22. The Baal Shem Tov And The Dangerous River

00:16 The following story I heard from a very famous rav. His name was, uh, Rav Hendel. He was the rav in Montreal, and he heard it from another very famous rav in Poland. His name was Reb Yechezkel Fagen. The story goes like this. The Baal Shem Tov, when he was younger, before he became famous... You know, there was a time when the Baal Shem Tov didn't want anybody to know that he's a great tzadik. He pretended to be totally ignorant. He doesn't know anything. He doesn't even know how to daven. He m- made himself and pretended that he's, like, totally like a, like a stupid person, doesn't know anything. But really, he was a great tzadik that knew the whole Torah. And Eliyahu Navi would come to him secretly and learn with him all the very, very, very difficult, deep secrets of the Torah. But he didn't want anybody to know, he wanted people to think that he's just a simple and very unlearned man. At that time, the Baal Shem Tov had two little children and a wife. He lived in a very poor, old shack. A shack is like a little house that can fall apart and fall down any minute because it's so old. The Baal Shem Tov was very poor in those days. Very poor. But there was one woman, a lady, she owned a farm. The farm was outside the city. She had a big farm with a big field, with lots of cows and chickens. And the cows, she would

02:17 milk those cows. She would have a lot of milk from the cows. When you have a lot of milk, you can also make cheese. You can make butter and yogurt, cream cheese, all kinds of things you can make from milk. She also had a lot of chickens, so she had a lot of eggs. And what she'd do with all this butter and cheese and milk and eggs that she had, she would go and sell them. Where did she go? She went into the town where the Alter Rebbe-- where the Baal Shem Tov lived, and there was a marketplace in the middle of the town where all the farmers would come from the farms around the city, and they would come and sell everything they had. And the lady would come once a week and sell all her milk and butter and cheese that she made on her farm, and all the eggs that her chickens had laid. And she would sell them every week, and she made quite a bit of money. She-- It was a good business. She made money. Now, this lady was Jewish, and she had a feeling deep inside of herself that said, "Oh, this Baal Shem Tov, this Jew that everybody thinks is so stupid and ignorant, he doesn't know anything, I think he's a very special person. He just doesn't wanna tell anybody. And I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I can see he's very special. And I see he's very poor, so you know what? Probably

03:56 his children don't, don't have enough food to eat. So when I come into town to bring all my butter and cheese and milk and bread and eggs to the, to the marketplace, I will stop by in front of the house of the Baal Shem Tov and I will put down some eggs and some cheese and some milk, enough for the whole week, so the Baal Shem Tov s- and his wife and children would have plenty of milk and cheese and, and, and, um, eggs for the whole week." And she would put it down in front of the door and then go away quickly. She didn't want the Baal Shem Tov to see that she's the one who's putting all those special things for free. She would give them as a gift, as a present to the Baal Shem Tov, and she did it every single week. But the Baal Shem Tov knew everything, because he was a tzadik. He had ruach hakodesh. He could see everything that happens. So he knew that this woman is the one who's always putting eggs and cheese and milk and butter and everything in front of the d- in front of the door. And so the Baal Shem Tov was very, very happy. You know that giving tzedakah is a big mitzvah. Helping poor people, giving them food is a big mitzvah. But you know what's the biggest mitzvah? When you give tzedakah without anybody knowing that you're giving. Because when you give tzedakah and everybody knows you give

05:31 so much nice tzedakah, then everybody's gonna say, "Yeah, you're such a great person. You're such a tzadik." And everybody gives you kavod and honor, and you feel good. "Ah, people think I'm such a great person." And then the mitzvah of tzedakah is not so beautiful. If you wanna make the mitzvah of tzedakah really beautiful... It's like a diamond, you know? A diamond, if it's dirty, it doesn't shine. But when you take a diamond, take off all the dirt and make it beautiful, then it shines so beautifully. People put it on their rings, on their necklaces, and it looks so beautiful. You want a mitzvah to shine like a diamond, then don't do it because you want people to be nice to you or people to give you a lot of honor and covet. You do it only because it's a mitzvah of Hashem. And this woman wanted to do the mitzvah in the most perfect way, so she didn't want the Baal Shem Tov to know that she's the one who's giving him all this stuff, and she didn't want anybody to know. So she would go quietly and tippy-toe from her wagon to the door of the Baal Shem Tov's house and put it early in the morning, like, so nobody's awake, and she'd put down the eggs and the cheese and the milk and all this stuff for the whole week, and then she would quickly run to her wagon and rode away, right away. She would ride to the market, and nobody

06:51 would know, but the Baal Shem Tov Hazadick knew everything, as I told you before. So this woman was a very special woman. She was a tzadikes. She did such big mitzvahs, and she helped the Baal Shem Tov, such a holy Tzadik. She saved him and his family. They shouldn't have to starve. Then one day, something happened, something terrible. You know that in Russia, when it-- in the winter, there's a lot of snow. And when it snows a lot, a lot of the snow goes everywhere. It goes down on the streets, in the fields, but also on the mountains, on top of the mountains. Now, the snow freezes and stays frozen for the whole winter. But at the end of the winter, what happens? The weather gets better and nicer and warmer. The sun comes out. It's becoming almost summer, and summer is very warm. What happens when it's very warm? The snow begins to melt, and when it melts, it just flows into the lakes, into the rivers, into the ocean. That's nice. But what happens to the snow that's on top of the mountains? Oh, the snow-- But that snow, it's a lot of snow, like three feet of snow, tons and tons of snow, and it starts melting. What happens then? It turns into a flood because all that snow that's melting on top of the mountain starts rushing down quickly, down into the valley where all the houses are, and can be dangerous. Now, in the town where the Baal Shem Tov

08:45 lived, there was such a mountain, and the mountain was next to a river, and the river had a bridge. People who wanted to go over the river, they can go on the bridge. But the police and the mayor and everybody in the town would tell people, "Don't go over the bridge at the end of the winter when it starts getting warm again." You know why? Because look at that mountain that's right next to the bridge. If it start, all the snow on top of the mountain starts melting down, what's gonna happen? There's gonna be a huge flood of water that-- from the melted snow, and they're all gonna rush over the bridge. And anybody that's at that moment, at that time on the bridge, what's gonna happen? A huge flood comes, and they throw you into the river. And the river is going wild because there's so much water coming from the mountains, and the person could drown. So they would say, "Listen, certain times of the month, of the year, don't go on that bridge because that's the time when the snow melts on top of the mountains, and you can-- the water can come suddenly, very quickly, and, and rush over the bridge and, and push everybody into the, into the river, and then the person could drown." Chas v'shalom. But this woman, she didn't listen. So when she came to the market one week, although there was a big sign that said, "Don't cross the river now. This is a dangerous time

10:19 because look, it's the end of the winter, and it's getting warmer, and the sun, and sun is coming out, and the snow is melting. And look, there's gonna be any minute now, there's gonna be a huge rush of a lot of water from the melted snow coming over the bridge, and it's very dangerous. Don't go on the bridge. Don't go on the bridge." But she said, "Eh, it's not gonna happen now. I'm gonna go over the bridge, and the water will come later." But boy, was she wrong. As soon as she got onto the bridge, suddenly a huge amount of water kept rushing down the mountain so quickly that before she can get off the bridge, the water came right on the bridge, and the entire place was flooded with a huge amount of water. And the lady and her wagon and all the butter and the milk and the eggs she had on that wagon fell into the river. And the river was s-- There's so much water in the river and so much wild water, water that was going woo-woo, in waves, and it's very hard to come out of the river like that. And the water kept pushing her down, and unfortunately, she died. That was so sad. When the Baal Shem Tov heard this, he was so sad and so upset. Here's this woman, she's such a tzadikes. She gave, she helped the Baal Shem Tov and his wife and children to, to survive, to live, to have food to eat.

11:53 And she did this every week, and she didn't want anybody to know, and now she died such a terrible death. Baal Shem Tov gets so upset. He said to Hashem, "Hashem, please make this river- That drowned this lady. Let's punish this river. There will be never water going through that river again. I want that river to dry up. It will be just like a piece of ground, dry, dry ground. No more water in that river 'cause the water in that river did a terrible thing. Now, when a big tzadik says to Hashem, "Please, Hashem, do something," Hashem listens. But then came a malach in Shamayim and said to Hashem, "Hashem, why should the river dry up?" Now this malach was the malach that was in charge of the river. You know, everything in the world, you see a tree, you see an animal, you see even a fly, every creation in the world has a malach in Shamayim, a very holy malach that looks after that thing, making sure that everything is good. So every river has a malach. Even a blade of grass, a tiny little leaf of grass in the field, and there are billions and millions of them, but every single one of them has a separate malach in Shamayim, and that malach makes sure that that grass is, is, is healthy and good and nobody s- s- you know, destroys it. It's, it's a special malach that... Now this river was, had a malach, and that malach came complaining to Hashem.

13:42 Why should my river that I am in charge of get dry? Why should it lose all its water? That's terrible. Why, why do that? Just because this lady drowned? This lady drowned because she wasn't careful. It's her fault. She shouldn't have crossed the river when it says a big sign, "Don't cross the river. It's very dangerous." She didn't listen. And the Baal Shem Tov was very upset because she helped him. Of course, he was upset because this lady gave him a lot of food. So why should we listen to the Baal Shem Tov? Of course, he's upset because this lady gave him food. But that's not a reason for that river to be punished. That river didn't do anything wrong. It was the lady who shouldn't have crossed the river. And it was decided in Shamayim, on the one hand, if a tzadik says, then Hashem is gonna do it, that Hashem always listens to tzadikim. Always listens to tzadikim. That's why we go to tzadikim. We ask them for a bracha. If there's something wrong, somebody is sick, somebody doesn't have any money, you go to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe gives a bracha, and Hashem listens. That's why we go to a Rebbe, to a tzadik. So if a tzadik says, Hashem listens. On the other hand, the malach is also right. Why should a river be punished? The river didn't do anything wrong. It was the lady's fault. So Hashem decided the river is gonna have to dry up. But the Baal

15:19 Shem Tov could never, never, never use that river, that place where the river used to be, as a shortcut. Do you know what a shortcut means? So when you wanna cross from one side to the other side, and if there's a river of water in the middle, you can't cross it unless there's a bridge. But what if the river dries up? Then you can just drive right through because there's no more water there. It's very, very comfortable. It makes it very easy to go from one place to the other because you can just cross right away, but there's no water there. Well, the Baal Shem Tov cannot do that. He cannot make it easy for himself and cross the place where the water used to be because that means that he is going to enjoy his own making, something which he made himself. He's the one who made the river dry up, then he's not allowed to, um, you know, use it for himself. Other people can cross that place since there's no water now, but the Baal Shem Tov may never cross that place. Never. And what happens if he does? Then the water is gonna come flowing back from the m- mountains straight into the river, and it's gonna be overflowing with a lot of water, and the river is gonna be flowing with water again, and the Baal Shem Tov would fall into the water from all the water that's coming down suddenly into that river, into the place where the river

16:45 was, and the Baal Shem Tov will fall into the water, and the water will be able to drown him. So the Baal Shem Tov should never cross there. But not only that, it was decided in Shamayim not only the Baal Shem Tov cannot cross that place, but his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Baal Shem Tov must tell his family none of them should ever cross that place where the river used to be. Even though there's no water there now, you can cross easily. Don't do it because Hashem said that if the Baal Shem Tov's children and grandchildren ever cross that place, the waters will keep coming quickly, rushing by, and they can even drown him. So the Baal Shem Tov wrote this in a letter, and he wanna make sure that all his children know about this letter and they listen to it and they teach it to their children. "Don't ever go there. It's very dangerous for you. Other people can go, but we, we cannot go." Now, years passed by, and the Baal Shem Tov was nistalek. The Baal Shem Tov passed away. And his son-- The Baal Shem Tov had a son. His name was Reb Zvi. Reb Zvi was a very big tzadik. And Reb Zvi, um, was a great tzadik, but he also, he loved a bris. Whenever there was a bris anywhere, anywhere in any city- If they invited him to come to the Bris, he would go no matter when it was. He would go to the

18:21 other city to be at the Bris, and people would invite him not just to come to the Bris, but to also hold the baby. As you know, the Sandek. What is a Sandek? It's the person that gets a special honor to hold the baby on his lap, and he's sitting next to Eliyahu Hanavi. And then the Mohel, you know, does the Bris, which is a big mitzvah. So it's a very big honor. You only honor great, great Rabbanim, Tzadikim with being Sandek. So r- many people wanted Reb Zvi to be a Sandek for their baby during the Bris, and Reb Zvi would always accept the invitation. He would always go to a Bris. Once he was invited to a Bris that was going to be taking place on a Sunday morning in a city far away. Reb Zvi wanted to leave on Motzaei Shabbos. So when you leave Motzaei Shabbos, since it's a long road, the city is far away, he's going to eventually arrive in the morning when the Bris starts, so the-- Reb Zvi could be the Sandek and hold the baby on his lap during the Bris. Reb Zvi decided to leave late Motzaei Shabbos. He had a wagon, he had a horse, and he had a wagon driver. Ivan, Ivan was his name, was a Russian goy. He took care of Reb Zvi's horses, and whenever Reb Zvi had to go somewhere, he would sit on top, right behind the horses, and he would whip the horses and make the horses

19:57 go fast, fast, fast so that Reb Zvi could get to his place where he needs to go. And so they went that Sa-- that Motzaei Shabbos. Right after Shabbos, the Reb Zvi made Havdalah and prepared for this trip. They went to this far place, far city, where Reb, Reb Zvi will be the Sandek where-- for the special Bris. And it was very late at night. It was already two o'clock. Late, late at night and two o'clock. And Reb Zvi closed his eyes because he was a big Tzadik. He wanted to think about words of Torah. You know, he didn't wanna waste time, you know? Uh, it's not good to waste time and do nothing. You're in a car or you walk down the street, you always memorize something from the Torah and you say it. If you know Shema, say Shema Ba'ahavta. You know the Psukim, say the Psukim Ba'ahavta. It's a big mitzvah to say words of Torah and Psukim wherever you go in the street because you're making the street holier, making the street cleaner. It becomes a much more special place because of the words of Torah and tefillah. So Reb Zvi would think about words of Torah when he traveled. So his mind was deep into the learning. He wasn't watching where the wagon was going. Ivan, the goy, did not know about the special instruction of the Baal Shem Tov that told his children and his grandchildren to never, never, ever cross to the place where the river used to

21:32 be. So Ivan, without thinking twice, said, "Oh, we can cross here to get to the other side very quickly. We'll be able to get to the city much faster now because you'll have to go find the bridge. There's no water there anymore, so let me cross quickly to the other side." But just as they hit the bottom of where the river used to be, suddenly out of nowhere, a huge amount of water came rushing down quickly into the river and filled the river with so much water, and the water was so wild and rushing. And Reb Zvi and the wagon and the wagon driver, everybody fell into the river. And the water was so wild and so, you know, jumping up and down, everything, the waves, and they were pushing everybody down. And Reb Zvi realized he's going to drown, and he for a moment realized, "Oh no, I forgot to tell Ivan not to cross this place, and now I know why it's happening." And Reb Zvi realized he made a mistake. He was not paying attention to where Ivan is taking the horses and the wagon. Then as Reb Zvi started saying, "Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad," he said, "Oh, no, Hashem, please, I'm doing Tshuva. I'm going to die." But then Reb Zvi sees it's pitch dark outside. It's the middle of the night, but he sees a light, a tiny light from far away that's getting closer to him, and closer, and very close, and very close. And when the

23:12 light gets very close to him, he sees... What does he see? His father, the Baal Shem Tov, who was already in Gan Eden. He was not alive anymore, but his Neshama came from Gan Eden to save his son. And the Baal Shem Tov, the Neshama of the Baal Shem Tov came and appeared like a light, and he reached out to Reb Zvi, pulled him out of the water, and put him down on the side so he wouldn't drown. And Reb Zvi was saved by his father, and so did the wagon and the horses were also pulled out of the water. And Reb Zvi was so shocked. He almost drowned. Look what happened. His father, the, the great Tzadik, the Baal Shem Tov, had to come from Gan Eden all the way down here in the world to pull him out. He was so shocked, he didn't go to the Bris. He told Ivan, "Listen, we're gonna go back home tonight. I can't go to the Bris. I'm wet and soaking. We were in the water, and I'm still so shocked that we almost died. Let's go back home." They went back home, and they arrived like four o'clock in the morning. It was extremely late. Reb Zvi went to sleep a little bit. He didn't wanna miss Shacharis. Shacharis was in the morning at, at, at, at, at seven o'clock, so he went to sleep for a few hours. And as he falls asleep, he has a dream. And in his dream, he sees his

24:52 father again. And his father says, "My son, Zvi, what did you do? Didn't I tell you to never cross this place because the water's gonna come and drown you? You're lucky I came to save you." And then his father said to him like this, "You know, I'm-- I haven't been in Gan Eden for so long. Gan Eden is such a pure, holy place. This world compared to Gan Eden is like a smelly place, a disgusting place. It's like going into a, a stable full of cows that make on the floor, and it smells. Because for a neshamah to come down into this world where people do so many averos, the neshamah like, uh, can't stand it." And the Ba'al Shem Tov said to his son, "If I knew how hard it is for a neshamah that has been so close to Hashem for so long in Gan Eden, how hard it is for such a neshamah to come into the world, if I knew in advance how difficult it would be for me, I would not have come down to take you out, 'cause it was too difficult. It was so painful for me to do this. But I came anyways, but I don't know if I can come again, so please, watch out, don't make this mistake ever, ever again." And this is the end of the story about the great Hasid and the great Ra-- um, Mashpia, Reb Cheskal Fagin, when he heard-- when he told this story, he said, "Can you imagine

26:51 the Ba'al Shem Tov's neshamah that was such a heilike neshamah, such a holy neshamah, that even his neshamah to come into the world is so hard?" Even though for such holy neshamas, being in this world, eh, the, the world doesn't affect them, 'cause they're so holy that the world doesn't mean anything to them. But nevertheless, it was hard. How much more so it would be hard for a regular neshamah, who is not the neshamah of a big tzadik, would be even harder to come into the world once you've been in Gan Eden. Have a good night.