CHASSIDUS BS'D
DERECH HaBAAL SHEM TOV
Ahavas HaShem, Ahavas Yisroel, Ahavas HaTorah
THE WAY OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV
Love of G-d, Love of fellow Jews, 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.
Mishpatim
I. Servant of HaShem*
1. 'And you shall serve HaShem your G-d' (Shemos* 23.25)
I have heard the following teaching from my teacher (the Baal Shem
Tov). The verse says, "And you will return and see the difference
between the Tzaddik* and the wicked man, between the one who serves
HaShem and the one who does not serve HaShem. (Malachi* 3.18)." The
Talmud* asks, 'Is not the Tzaddik the one who serves HaShem and the
wicked man the one who does not serve HaShem?' It then answers, there
is a difference between the one who learns a passage 100 times and
the one who learns it 101 times.
We have to understand why it is that a person who learns only one
time less is called wicked and is not considered as if he is serving
HaShem. The answer is that with the person whose whole purpose of
learning Torah and serving HaShem is for show, whenever he serves
HaShem it is not worth anything. That is because the One is missing.
i.e. he is missing the intention to serve HaShem, who is the true
One. [What he is doing is not because it is the will of HaShem, but
for his own purposes.]
>From this we can understand the verse. Even if this person serves
HaShem, he is still called one who doesn't serve HaShem. The reason
is that there is a difference between the one who learns 100 times
and the one who learns 101 [i.e. 100 times with the One.] But if he
does it without the One, what use is there in his learning 100 times?
(p. 367 sefer Baal Shem Tov. Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov.)
* * *
II. Doing tshuva* when you are young
2. 'The first of the first fruits of your land you should bring to
the house of HaShem your G-d, and you shall not cook a kid in it's
mother's milk.' (Shemos 23.19)
We need to understand the relationship between the first half of the
verse [about the first fruits] and the second half [about cooking the
kid.]
We see that the main thing which causes people to put off doing
tshuva is that they think they have a long time left in their lives
in which to do tshuva. They feel that they have many long years, and
because of that they don't need to rush and do tshuva. And even more
the person whose father and mother lived for a long time, will think
that he also has a long time in which to live. [It seems obvious to
him that he will also live as long as his parents.]
However this is only the advice of his Yetzer*. The truth is that a
person needs to do tshuva while he is still young, as it says in all
the holy seforim*. Likewise a person doesn't know how many days are
allotted to him, and hence the Mishnah* says in Pirkei Avos*, 'you
should do tshuva one day before you die.' [And since he doesn't know
when this is, all his days should be spent in tshuva.]
In this verse we see that the Torah* forbids the cooking of the kid
in it's mother's milk. But the verse doesn't tell us anything about
how the mother was slaughtered. We have to say that the milk was from
the mother while she was still alive.
>From this we should learn the lesson that we should not consider that
just because one's parents lived for a long time that it means that
he will also have many long years. This verse actually teaches this
lesson since we see that the kid has been slaughtered while the
mother is still alive. If he considers this he will certainly not
hold himself back from doing tshuva while he is still young.
This is then the explanation of the verse. 'The first of the first
fruits of your land you should bring to the house of HaShem your
G-d.' While you are still young you should bring everything to the
house of HaShem and do a complete tshuva. He shouldn't say that
because the day is long [and there is still time for him to do
tshuva] he will sin now and later do tshuva. Even though his parents
are alive no one knows when he will leave this world. The proof of
that is: 'and you shall not cook a kid in it's mother's milk.' Just
like the kid has already been slaughtered, and it's mother is still
alive [he likewise doesn't know when his end will be.] He shouldn't
wait to do tshuva, but immediately when he is in his youth he has to
do tshuva. (p. 17 sefer Avir HaRo'im, teachings and stories of
Rebbe* Yitzchok Isaac of Kaliv.)
* * *
III. The war with your Yetzer HaRah*
3. 'If you will see the donkey of your enemy bowed down under its
burden, and you would withhold yourself from unloading it, you shall
surely unload it with him.' (Shemos 23.5)
Chazal* explain that this verse means that you are required to help
your enemy unload the burden only when he is there with you helping
to do it. But if he walks away and says that you have a mitzvah* to
help him and he doesn't need to do anything. Then there is no longer
any mitzvah to help him. [You are only required to help him and not
to do it for him.]
We can explain this verse in this manner. There are those who wage a
war against their Yetzer because it tries to trip them up in the
delights of this world and with physical enjoyment. They do this by
breaking their bodies through self mortification in order to kill any
desires for this world. And by doing this they destroy their bodies.
All this is done in order to free themselves from the Yetzer HaRah
that has hold of them and is attached to their bodies. However,
afterwards when they try to serve HaShem they are not able to do it
without their bodies [which have been greatly weakened.]
This is not the way of serving HaShem as I have written previously on
the verse , 'I will not remove them [your enemies] from you quickly
because it would cause the wild beasts to multiply in your fields.'
The true way is for the person to fight against his Yetzer HaRah
little by little, with intelligence, and not to destroy his body. He
should use the strength of the Yetzer itself to serve HaShem. And by
so doing he is turning his Yetzer HaRah into the Yetzer Tov* as I
have said in another place.
This is the meaning of the verse: 'If you will see the donkey [Heb
chamor] of your enemy.' That means your material being. [Heb
Chomrious] The physical nature of your enemy is the Yetzer HaRah who
attaches itself to you and rules over your body. [When you will see
the power of the Yetzer HaRah come against you and controlling your
physical nature.]
[The verse continues:] 'Bowed down under its burden.' i.e. that you
have placed upon your body many types of mortification which has made
it difficult for yourself. You are bowed down completely and are not
able to do either evil or good. [This being caused by your trying to
destroy the Yetzer HaRah.]
'And you would withhold yourself from unloading it.' This is not the
way for you to act. But 'you shall surely unload it with him.' You
should unload from your body these mortifications and ease your
burden from them. You should only do a little at a time and under
supervision. You should progress from level to level so that you do
not destroy your body. And with time HaShem will help you and he
will make your Yetzer HaRah to a Yetzer Tov. And the strength and
fire of the Yetzer HaRah will be used to serve HaShem. That is the
meaning of, 'unload it with him.' You should unload the body from
it's burdens from self mortification so that it should not become
destroyed by you. And from this you will take the strength of the
Yetzer HaRah and serve HaShem. [You will work together with the
Yetzer HaRah to serve HaShem.] (p. 176 sefer Orach LeChaim teachings
of Rebbe Avraham Chaim of Zlotchov.)
* * *
IV. Approaching HaShem
4. 'And the master of the house shall cause him to be brought before
the judges [Heb. elohim] to swear that he has not put his hand to his
neighbors goods.' (Shemos 22.7)
It appears clear to me that the Talmud Chocham* and those who can
learn Torah are able to approach HaShem through their learning of
Torah and their prayers. But what shall the simple person who cannot
learn do? How can he approach HaShem and ask Him to bestow upon him
holiness? To this the verse answers: 'he has not put his hand to his
neighbors goods.' i.e. if he has done his work honestly with faith in
HaShem. He has not destroyed his neighbors livelihood, and he has
been careful in the laws between a man and his fellow men that are
commanded in the Torah. With that he is able to perfect his soul and
approach to HaShem.
We can also explain it: 'he has not put his hand to his neighbors
goods.' Who is his neighbor? That is HaShem. A person has to accept
everything that comes to him from HaShem with love. This is true even
if it means that he experiences suffering. He should not question the
actions of HaShem but accept all that happens with love. With that
he can come close to HaShem. This is if 'he has not put his hand',
i.e. has not complained regarding 'his neighbors goods'. Those
things that HaShem has done he has not complained about but he has
accepted them with love. (p. 42 sefer Meori Or teachings of the
Rebbes of the Chernobler dynasty. This one was from Rebbe Yakov
Yisroel from Tcherkasa the son of Rebbe Mordechai of Chernoble)
* * *
V. Serving HaShem together with all of Israel
5. 'And you shall serve HaShem your G-d and He will bless your
bread, and he will remove all sickness from amongst you.' (Shemos
23.25)
There is a well known question on this verse. It starts off plural
'and you [pl.] shall serve', and then it goes to the singular, 'and
he will bless your [sing.] bread.' This can be understood as a remez*
for what is well known [from the holy seforim] that before one prays
he should intend to join himself together with all of the Jewish
people in order to fulfil the verse, 'and you should love your
neighbor as yourself.'
The same is the case before he starts to learn, he should likewise
have in mind his love of all the Jewish people. From this HaShem will
bless his bread, i.e. the bread of Torah. 'And He will remove any
sickness from amongst you', i.e. you will be able to stand firm in
your war with your Yetzer HaRah. 'And the number of your days he will
fulfil', i.e. you will be able to rectify everyday of your life
according to the purpose that HaShem has for you. As it says of the
verse, 'Avraham was old and he came with his days.' He came with all
of his days. [He was able to fulfil his purpose in each of his days
according to what Hashem desired of him.] (p.55 sefer Avodas
Yissachar, teachings of Rebbe Yissachar Dov Berish of Valbruz)
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Glossary:
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
Maggid: In Europe this was a person who would give sermons on moral
subjects. Many of the first Rebbes was Maggidim (pl. of Maggid).
Malachi: One of the books of the Tenach.
mikvah:Hebrew word referring to a ritual bath used for purification
Mishnah: An ancient Jewish work made of specific laws.
mitzvah(mitzvos): One of the commandments of the Torah.
Pirkei Avos: A Tractate of the Mishnah
Reb: A title added to a persons name as a sign of respect.
Rebbe: Leader of a Chassidic group or a teacher
Rebbe Reb: A title added to a few special Rebbes as a sign of their
higher spiritual stature.
remez: A method of Biblical interpretation based on finding hints
in the Torah for various concepts.
sefer(seforim): A Jewish religious book.
Shemos: Second book of the Torah. Called Exodus in English
Talmid (Talmidim): Disciples of a Rebbe.
Talmud: An ancient work of Jewish law.
Talmud Chocham(Talmidei Chochomim): Hebrew for Talmud sage, refers to
one who is learned in Jewish legal texts.
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
Tzaddakah: Hebrew for charity
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 HaRah: Heb. Evil Inclination.
Yetzer Tov: Heb. Good Inclination
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Copyright (c) 1997 by Moshe Shulman (mshulman@virtual.co.il)
All rights reserved.
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