Meditations and Advice of Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov – Installment 2
By zevi770 · July 31, 2017
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS From The Holy Baal Shem Tov
97.
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Once there was a king who said, “All can come and make a request” one man came and asked for riches; another for a prominent position; but a wise person said, he would like to come speak to the king three times a day – this pleased the king very much (seeing that to this man, a relationship with the king was more important than anything) and hence when he came, all was given.
98.
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
All is God, so how does evil occur? – This is the Kabbalistic doctrine of the world of Tohu that preceded our world (spiritual.) Being egotistical it shattered and became the source for arrogance, evil, maliciousness – but when a person considers that this too contains the Divine, we extract the good and the bad dissipates.
99.
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When we think lustful or arrogant thoughts, we take our Divine soul, bind it into a filthy cesspool – One must have pity, and release one’s soul!
102/103
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Everything in this world can be united to the Divine (through figuring out its meaningful purpose.)
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When one is with his wife, even if they are chit-chatting… if this is done for the sake of unity, every word is Divine.
104
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Just as you hold a physical object with your hand, you hold someone by calling their name.
107
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Why does Shabbos have a Mitzvah to delight her with physical pleasures? – for once the body is taken care of,,,, the soul can!
108
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
There are two ways a king can cause a subject to repent, one through suffering, the other through blessing – it goes like this: once there was a simple man who defied the king – instead of punishing him, the king gave him a prominent position – he was then continually upgraded until he finally became part of the ministers of the land – there he realized, how wise, kind, compassionate, just etc. the king is – this caused him the greatest feelings of remorse.
109
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
People often try to escape – they are suffering – this is like a woman who gave birth, but to rid herself of her pain, she goes to a different city! – However the true answer is, what happened to the Jewish people who escaped Egypt – but then the Egyptians pursued them… – so they realized they have no choice but to pray, and that very day they were saved.
110
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When we do Teshuvah – turn our life around – we must do so, step by step, otherwise it dies.
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When a person does Teshuvah – the spiritual stain of their bad deeds is (like clothes in a washing machine) cleansed.
(When we engage in material things be they copulation, food, drink – we elevate the Divine sparks.)
111
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When one holds part of an indivisible reality, such as God, one holds the whole! – and as God placed himself within Torah and Mitzvos – therefore when one passionately does a Mitzvah, or studies Torah (for the sake of connecting to God) one completely bonds.
Hence when one does a Mitzvah (in the aforesaid passionate way) it is as if he fulfills everyone.
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MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When one feels great joy, one should feel that this comes from God.
113
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Faith is so powerful that it creates miracles.
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MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
If you need to educate people you may not be harsh – you must first realize how you are all offshoots of the Rebbe of the generation’s soul.
114
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When the Yetzer Hara attacks a scholar he does so using “holy” distractions.
115
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
A Parable: Once there was a world emperor and he sent his trusted servant to go and fomet in all countries a rebellion – some countries went to a full scale war for the king – others accepted their “new ruler” – there was one though, that was comprised of exceptionally wise people and they realized that in fact this messenger “fomenting-rebellion” was in fact, not real.
116
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Just as when you see a dirty face in a mirror, it is your own; so to the dirt you see in another; (interestingly this was the great “discovery” of Carl Jung – we deny our own evil, but can see it in another – anything bad we see in another (especially if it vexes us ) is our own.)
119
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
What makes a miracle a miracle, is in its uniqueness, for the first time you see a natural phenomena you call it a miracle; the second time, nature; similarly we should pray that our life of giving should never be rote.
121
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
By nature the soul coming from the Divine, desires to soar to its source – for this reason it’s enclothed in a body – the body then has physical desires which drag it down – this then intensifies its longing.
The benefit of this system is, that if the soul would be in a permanent state of ecstasy, as every constant pleasure loses its value (hence pleasure) and as the goal is to feel pleasure in the Divine – hence through this ratzu-vshuv, lowering into the physical / causing a soul-longing; then the body’s needs forcing say more eating etc., we continually can receive soul-pleasure.
122
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
In fact G-d’s “retribution” is a kindness – the Baal Shem Tov gives an example from two friends who angered each other – now as they decided to reconcile, they began to analyze who was right and wrong – if they had no desire to reconcile…
123
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Sometimes we incur a financial loss – this occurs as some kind of punishment – the benefit is to give that amount of money to charity.
124
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
One who knowingly does wrong (as opposed to slips up – in other words, didn’t have malicious intent) is almost impossible to change.
125
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
A deeper explanation of the Mishnah, “Whoever the spirit of the people are pleased with, God is” – the Tzaddik of the generation receives the spirit of God, however this can only occur if he is humble – this then traverses through him to everyone else – this spirit has great love and hence people become loving.
126
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
A teaching on the Mishnah, “Whoever learns Torah Lishmah (for it’s sake) merits many things.”
The Ramban told his son, a sign that you are studying Torah “Lishmah” is when you feel great awe and love (for G-d then.)
You see, every letter of the Torah is intimately one with its Creator.
When we study Torah lacking Divine (but rachmanah litzlan personal) intent – this then takes the Divine into the place of kelipah (death.)
However if one then restudies this Torah with the proper awe and love, it elevates these letters from death.
Now the journey from heaven to earth is obviously as distant as earth to heaven – there are millions and trillions of stations along the way – hence when one studies Torah lishmah, they not only do a momentary pleasure, but as these letters ascend to their source, they bring life to all these universes.
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MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov explains the meaning of our sage’s words, “The reward for a Mitzvah is the Mitzvah.”
When you do a Mitzvah joyously, this brings God great joy!
130
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov quotes the teaching of the Kabbalists: all study of Torah, prayer and Mitzvos, should have an equal balance of love and reverence (for G-d.)
However on Rosh Hashanah, our reverence should outweigh our love.
And on Shabbos, our love over our reverence.
131
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
There are two types of rebukes – one focuses on the evil others do… – The Baal Shem Tov gives an example of a king whose son left the palace and became involved in low behaviors such as theft etc. – two people came to report this to the king; the first came to tell him how low the son became – this aroused the king’s anger and he banished him; the other came with tremendous sadness for the king, over how low the king’s son had fallen; this caused the king to do all in his power to restore his son.
132
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Our sages teach, “The whipping not written, is the death of the “Torah scholar””; explains the Baal Shem Tov, when (for example, the Misnagdic cult) study Torah, they get filled with arrogance – hence to rid them of this death / kelipah / arrogance, one must shame them.
However he gives an example of a king whose Minister and servant made a rebellion, so he ordered them whipped; but in honor of the Minister, he said that they should put the whip in a silk-cover – then the king heard that the minster was bragging to the servant (about his honor). So he said, he should be whipped like a servant. Similarly, when demeaning (such a debased “torah-scholar”) never use the words of Torah (to prove your point. This is a very profound teaching, for as we see, when arguing with “terrorists”, BDS etc. by using logic, you are feeding their fundamental narcissism – one must simply call them by what they are, “evil”.)
133
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov gives an example of a country in which they relied on their very strong giant – however the enemy became clever and he stole, piece by piece, his sword, spear, arrows and then took over the country. Similarly, each individual must pray – we should never rely on the Rebbe (head of the generation) especially as there may be times, that there is one who himself doesn’t have the fighting power.
134
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
From the Yetzer Hara we learn how to beat it – just look at how well it serves its Divine mission!
135
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
All problems arise when we are disconnected.
136
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
If a person finds he is able to concentrate during prayer, it is a sign that his prayers are answered.
137
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov teaches, there were some businessmen traveling and they lost their way – being stuck in a forest, they went to sleep – they happened to meet some people and they asked them for the way, the first group were kind and told them; the second group were thieves and they led them to their den.
Similarly, we come to this world like that lost businessman – the words of the Torah are the people who find us – however if we study the Torah searching for the truth, it will lead us – however, if study the Torah searching for ego, we will end up in the lowest hell.
138
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Often we don’t concentrate on prayer, for as it deals with lofty things we think we have no association – which is a mistake.
141
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
There is no possibility of doing only good – for it is only when the Yetzer Hara sees some possible (ego) gain from your action, does he permit it. However one must steal the Yetzer Hara’s knowledge (con him). In other words, you must pretend to do things for your personal (ego) gain.
142
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The idea of learning Torah Lishmah (altruistically) is to connect to the Divinity in the letters.
144
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Once there was a king who sent his son to a distant land (to tour.) But eventually his son became a native and didn’t return – so the King sent important ministers, but the son wasn’t interested; so he sent many other delegations, but no one could change his mind. Eventually one wise person, dressed up as a native, and became his friend, and convinced him. This is a parable the Baal Shem Tov gives explaining the stories of the Torah (in other words, these are not tales – rather as we relate to human experiences, they are actually examples of behavior.)
145
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
All of our problems arise, for we know not our power – a person doesn’t understand how like a father who has no other business but to hear from his child, God awaits, delights in, cherishes, our every prayer, Torah study and good deed!
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
A person must know that God is completely humble, and hence awaiting our input, then becomes our mirror; hence when we have in our heart compassion, his mercies is also aroused – this not only affects us, but the entire cosmic destiny.
146
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
We find by Arab kings (this perhaps was in the olden days, though they still act like this) they merely allude (hint). Similarly, from time to time ideas pop into a person’s head (positive) these are hints from G-d.
147
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Why does the verse say, “He does the will of those who fear him and he listens to their pleas” this seems redundant (and perhaps the order should be reversed; that after they plea, he does their will?) It contains a deep lesson – God like a loving father gives into our requests – however after we receive them, realizing that they were not worth it (at best) we then change our request.
148
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When a good soul is about to enter into this world, the satan complains to God that “this person will bring the world to you and hence you made me for no reason!” – so God allows him to send a despicable soul, garbed in the appearances of a Torah-scholar (though in actual fact, simply driven by ego) and this person (getting jealous of the reverence good people hold the good soul in) begins to poke fun at him – then there is freedom; for those who wish to attach themselves to the Tzaddik / good person vs. those who wish to be part of the mockers, are given the option.
149
MEDITATIONS
Everything that occurs in our world… there is a profound reason.
151
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov gives the following amazing parable, two people had to traverse a dangerous forest, filled with bandits; one was a drunk, the other upstanding – however the bandits caught the two, stole everything and for good measure beat them till they were black and blue – when they finally reached the other side, the people asked if it is safe to cross the forest – so the drunk said, “Sure, it’s no problem;” So they asked him “Why is it, you’re all battered” and he didn’t know. – But the wise person explained the truth; similarly, a foolish person is like a drunk, he looses touch with reality, with his soul, with what is valuable, and when he gets to heaven, he is all black and blue.
152
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov explains the concept that the world of falsehood mirrors the world of truth, for there are three main pillars: Chessed, love, pleasure; Gevurah, Strength; and Tiferes “Beauty”; in the world of holiness, the pleasure of Chessed is spiritual (like the pleasure we get from helping another) however as this descends to the lower world, this becomes the sexual appetite; in the higher world Gevurah, is positive self-discipline, but as it descends, it becomes anger and idolatry; and “beauty”, instead of seeing God’s glory, it becomes arrogance.
Now a person in the lower realm is weak-minded, hence allows these instincts to overtake them – but if one strengthens their convictions….
153
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
There are (similar to 152) different energies which can be used both in the positive and negative realms- so when for-example the attribute of Tifferes “beauty” is expressed, foolish people will begin boasting – but a wise person will see the foolishness, and use it for spiritual goals.
154
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Why was the death of the firstborn the final straw which allowed the Jews to leave Egypt? The firstborn represents the mind – our minds know to do what’s right, but the kelipah obfuscate our mind with emotions, but when the mind reasserts itself, automatically a person is freed.
156
MEDITATIONS
Everyone of man’s journeys (throughout life) is already preplanned.
157
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
We must clear our mind of all our worldly concerns as a preparation to enjoy Shabbos.
158
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
We must concentrate and ensure all we do is truthful.
160
MEDITATIONS
The first Hebrew letter represents God / Alef,, but it also transposes into Peleh, which means miracle; so God can do miracles; hence the Alef can become Beis (the second letter) which, as Hebrew letters are numbers, it’s double that – eventually it forms all the letters – now as God is the first letter, it means that no matter how many letters, until the very last Taf, which represent the lowest earthly level, God is within it all!
161
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
There is no such thing as kindness without strength (for it quickly dissolves) nor strength without kindness (for that is simply evil.)
162
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Whenever you have a bad thought, you must know it comes from evil.
164
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When a person is going through a difficult time, early in the morning they should focus intensely on their prayer or Torah study, binding their soul with the Divine (found within these holy letters.)
166
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
A person should cry during prayer, quietly.
167
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
Today when our minds are weak, we must strengthen our faith – even during study, every once in a while.
169
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
You should connect deeply to the concept that you are currently in Divine space (as it says, the world is in Divine space) and God as we speak, is watching.
170
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
God loves those who makes themselves into nothing; to the extent, that even if they are with poor people, they feel even poorer.
172
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov brings from the Arizal, that this world is about overcoming lusts and desires – along this path, God gave us a Yetzer Hara that constantly implants such stupidities – when we can ignore him, and go on the straight, normal and decent road, this give God incredible joy.
174
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
If we study Torah as it is fascinating, this is worthless; but if we do so to fulfill the Divine will, as a means of forming a bond, which can only be done through Torah and Mitzvos, it’s priceless.
175
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
There are three verifications: sight, sound and comprehension; seeing is believing; hearing, though less concrete, is still; but third party verification is the least – for example, if you see lightning, it’s obvious; if you hear thunder, though you cannot see it, it’s still pretty much; but if someone tells you, that on the moon there is unique explosions, it’s hard to believe – The truth is, if our body didn’t cover our soul, we could see from one side of the world to the other – furthermore, our ears would hear the announcements that come daily from the heavenly court, but as we cannot see or hear, we must trust those who have.
177
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
When we pray to God to save us – this is called outer-fear, for it’s our fear of something motivating the prayer – however this still is very good, for this leads us to an inner-love (of God.)
184
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
(the following is a very deep concept and I can only hope I am getting it perhaps right; Ed.)
There are three levels:
The first is, when a person is in a happy mood (generally called the open state – in other words, positive) they eliminate the closed / miserable state; (in other words, all of us are born with the capacity to be happy and angry (as we see;) Now the wise person, while they are happy eliminates their capacity to get angry.
The second is, the person is in the closed state, however they know they are in the closed state.
The third is that they don’t even know (this is the majority of people who are miserable bullies.)
192
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
The Baal Shem Tov explains the concept of Diveikus – unifying (with the Divine.) One way is through delving deeply into the letters of the Torah (or prayer) to the extent one savors it and wishes not to even move on (for within these letters is the Divine.) The other is that when one studies Torah or does a Mitzvah, their body (that is doing this) houses their soul (and as they are attaching themselves automatically to the Divine) the Shechina (the Divine presence) which rests above every Jew, gets drawn down and the person take immense pleasure.
193
MEDITATIONS
Whenever we do a Mitzvah, two things happen: we have an intention and an action; from our pure intention (lishem shamayim ) we create a heaven, and from our action, we create a life giving earth.
194
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
How can physical food give life to the spirit? (which isn’t physical.)
The answer is, that when we say blessings for the food, as the food itself is comprised of the words of God, the Divine letters (see Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, the second book of Tanya) that are constant Divine energy – hence these letters then get activated by the Divine energy – now of-course the soul is already Divine energy, hence the two meet up (like fire to fire.)
The Baal Shem Tov gives a beautiful parable – once there was a king that lost a precious diamond, now before the king were minsters, soldiers and in general, the people, who all loved him – he could have asked any of them – however he wished to give the reward for finding this – the ability to be proud of and brag about – to his only son; – now in essence, the king actually hid this diamond! his entire purpose was to be able to give the merit of finding it to his son (similarly, God took these original Divine sparks, for we know, from the “body of Adam” there were sparks of Divinity, and put it within foods and he sent his special son, the Jewish people to make blessings, thereby elevating these sparks – this in truth is a great secret, for all physical things we encounter, as we use them for spiritual purposes (or say “thank-you” for them) we elevate them.)
196
MEDITATIONS / ACTIONS
From the Torah you study, if you are connected to God, you can discern when things happen to you, the direction to choose.