Chassidic Story #164

(s5761-11 /9 Kislev 5761)
A DEEP SLUMBER
They said it was impossible that the Baal Shem Tov would not capture my soul.

A DEEP SLUMBER

Yaakov awoke from his sleep" (Gen. 28:16) - Do not read mishnato, from his sleep, but mimishnato, from his meditation on the Torah (Midrash).

The well known Torah scholar, Rabbi Dovid of Nikolayev, once encountered an old friend from his youth, who demanded to know what had decided him to be a follower of the Baal Shem Tov. Reb Dovid related the following:

I heard of the Baal Shem Tov and was interested to investigate what he had to offer. I went to visit him, but I did not find what I was looking for. The Chasidim there influenced me to stay a little longer. They told me that if I would remain until Shabbos, and make the effort on Friday afternoon to be in his presence when he recited Song of Songs, I would find what I sought. I changed my travel plans, and the Chasidim helped me to arrange what they had suggested. Well! I certainly heard something that was sublime and a delight to the ears. I even sensed that his words set up a clamor in all the supernal worlds! But still, he did not capture me.

The Chasidim then urged me to wait until the eve of the day on which the rebbe observed yahrzeit after one of his parents. That is when he would pace around his room all night long, and recite the entire Mishna by heart. This would undoubtedly captivate me. I stayed on, and that night hid in his room. What I saw was truly extraordinary. But still, I felt this wasn't it.

Then the Chasidim insisted that I should wait until the following night, when after a full-day fast, he would invite his elder disciples for a mystic meal. At that meal, they assured me, it was impossible that he should not draw out my soul. They also forewarned me earnestly that I must make sure not to fall asleep there, because for some reason slumber often overcame those who participated. I napped during the day and utilized other methods in order to ensure that I would not fall asleep at the table.

I was assigned a place at the gathering. The Baal Shem Tov sat at the head of the table. Surrounded by his Chasidim, he began to expound upon the kabbalistic meditations that accompany the ritual immersion in the mikveh.

"But Rebbe," one of his Chasidim called out to him; "Does not the holy Ari of Safed, of sainted memory, explain these meditations otherwise?"

The Baal Shem Tov threw his head back. His face, which had been like a fiery flame, suddenly grew pale. His eyes bulged. He looked like one not in this world. At that moment I was overcome by a deep slumber, despite all my efforts to ward it off. In my sleep I saw myself in an unknown city. People were hurrying in one direction. I asked them where they hastened so urgently, and they told me that The Baal Shem Tov was soon to deliver a discourse, and they were eager to hear it. I ran with them, until we came to an imposing edifice, inside which stood two chairs.

"Who is the young man in the second chair?" I asked.

"That is the Ari of Tsfat," I was told.

I managed to stand near the chair of The Baal Shem Tov, who soon began to expound the kabbalistic meditations of the mikveh. When he had completed his discourse the Ari challenged him with a series of questions, each of which the Baal Shem Tov answered. Finally it was clear that the Ari accepted the Baal Shem Tov's position as correct for the times that he lived in.

At that point I awoke, and saw that I still sat at the table with the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples. The color was returning to his face, and it was becoming fiery once more. Again he began to deliver the discourse on the meditations of the mikveh, and again the same disciple asked him: "Rebbe! Does not the Ari explain otherwise?"

The Baal Shem Tov turned to me, and said, "David! Stand up and testify as to what you have seen!"

At that moment, the Baal Shem Tov captured my soul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abridged, adapted and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll).

Editor's note:
The friend who heard this report, Reb Meir, went to the Baal Shem Tov, and in due course became one of his outstanding disciples. His great-grandson, Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, was such an outstanding chassid of the first three Lubavitcher Rebbes, that the Tsemech Tsedek (the third rebbe) testified, "Reb Hillel is himself half a Rebbe."

Another editor's note: Nikolayev is also where the Lubavitcher Rebbe of our generation was born, in 1902. His father, Levi Yitzchak Shneerson, was the Chief Rabbi there.

Biographical notes:
Rabbi Yisrael, the Baal Shem Tov
["master of the good Name"], a unique and seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed the Chassidic movement and his own identity as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday, 18 Elul 1734. He passed away on the festival of Shavuot in 1760. He wrote no books, although many claim to contain his teachings. One available in English is the excellent annotated translation of Tzava'at Harivash, published by Kehos.

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (1534-5 Av 1572), Known as "the holy Ari," revolutionized the study of Kabbalah and its integration into mainstream Judaism during the two years he spent in Tsfat before his death at 38. Much of Chasidic thought is based on the Ari's teachings, as recorded by his main disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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