A Soulful Journey

The disciples of the Baal Shem Tov heard that a certain man was a sage. Some of them were anxious to see and hear his "Torah." The master gave them permission to go, but first they asked him: How will we know that he is a true teacher? The Baal Shem replied: Ask him for advice on how to pray and learn without distraction. If he answers, you will know there is nothing to him.  -Stern,   Day by Day , p.335

Called upon to take over the Hasidic movement, Rabbi Hirsch found the position empty.  He withdrew and ultimately spoke only to his deceased father.  In his dreams, he asked, "How can I best serve God?" The Baal Shem climbed a high mountain and threw himself into the abyss.  "Like this," he said. Another time the Baal Shem appeared to him as a mountain on fire, erupting into a thousand fragments.  "Like this as well." There are times when we want to close to the Almighty but the first step is to rid oneself of ego.

  "The way God punishes someone is to take away their faith."  -Baal Shem Tov

"Remembrance is the key to redemption." - Baal Shem Tov

"As one hand washes the other, so one person must help another."  - Leon of Modena, 1600 "If you want to pull a friend out of the mire, do not hesitate to get a  little dirty."  - Baal Shem Tov

A tzaddik told that the Baal Shem Tov hoped that one day he would be carried away to heaven by a storm like Elijah.  When his wife died he said, “I hoped I would be taken to heaven as Elijah was, in a cloud of fire.  But this is not possible any more because now I am only one half of a body."

“God is the shadow of man” was commented upon by the Baal Shem Tov as follows:  Just as a shadow follows the gestures and motions of the body, God follows those of the soul. If a person is charitable, God will be charitable too. The name of a person’s secret is God and the name of God’s secret is none other than the one invented by humanity, love. Who loves, loves God.

The Baal Shem Tov said, “Like a lightning that all of a sudden illumines the world, God illumines the mind of man, enabling him to understand the greatness of the Creator.” This is what is meant by the words of the Psalmist: “He sent out His arrows and scattered [the clouds]; he shot fourth lightnings and discomfited them.” The darkness retreats, “The channels of water appeared, the foundations of the world were laid bare.”  (Psalms 18:15-16). Look to the light.   It is always there.

Like all of the Baal Shem's disciples he dreaded pride.  He said: "When I shall meet my Maker, I will be asked why I did not learn that man can and must learn during his passage on earth.  I shall reply: "Don't blame me, I wasn't intelligent enough, that is hardly my fault."  "Then why didn't you gave up earthly pleasures and devote yourself to serving the Lord?" "You mustn't blame me, I shall say, I lacked the physical strength for that." Then the court will examine my humanitarian activities and I shall be forced to admit that here too I failed to do my duty.  My excuse?  That I myself led a destitute existence.  In the end, I can foresee it, one of the judges, unable to restrain his anger, will cry out: "One thing I cannot understand.  You neither lived nor prayed as you should have, why then, are you so proud?" "And to that," said Rabbi Mikhal, "to that argument I shall have no answer."

"There is no room for God in one who is full of himself."  -Baal Shem Tov

The Baal Shem Tov also known as the Besht, undertook an urgent and perilous mission. He wanted to hasten the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people and all humanity were suffering too much, beset by too many evils.   They had to be saved, and swiftly.    For having tried to meddle with history, the Besht was punished. He was banished along with his faithful servant to distant land. In despair, the servant implored his Master to exercise his mysterious powers to bring them both home. “Impossible,” the Besht replied. “My powers, my Mystical powers have been taken from me.” "Then, please say a prayer, recite a litany, work a miracle.” “Impossible,” the master replied.   “I have forgotten everything.” And so they fell to weeping. Suddenly the Master turned to his Servant and asked, “My friend, remind me of a prayer, any prayer.” ”If only I could said the Servant. “I have forgotten everything.” ”Everything, absolutely everything?” ”Everything,” sa...

The Baal Shem Tov once sent his students to observe a local innkeeper as part of their  preparation  for Rosh Hashanah. The students dutifully checked into the inn. Initially they observed nothing remarkable. After saying the  Saturday  night  Selichot  (special penitential prayers recited before the New Year), they went to sleep, only to be awakened by the innkeeper moving about in the lobby. They tip-toed out of their rooms to find the innkeeper opening up a cabinet and removed two big ledgers. From one ledger he proceeded to read all his sins of the past year: he confessed that he was insensitive to his family, that he didn’t fulfill all his obligations to his community, that he didn’t study enough Torah, he once came late to prayers, etc. Then he opened the second ledger, saying to G-d, “These are my failings, now here’s what You didn’t do … I asked for a better living wage this year and you didn’t give it to me. My wife is still ill. My children nee...

Rabbi Bunim told the man the following story: Once, the holy   Baal Shem Tov   had to travel to a far-off destination on a matter of extreme importance to the welfare of a Jewish community. As was his custom on such trips, the Baal   Shem   Tov told his coachman, Alexis, to drop the reins and turn around in his bench. No sooner had the coachman turned his back on the horses that the road began to literally fly under their feet, and they traversed a many weeks' journey in a few hours. The horses, noticing that they were galloping past the feeding stations without stopping, thought to themselves: "Perhaps we are not horses after all, but human beings. Otherwise, why are we not being given oats and water at the customary places? Surely we will eat with the men, when they stop for their meals at the crossroads inns." But the inns, too, flew by, one after another, with dizzying speed. "It seems," the horses now surmised, "that we are not men after all, bu...

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?

When the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Maggid of Mezritch, had occasion for the same reason to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say, "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." Again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sassov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, "I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in ...