As a young man he would stay up late into the night
studying. His father suspected him of
wasting time playing and wandering through the streets. He would punish him for being idle. Israel suffered the blows in silence.
Later, when he was famous, he was asked why he did not
protest his innocence to his father,
“It is not given to everyone to suffer for the sake of Torah,”
he explained. –Maggid of Mezritch
This story of the Baal Shem Tov points t a powerful moral: How dedicated are we to Torah? If we suffered for it would we remain true?
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