BS'D
Derech HaBaal Shem Tov The way of the Baal Shem Tov
Ahavas HaShem Love of G-d
Ahavas Yisroel Love of fellow Jews
Ahavas HaTorah Love of the Torah
Note: A '*' next to a word indicates that it is translated/explained
in the glossary at the end. Three '*' (* * *) in the text indicates a
break between two sections. A single '*' (*) indicates a separation
between different teachings on the same subject. Anything found
between '[' and ']' are my comments and do not appear in the source
material. Everything else is from the original as is cited at the end
of the article.
*Shemos
I. Simple Faith
1. 'I am the G-d of your fathers...' (Shemos 3.6)
I heard from the *Tzaddik *Rebbe Noach (of Lechovitz) *ZY'A, that the
Baal Shem Tov said to his *Talmidim, 'After all that I have achieved
in understanding the supernal secrets of the *Torah, and the sources
of the *mitzvos, and after all the enjoyment that I have attained
from this, I put aside all of these levels of knowledge and I
strengthen myself with simple faith in *HaShem. Ich bin a nar un ich
gleib [Yiddish: I am a fool and I believe.]
He ended by saying that the Baal Shem Tov saw the source of all
things, and even so he put it all aside to grasp the fundamental
principle of 'Simple faith in HaShem.'
My teacher Rebbe Mordechai of Lechovitz said that the Baal Shem Tov
further explained, 'even though it says '"The simple man believes in
all things" (*Mishleh 14.15), it also says that "HaShem watches over
the simple ones." [Meaning that while it may seem to be a bad thing
that in matters of faith one acts with simplicity, however HaShem has
promised that He watches over the one who has simple faith.]
(*Tehillim 116.6) (Letter 24 in sefer Yesod HaAvodah from Rebbe
Avraham of Solonim)
*
2. I have heard from people who are well known for relating stories
correctly that the Chasid, the holy Grandfather, my great uncle Rebbe
Meshulim Zushya *ZT'L (of Anapoli), said that 'I am not expecting a
reward in the world to come for the service of HaShem that I did
after I understood the true greatness of HaShem. I am only waiting
for the reward for the service of HaShem that I did when I served him
with simple faith. [When I served Him] because it was what I had
received as a tradition.' [The service of HaShem done with simple
faith is much higher then service of HaSHem that is done with high
levels of understanding of the nature of HaShem.] (#3 Sefer Egra
D'Pirka teachings of Rebbe Tzvi Elimeilech of Dinov.)
* * *
II. *Tshuva
3. 'You don't give straw [Heb. tevan] to your servants, and they say
to us to make bricks. [Heb. Leveinim].' (Shemos 5.16)
'Straw' is similar to the Hebrew word for 'wisdom' [Heb tevunah] and
understanding. While 'bricks' can refer to tshuva according to what
*Chazal say in the *Talmud tractate *Shabbos 45 'At all times your
garments should be white [Heb lavanim]' [The verse is understood by
our Rabbis to mean that one should always be clothed in white,
symbolizing that he is constantly doing tshuva.]
This is the meaning of the verse: Straw, i.e. understanding, isn't
given to Your servants. [Which means that we are lacking in proper
understanding of the nature of HaShem.] And bricks, i.e. tshuva, You
wish for us to do? This is a big question. How can we begin to do
tshuva if we are lacking in understanding? HaShem should first grant
us wisdom and understanding and then we will merit to do a complete
tshuva. (p. 33 sefer Alna D'Chaya a collection of teachings from
various Chassidic Rebbes. This is from Rebbe Shlomoh of Karlin ZY'A
*HY'D)
* * *
III. The work of the Yetzer HaRah
4. 'They set task masters over them to afflict them with their
burdens' (Shemos 1.11)
It says in the sefer Toldos Yaakov Yosef that the 'tasks' here means
the anxieties that people have in their life. The *Yetzer HaRah has
the power to make a person have anxiety. Most of the time the Yetzer
HaRah uses these anxieties to drive a person away from the service of
HaShem. From morning to night, and then from night to morning people
are occupied with these anxieties. He goes to sleep with them and
wakes up with them. And so his whole day goes by.
Each person has anxieties according to his nature and position in
life. We are not just talking of the businessman or the worker, even
those who are sitting in Yeshiva learning are filled with anxieties.
It comes either from money matters or other things. Because of these
anxieties he can't pray, he can't understand his learning, he doesn't
know what he is saying, and he doesn't even know who he is. One of
the most important things the Yetzer Harah works on are these
anxieties, and this is the meaning of 'to afflict them with their
burdens.' [The Yetzer HaRah tries to afflict them with constant
anxiety.]
Another *peshat in this verse could be according to what it says in
Sefer Lekutim from the *Ari Z'L. He said, 'All the mitzvos that a
person does while he is still wicked, or the Torah that he learns at
that time not only does it not add strength to the side of holiness
but the exact opposite. It adds strength to the side of the Yetzer
HaRah. About this person [who learns while being a sinner] it says,
"To the wicked man G-d says, why do you discuss my Torah?" This means
that he takes something that is holy and puts it in an unclean and
unholy place. With this he adds to his sins and makes them too great
to carry.
However when he does tshuva he takes back all these mitzvos, etc. and
brings them into the side of holiness. That is the meaning of tshuva
[lit. return], i.e. he returns these holy things [i.e. the mitzvos]
to the side of holiness. He then gets a double reward in that he
weakens the Yetzer HaRah and removes the holiness that it has taken.
He also add strength to the side of holiness through his tshuva. This
is what the Rabbis meant when they said, 'his willing sins become
merits for him.' [By doing tshuva he makes all those sins into big
mitzvos. Until here is from the Ari Z'L.]
Similarly it was taught in the sefer Chesed L'Avraham that when a
person does mitzvos a portion of the 'light' [i.e. holiness] from
this remains as a garment for his *nashama. Likewise when one does a
sin there comes on him an 'unclean' garment for his nashama. With
this garment he is 'clothed' when his nashama leaves this world.
From this idea we can understand why the verse says, 'To the wicked
man G-d says why do you discuss my Torah?' Since his nashama is in
the hands of the Yetzer Harah all his mitzvos add more strength to
the Yetzer HaRah. It comes to him and says, 'his prayer belongs to
me', and he takes it as his own. However by the strength of tshuva
he can repair this so it will be as it was in the first place. He can
break the Yetzer HaRah and return the mitzvos to where they belong.
These will then become acceptable to HaShem and his sins will be
considered as merits. [Until here is from Chesed L'Avraham.]
With these ideas the sefer Yaros Dvash explains the simple meaning of
what we say in the Piyyut "Adir Ayom v'Norah" [that is sung at the
meal after the Shabbos has ended]. '[Rescue] the sheep from the hands
of the shearers.' When people want their sheep to grow a lot of wool
they first feed them special foods which the sheep like to eat and
which make the wool to grow faster. The sheep enjoy this because as
the wool grows they get warmer and warmer. They don't know that the
whole purpose of this is in order that the wool should be cut off of
them. The faster it grows the sooner they will be shorn of the wool.
The same is with the Yetzer HaRah. Sometimes it sees that [due to the
sins of the person] he has no more mitzvos or good deeds, and so the
Yetzer HaRah has nothing to take from him. Therefore he lets him have
a rest. Then the person does tshuva and starts to get some mitzvos
and good deeds. All this was in order that he should have something
to take later. So we pray that HaShem should rescue the sheep from
the shearers. We should not be like sheep waiting to be shorn. We
should not do mitzvos only so that the Yetzer HaRah should have what
to take from us. We should merit to do mitzvos for the sake of
HaShem, with holiness.
This could be the meaning of the words of the verse, 'and they placed
over them task masters [Heb sarei masim]. *Rashi says that it means
'officers that take tax [Heb mas]'. This refers to the Yetzer HaRah
who takes a 'tax', which are the mitzvos and the Torah that people
learn. (p. 63b sefer Divrei Emunah teachings of the Rebbe of Toldos
Aharon ZT'L)
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Glossary:
Ari Z'L: Hebrew initials of the words: Adoni Rabbenu Yitzchok
Zechorono LeVaracha our master Rabbi Yitzchok. Better known as
Yitzchok Luria the great 16th century Kabbalist
Chazal: Hebrew initials for: Chochmenu Zichrona Levaracha (Our sages
of Blessed memory) Used to refer to Rabbis of the Talmud
HaShem: Noun used in place of G-d. Lit. The Name
HY'D: Heb. HaShem Yimkom Domov: HaShem should avenge their blood.
Mishleh: One of the books of the Tenach, called in English Proverbs.
mitzvah(mitzvos): One of the commandments of the Torah.
nashama: Hebrew word for soul.
peshat: A method of Biblical interpretation based on finding
the simple meaning in the Torah.
Rashi: The primary commentary on the Tenach.
Rebbe: Leader of a Chassidic group or a teacher
Shabbos: Tractate in the Talmud
Shemos: Second book of the Torah. Called Exodus in English
Talmid (Talmidim): Disciples of a Rebbe.
Talmud: An ancient work of Jewish law.
Tehillim: Hebrew name for Psalms.
Torah: a. First 5 books of the Jewish Bible
b. Also refers to the whole of Jewish law
c. also common term for a chassidic teaching
Tshuva: Hebrew word for repentance
Tzaddik (Tzaddikim): lit. Righteous. Another name for a Chassidic
Rebbe.
Yetzer: lit. Inclination. It is Jewish belief that every Jew has both
an evil and good inclination within him, that are at 'war' to see
which of them the person will follow.
Yetzer Tov: Heb. Good Inclination
Yetzer HaRah: Heb. Evil Inclination.
ZT'L: Hebrew initials of the words: Zechor Tzaddik LeVaracha (The
memory of a Tzaddik - Righteous person is a blessing.)
ZY'A: Hebrew initials of the words: Zechiso Yagan Aleinu (His
merit should protect us.)
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Copyright (c) 1997 by Moshe Shulman (mshulman@virtual.co.il)
All rights reserved.
Issur Hasugas Givil