. They told Rebbe Elimelech that this was the holy Ba'al Shem Tov. Afterwards, this image burst forth into a myriad of 600,000 sparks and within each spark of the fire was an individual image of the holy Ba'al Shem Tov, hinting that the Baal Shem Tov himself included all the six hundred thousand souls of the Jewish People of Klal Yisroel.

(from Rav Yitzchak Eizik of Spinka's approb. To Sefer Baal Shem Tov)

Rav Avraham Yehoshua Freund the Av Beis Din of Nasoyd once told how our master the holy Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk was once walking together with his student the author the Maor VaShemesh, the rabbi of Cracow, Rav Kalinymous Kalman Epstein to the local Bais haChaim – the cemetery. When they arrived there they saw a pillar of fire descending from the heavens and in the flames there was a vision of a man. The pillar of fire reached the ground and returned to the sky once more. Afterwards Rebbe Elimelech told his student that he should mark that exact location where the pillar of fire had touched the ground, since Rebbe Elimelech explained, that is where he wished to be buried after his passing. The Rebbe Reb Melech then said: "That figure of a man in the flames was none other than the G-dly Rav Yisroel Ba'al Shem Tov of Mezibuz, may his merit shield us and all Yisroel! Truly he was a blazing fire even in his own lifetime, except that fire was covered by his skin.1

(Gedulas20Yehoshua p14)

 

 

Once Rav Chaim of Czernowitz author of the Be'er Mayim Chaim fell critically ill. He was bed ridden with a high fever, literally at death's door. In his delirious feverish state he had a dream like vision in which he saw the founder of the Chassidic movement the Holy Rav Yisrael ben Eliezer the Ba'al Shem Tov zy"a.


Rav Chaim began to cry and plead with the Ba'al Shem Tov to entreat Heaven for mercy on his behalf . The Ba'al Shem Tov asked Rav Chaim what merits he had, that could persuade the Ba'al Shem Tov to ask on his behalf? Rav Chaim answered him:

"My rebbe and teacher the Zlotshuver Maggid's custom was every Shabbos to speak about the holy Ba'al Shem Tov and relate a teaching he had heard from his mentor, a story or parable during the mystical third Shabbos meal of Shalosh Seudos. Once, due to his intense passionate cleaving to G-d in dveykus and rapture, my rebbe forget to do this and they almost brought the Mayim Achronim water for him to wash before the Bentshing - the grace after the meal, when I reminded him."

"If so," said the Ba'al Shem Tov to Rav Chaim, "then you have a complete recovery." And so it was.
(Ma'amar Mordechai of Slonim #3 p101)
 

Kol Tuv,
R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim
www.chassidusonline.com
info@chassidusonline.com
Phone: 972-2-992-1218 / Cell: 972-54-842-4725
VoIP: 516-320-6022
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Keser Shem Tov

B"H
Please spread the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov v'nishmas my parents,
Yoel Ben Avrohom and Malka ben Avrohom. May their Neshamas have an Aliyah

Kesser Shem Tov Hashalem Perek 15

"There are three types of favors: The favor of a dwelling place in the eyes
of those who dwell there; the favor of a woman in her husband's eyes, and
the favor of merchandise in the eyes of the purchaser."1

The Baal Shem Tov taught: When G.d told Jacob, "I will give to you -- the
Land upon which you are lying," 2 He had folded the entire Land of Israel
underneath him.3 This alludes that he would not have to travel from one
place to another in order to find his sparks, but would be able to find them
wherever he would be.4 Hence, "Noah found favor in G.d's eyes." 5

1Tractate Sotah 47a.
2 Genesis 28:13.
3 Tractate Chulin 91b.
4 This alludes to the teaching that everything we come in contact with,
everything that belongs to us, even everything we eat, are all part of our
own souls. These parts have been separated from us and we must reunite and
elevate them within ourselves. But how do we know what things are really
part of us? The answer is, to those things to which we are attracted are
really part of us. These include, things we are attracted to eat, the items
we are attracted to purchase, and the person we are attracted to marry. The
attraction is G.d's way of telling us, Look here, these are the parts that
are really apart of you! This is why the sages said in the opening teaching
that there are three types of favor - the favor is our attraction to those
things, which includes our attraction to live where we do, because that is
where most of those things are to be found. Some people, though, travel
around a lot, whether for their livelihood or for other reasons. This is
because their sparks are scattered around in those places. But G.d's
blessing to Jacob was that He would bring those scattered sparks to him.
5Genesis 6:8.
The connection of this verse here is not clear. Perhaps the allusion is that
Noah also merited that his sparks come to him, as indeed happened when the
designated survivors of all life on earth came to him to enter the Ark.
Furthermore, it may also allude that Noah found favor in G.d, just as the
three things find favor in the eyes of their beholder. That is, Noah
represents the righteous person, the tzaddik, who reunites his soul with
G.d, and is thus with G.d wherever he is, which is another way of
representing G.d folding the Land of Israel under Jacob.

Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua Starrett and reprinted with the
kind permission of the Baal Shem Tov Foundation. Please visit
www.baalshemtov.com

Join a class on the Perekim from the Kesser Shem Tov: Shabbos morning 9am
in the Shteibel Minyan Beis Medresh and around 2pm after Shabbos lunch at
7495 Malibu Crescent, Montoya Estates East.

Also, write to Bentzion@besht-yomi.org to receive the Teachings of the Baal
Shem Tov in your email inbox

Publicize the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov to help bring Moshiach right
NOW!

Letter of the Baal Shem Tov

 

 

The Epistle: The Letter From The Baal Shem Tov To Rabbi Gershon Kitover

By Rabbi David Sears

The Baal Shem Tov's LETTER that describes his "ascent of the soul" on Rosh Hashana is one of the few original writings of the founder of Chassidus that has survived. The LETTER was written during the last years of the Baal Shem Tov's life to his brother-in-law, the Torah scholar of repute, Rabbi Avraham Gershon of Kitov, who had immigrated to the Holy Land. However, for some reason, the LETTER was never delivered. Thus, Rabbi Gershon Kitover's loss was posterity's gain. The precious document remained in the Baal Shem Tov's immediate circle until its publication some 30 years later in Ben Poras Yosef, a collection of Chassidic discourses by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef HaKohen of Polonoye. The LETTER also appears as the first entry in Kesser Shem Tov (Crown of a Good Name, 1794), Rabbi Aharon HaKohen of Zhelikhov's classic anthology of the Baal Shem Tov's teachings gleaned from the works of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polonoye.

The LETTER bespeaks the mystical experiences to which its author was privy, as well as the directness, intimacy, and emotional warmth with which he related to family members and disciples alike. Its contents attest to two central points of the Baal Shem Tov's legacy: the belief that the dissemination of his unique path of divine service is of Messianic import; and that it was (and is) the Baal Shem Tov's mission to bring the mystical dimension of Jewish religious practice to the entire Jewish people, from the greatest Torah scholar to the humblest untutored laborer. (It should be mentioned in passing that this refutes the idea, recently advanced, that the Baal Shem Tov was simply a "private mystic" of a fairly conventional type.) To a great extent, the former goal has been accomplished by the various Chassidic leaders who succeeded the Baal Shem Tov; however, the fulfillment of the latter remains something of a mystery.

Although many of the Baal Shem Tov's values and concepts have been instilled in a broad spectrum of the Jewish religious community - in particular, the striving to increase in ahavas Yisrael, to serve God with joy and a whole heart, and to regard the spiritual life as a privilege and not a burden - his mystical practices, for the most part, seem to have "fallen through the cracks." Most Chassidim today may be religiously devout, but not much more concerned with mysticism than their non-Chassidic peers. Nevertheless, when one explores the spectrum of Chassidic teachings, the experiential aspect of the Baal Shem Tov's path still may be discerned.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the Baal Shem Tov's great-grandson, advocated hisbodedus, secluded personal meditation and prayer, ideally practiced in the fields or forests at night for an hour or more. It is known that the Baal Shem Tov used to practice hisbodedus regularly. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi and his successors in the Chabad Chassidic dynasty taught hisbonenus, a unique method of guided contemplation that can open the gates of higher perception. The Komarno tradition takes a more liberal stance toward the use of kavanos ("intentions") and yichudim ("unifications"), two categories of Kabbalistic techniques formulated by the sixteenth century master Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, known as the holy Ari. In more recent times, Rabbi Kolonymus Kalman of Piacetzna included meditation and visualization practices as part of his highly original Chassidic teachings. Although the Piacetzna Rebbe perished in the Holocaust, his manuscripts miraculously survived, and have been birth to a regeneration of Chassidic spirituality that transcends any one group or community.

To find proper guidance along any of these paths may be a challenge - but as the sages of the Talmud state of all those who strive to learn Torah: "If someone tells you, 'I tried, but I did not succeed,' do not believe him; if someone tells you, "I tried, and I succeeded,' believe him!" (Megillah 6b). In the Breslov and Chabad communities there are qualified individuals who teach the practices of hisbodedus and hisbonenus; in Kabbalistic circles the kavannos and yichudim still are employed; and in both Brooklyn and Jerusalem, contemporary teachers have formulated their own more eclectic approaches, rooted in the path of the Baal Shem Tov. We look forward to the day when hisbodedus and such practices will be as commonplace as the daily prayer service. Then, at last, the Mashiach's assurance to the Baal Shem Tov will be fulfilled.

THE LETTER

To my beloved brother-in-law, my friend who is dear to me as my own heart and soul, the exalted rabbi and Chasid, renowned for his Torah scholarship and fear of Heaven, our master, Rabbi Avraham Gershon, may his light shine. Peace unto him and his family, his modest wife, Bluma, together with all their children; may they be blessed with life, amen, sela.

I received the letter written by your holy hand, which you sent by means of the emissary from Jerusalem, at the fair of Luka in the year 5510 (1750 c.e.). It was written with extreme brevity, explaining that you had already written at length to each of us individually and had sent those letters by means of a certain man en route to Egypt. However, the letters never arrived, and I was sorely grieved that I never saw the work of your holy hand which was written in greater detail. Assuredly this is due to the calamitous state of the many lands in which the plague has spread because of our many transgressions. Not far from our region the pestilence has reached the holy community of Mohilev, as well as Wallachia and Turkey.

[Your letter] also states that the Torah teachings and mystical revelations which I sent you through the rabbi and preacher of the holy community of Polonoye did not reach you; this, too, caused me great distress. It certainly would have given you great joy if they had reached you. I have since forgotten many [of those teachings]. However, the few details I still remember I will write to you in brief.

On Rosh Hashanah of the year 5507 (1746 cue.), I made a [Kabalistic] oath and elevated my soul in the manner known to you. I saw wondrous things in a vision, the like of which I had never witnessed since the day my mind first began to awaken. The things which I saw and learned when I ascended there would be impossible to communicate, even if I could speak to you in person. When I returned to the lower Garden of Eden, I saw many souls, both living and dead, some known to me and others unknown-their number was beyond reckoning. They were hastening to and fro in order to ascend from one world to another through the Column known to those initiated into the Mysteries. Their joy was too great for the mouth to express or the physical ear to hear. Also, many evil-doers were repenting, and their sins were being forgiven, since it was a special time of Divine favor. Even to me, it was amazing how many of them were accepted as penitents, a number of whom you also know. There was great joy among them, too, and they ascended in he same manner.

Together they begged and implored me unceasingly, "Because of the glory of your Torah, God has granted you an additional measure of understanding to grasp and to know these matters. Ascend with us so that you can be our help and support."

Because of the great joy that I beheld among them, I agreed to go up with them... And I besought my master (Achiyah HaShiloni) to accompany me, for the ascent to the Supernal Worlds is fraught with danger. From the day of my birth until now, I never experienced such an ascent as this.

I went up from level to level until I entered the Palace of Moshiach, where Moshiach studies with the Tannaim and tzaddikim, as well as the Seven Shepherds. There I found extremely great rejoicing, but I did not know the cause of this delight. At first I thought that it might be due to my having passed away from the physical world, God forbid. Later they told me that I had not yet died, for they have great pleasure on high when I effect mystical unifications in the world below through their holy Torah. However, to this very day, the nature of their joy remains unknown to me.

I asked Moshiach, "When will you come, master?" And he replied, "By this you shall know: it will be a time when your teachings become publicized and revealed to the world; and your well-springs have overflowed to the outside. [It will be when] that which I have taught you-and that which you have perceived of your own efforts-become known, so that others, too, will be able to perform mystical unifications and ascents of the soul like you. Then all the evil klippos will be destroyed, and it will be a time of grace and salvation."

I was amazed at this and greatly troubled, since a long time must pass for this to be possible. But while I was there I learned three segulos and three Holy Names which are easy to learn and explain. My mind was then set at ease, and I thought that with these teachings the people of my own generation might attain the same spiritual level and state as myself. They would be able to elevate their souls and to learn and perceive just as I do. However, I was not granted permission to reveal this during my lifetime. I pleaded for your sake to be allowed to teach you; but I was denied permission altogether and took an oath to that effect.

Yet this I can tell you, and may God assist you, that your way may pleasant to the Lord, and that you do not go astray (particularly in the Holy Land). Whenever you pray or study-and with every utterance your lips-intend to bring about the unification of a Divine Name. For every letter contains worlds and souls and Godliness, and they ascend and combine and unite with one another. Then the letters combine and unite to form a word, and they are actually unified with the Divine essence-and in all these aspects, your soul is bound up with them. All [the worlds become unified as one, and they ascend and bring about great joy and delight without measure. Consider the joy of a bridegroom and bride in this lowly physical world, and you will realize how much greater is the joy on such a lofty spiritual level.

God will surely help you. Wherever you turn, you will succeed and become enlightened. "Give wisdom to the wise, and he will become wise all the more." Please pray for my sake, that I might be privileged to dwell in God's land during my lifetime; and pray for the remnant of our people who still remain in the Diaspora.

These are the words of your brother-in-law who longs to see you face-to-face, who prays that length of days be granted to you and your wife and children, and who wishes you peace "all your days-including the nights, for many good years, amen, sela.

Israel Baal Shem Tov of the Holy Community of Medzhibuzh

The Path of the Baal Shem Tov By David Sears Jason Aronson Inc. www.aronson.com

 

Fw: Baal Shem Tov 1

 

My friend Reb BenTzion sent this to share with you all:

BS"D

Chai Elul 5767

 

Birth of the Baal Shem Tov

Day that the Besht revealed himself

Birth of Shneur Zalman of Laidi, The Alter Rebbe of Lubavitch

Day that Menachem Mendel shlita, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, compiled HaYom Yom

 

20 or so years ago I was driving somewhere and listening to a cassette of The Basic Principles of Chabad Chassidus, by Rabbi Shloma Majeski.  He was discussing Hashchocha Protes, or G-dly direction in our lives, when he illuminated the point by mentioning that the Baal Shem Tov was able to see G-ds hand directing a leaf blowing in the wind.

 

Just then, as I was driving and thinking about that incredible image, a leaf blew right across the windshield of my car!

 

And I thought WOW!  If the Bescht were driving right now, he would have been able to see Hashem directing that leaf.  So I leaned forward to see better, looking for the hand of Hashem.

 

Since then, I try to see Hashem's hand in all that happens to me and those around me and to view life as directed down to the smallest detail by the Abishter.

 

But I had questions: Hashem doesn't have hands like we know them: the use of the word hand is only metaphorical, to allow us to begin to visualize and comprehend Hashem who is totally incomprehensible to us (see Tanya).  Yet the statement that the Baal Shem was able to see the hand of G-d also has to be taken at P'shat face value.  He WAS able to see the hand of G-d.  But how?

 

We learn that in the time of Moshiach, (not immediately, but during one of the phases of the process) we will be able to see G-dliness in everything around us: in a blade of grass, a pebble, a piece of paper.  We will be able to see the G-dly spark in ALL material objects.  But when it says that we will be able to see the spark in everything, it means EVERYTHING…from the macroscopic level where objects have discernable shapes (i.e. it's a rock) to the microscopic where we begin to see things on the molecular level.  And beyond that to the nano… and beyond that to the nuclear level…both materially and spiritually.

 

Imagine an infinite zoom microscope that is focused on a rock.  You first hold the rock in your hand, it looks smooth and round.  In the macro all you see is a smooth stone.  When you place it in the microscope, as you increase the magnification you begin to see a cratered, pitted surface made up of striated bands of color.  As the magnification increase and we delve into the microscopic depths of the rock we are opened up to worlds within worlds until we get to the nuclear level where the rock no longer exists, all we see are swirling protons and electrons.

 

Now take this imagery to the spiritual plane.

 

If we look at a finite macroscopic object, we can see the G-dly spark that illuminates the stone and therefore it exists.  But each level of spiritual magnification reveals yet again G-dly sparks, but of a different nature…down to the nuclear level which again shows G-dly sparks as to that level.

 

But EVERYTHING contains G-dly sparks, including the air we breathe and which surrounds us. 

 

If we place a molecule of 'air' into our infinite zoom microscope construct, at some level, that molecule of air will be indistinguishable from the previous molecule of rock.  Not only that, but the dividing lines between what is rock and what is air will also be indistinguishable both physically and spiritually.

 

And this is how I believe we can begin to understand the P'shat of the statement that the Baal Shem Tov was able to see G-ds hand in a leaf blowing in the wind.

 

The leaf and the wind, on the most fundemental of spiritual (and physical) levels, are ONE with G-d and intimately connected to our Creator.  His Hand is present in all things, physical and spiritual; therefore the Baal Shem Tov was able to discern the Hand of G-d.  And if we keep trying….

 

Bentzion Ziskind Meltzer

Chai Elul 5767

Bentzion Meltzer

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