85. The Baal Shem Tov And The Professor

00:16 Shalom Aleichem, kindalech. A freilechen Matzo Chanukah. I wanna share with you a story that has been written by a famous Hasid of the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek. His name is Reb Yaakov Kadanner. The previous Rebbe said that he has stories that we can truly trust and believe because he only told stories that he heard or saw himself, and heard from people that were trustworthy. But he tells a story that the Rizhiner, Reb Yisroel of Rizhin, holy Rizhiner once told. It's a story about the Baal Shem Tov. It's an amazing story. The Baal Shem Tov, in the early days before he became very famous, lived in the city of Brod, and he stayed in the house of a very, uh, wealthy Jew, a rich person, who had a house which he let people stay there. He was a very generous person. So Baal Shem Tov stayed in his house. This rich man knew that the Baal Shem Tov is a, is a very holy tzadik, uh, even though people didn't know about it yet, but he knew, so he respected the Baal Shem Tov a lot. Now, this rich man had a son-in-law. That means his daughter married a man who was from a city of Posen. You see, Brod is in the Ukraine, and Posen is in a different country. It's in Poland. This young man who married the daughter of this rich man came from the city of Posen in Poland, and that's where his family lived. So he hasn't been by

02:20 his family in a long time. So one day, the Baal Shem Tov said to the son-in-law, "You know, I'm going to the city of Posen. If you want, I can take you with me. I have my wagon and my wagon driver, Ivan. He's gonna drive, take the-- ride us-- take us all the way to the city of Posen, and I'm gonna be there over Shabbos. And if you wanna get a ride with me, that, that's fine. You can come with me in the wagon." So the son-in-law went to his father-in-law and asked him, "Is it okay with you if I leave for a Shabbos so I can go see my parents? I haven't seen them in so long. And this Reb Yisroel, the Baal Shem Tov, he's planning to go there anyway, so I can catch a ride with him and go to Posen, and I'll celebrate Shabbos with my family. It'll be so much fun." Father-in-law said, "Sure, sure, and especially traveling with such a holy tzadik like the Baal Shem Tov. It's a very special zechus. So yes, go." Now this young man didn't know exactly who the Baal Shem Tov is. He knew the Baal Shem Tov is a very special person, and his father-in-law told him that he's a tzadik. But he didn't know what it was like f- to be like the Baal Shem Tov, to be a tzadik like the Baal Shem Tov. So when they got onto the wagon, uh, this young man, the son-in-law, sees that the

03:48 wagon driver, instead of sitting in his seat and, you know, and pulling the, the strings and getting the horses to go, he ties the s-- he ties the strings to the wagon, and he goes to sleep, and the horses go by themselves. "I was horrified," he said to the Baal Shem Tov. "What's happening? Look at the, the, the, the, the, the wagon driver. He's going to sleep. He needs to take care of the horses. We need him to take us to Posen." Baal Shem Tov said to him, "Don't worry. Don't worry. It's fine. My horses know where to go. You don't have to worry about it." And the horses took off by themselves, and they kept going, going, going, and they went through fast, fast. A lot of, lot of, lot of space, very fast. But then they started walking and running off the road into fields. And now the son-in-law got really scared. He says, "Rebbe, Rebbe," he said to the Baal Shem Tov, "The horses are taking us nowhere. They're going off the road. They're going somewhere. We're gonna get lost." Baal Shem Tov says, "Don't worry. The horses don't need you to worry about them. They know what they're doing. Just trust them." So the young man is sitting there, and the horses are going through forests and fields and, um, places where there's no houses, nothing. It's empty, but they're going through deep, dark forests, and the horses just go by themselves without anybody guiding them. So then after a few

05:26 hours, it was close to Mincha time. This was on Thursday. It's close to Mincha time. The horses stop in the middle of a big place like a field, and the grass has grown very high, and the horses stop. So Baal Shem Tov, uh, wakes up the wagon driver and says to him, "Here, take this bucket and get us some water. There must be a well. If you go a little bit further between the grass, you'll find a well. You'll take this bucket, you'll draw water, and bring us some water." So Ivan got off the wagon, took the bucket, and took him a little while, but after a while he found a well and brought the water to the Baal Shem Tov Baal Shem Tov made a bracha with great kavana. He said a bracha, every word, every word loud, every word you were thinking, had some deep thoughts about every word, the name of Hashem, and then finally he finished the bracha, he drank some water. Then he turned to the son-in-law, the young man, and said to him, "You know what? You also should drink water, and I want you to say a bracha and have kavana when you say the bracha. Every word you say, think what you're saying." The young man did exactly what Baal Shem Tov told him. He said a bracha and he drank. And then, as soon as they finished, the wagon driver got back onto the wagon, went to sleep, and the horses by themselves started moving. And

06:51 this young man is wondering, "Where are we? We seem to be totally lost in the middle of nowhere. There's no roads, there's no wagons going here back and forth. We're in the middle of nowhere. We can't see a person. There's no person. There's no houses. There's nothing." And the Baal Shem Tov kept telling him, "Just listen, listen. Trust the horses. They know where they're going." And so then they left. And the horses keep going through fields and, and, and, and all kinds of forests and fields and places and, and the young man says, "What's going on? Where are we going?" So then he asked the Baal Shem Tov, "So where are we gonna stay for Shabbos? Because Shabbos, you know, it's already Thursday night. Tomorrow night is Shabbos. We can't make it to Posen so quickly. Posen is very far. It's in Poland." Baal Shem Tov said to him, "Hey, I told you, we're going to Posen for Shabbos. We'll be there for Shabbos." The young man didn't know what was going on. The Baal Shem Tov said, "We'll be there for Shabbos, even though it seems impossible." And so they travel through the night. In the morning, they're traveling and the young man sees a village from a distance. Oh, he gets all excited, you know, "Oh, probably we'll have to stay there for Shabbos. At least we'll be able to stay for Shabbos in a village. Maybe there's some Jews living in the village that they'll take us into their house. We'll make

08:18 Shabbos there, because there's no way we're gonna get to Posen before Shabbos. Posen is very far. It takes days and days and days to get to Posen." He has traveled many times to Posen. He knows this is the city where he was born. He was raised in that city. So he thought, "Okay, at least we'll stay in the village for Shabbos." It's Friday morning, and they get into the village, and his horses go through-- right, uh, through the m- village, and at the end of the village, uh, the horses stop. And the Baal Shem Tov gets off the wagon, and the young man follows him, and he knocks on a door like an old shack, an old house, and an old man that is covered with wounds and leprosy, looks like very sick, sees the Baal Shem Tov. He opens the door and sees the Baal Shem Tov, and Baal Shem Tov and him are so excited to see each other like the best friends, and they hug and they kiss and they go inside. And the man says to the Baal Shem Tov, "Let's go inside that room." And the young man stays outside, and for half an hour they talk. He doesn't know what they're talking about. He has no idea who this sickly looking man is, but the Baal Shem Tov seems to know him and, and they love each other. They're very close friends. They talk and talk. After half an hour, the Baal Shem Tov says goodbye to him and

09:40 they leave. And then the horses take off again. They're not staying in this village for Shabbos. And the young man says, "Oh, no. When are we-- where are we gonna be in Shabbos? We're gonna have to stay Shabbos in the middle of the field. Friday night is gonna come. It's gonna be sundown. We're gonna not be able to travel. We're gonna be in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere without food and nothing. It's gonna be terrible." Baal Shem Tov says, "Listen, just sit quietly. I'm telling you, we'll be Shabbos in Posen." They're traveling, and it's already two hours before Shabbos, and still he doesn't see anything. No houses, nothing. He says, "I know what it looks like outside the city of Posen. I grew up there. I used to travel there a lot. This doesn't look like a place which is close to Posen. I don't know this area. This area looks very strange to me." Baal Shem Tov calms him down and says, "Shh, shh, don't worry." And then suddenly, like an hour before Shabbos, the young man sees the walls of the city of Posen, and there he could see the city, yeah, he recognizes it. And as they get closer, he can even see the house from his parents. "Oh, there's the house of my parents. Wow, it's so amazing. I'll be able to be Shabbos with my family and have such a great time. I haven't seen them in so long. They'll be so excited when I

11:04 come home for Shabbos." The horses go into the city of Posen, but instead of going to the house of the parents of this young man, the horses go to a street in the city that is called the Shulergasse. It's called the Shuler Street. Not the shul, the school street. It's where the students of the University of Posen used to hang out. This was where the dormitory was, all the lecture halls where they used to have the university, where they used to have the classes was on that street. Now, that street was a very dangerous street for Jews. Jews never ever go into that street. Once, many years ago, a Jew went through that street and the students, who hate Jews, they would throw rocks. They threw rocks at him, heavy rocks until he died. So since then, never ever has a Jew gone through that street. Jews don't go there. They're afraid for their lives. He, the Baal Shem Tov's horses are riding right into that street in front of everyone. And when the young man, the son-in-law, sees that the horses are not going to his family's house, they're going instead to this terrible, dangerous place, he starts screaming to the Baal Shem Tov, "What are you doing? We're gonna get killed." And in fact, a lot of the students who saw suddenly the Baal Shem Tov with a beard and a hat, they thought these were Jews. They started picking up rocks. They're gonna start stoning the Baal Shem Tov and this young

12:49 man. Baal Shem Tov calms him down, "Don't worry. The horses know what to do. We trusted the horses. They got us here before Shabbos, right? It was kfitzu et hadelech. They went very fast. It was a nest that they came here so very quickly. Normally it takes like a whole week to get to Poznan. From Brod to Poznan takes a whole week. We did it in two days. So trust them now too. They know what they're doing." Now, in that street, although there were never any Jews there, Jews were terrified, afraid to go there. But there was one Jewish tailor that lived on that street, which the students didn't bother. They wanted him to be there 'cause he was a very good tailor, and he would sew up the clothes of the students, the students and the professors. So they-- He was the only Jew that was able to live there. He also had workers that were also Jewish. They worked in his tailor shop, and they would sew up the clothes for all the students and the professors. The Baal Shem Tov's wagon stopped right next to the tailor shop, and the Baal Shem Tov got out of the wagon. And when the tailor saw the Baal Shem Tov and this young man, he was scared. Came out of the door and said, "What are you doing here? Don't you know this is dangerous for you to be here?" Baal Shem Tov calmed him down and said to the tailor, "We're gonna stay with

14:09 you for Shabbos. We're staying here for Shabbos." The tailor said, "Why? Why don't you go to a normal place? This is a dangerous place for Jews." He said, "Listen, listen, listen. Don't ask questions. I'm coming to stay with you for Shabbos." And Baal Shem Tov took the Goy, the Ivan, the wagon driver also, and the young man. They all went into the tailor shop, and they settled in for Shabbos. Came Mincha Friday afternoon. The Baal Shem Tov said, "Oh, do we have a minyan?" So the tailor, the tailor said, "I have seven workers, which means eight." So the Baal Shem Tov said, "Okay, then we have a minyan because I and this young man, the, the, the son-in-law of this rich man in, in Brod, he's also with me, so we are ten. We have a minyan. Let's daven Mincha." Baal Shem Tov was the Hazan. And when he started davening, everybody was terrified, was in awe. They were afraid 'cause the Baal Shem Tov was davening with such excitement. They could feel like, like a, a, a fear of Hashem. And meanwhile, outside in the streets, there was a lot of noise that started gathering, and many, many students started gathering around the tailor shop. They surrounded the whole building, and with heavy rocks, and they said, "We're gonna kill those Jews." And the, and the tailor is so afraid. He's crying. He says, "What's gonna happen? Look what's gonna happen. They all wanna attack us and kill us. What's gonna happen?" And the

15:38 Baal Shem Tov, he ignores everything. He just davens Mincha with great kavana and excitement, and he sings, and, and he's crying, and he's, he's like all excited. And after Mincha, the Baal Shem Tov, uh, s- walks over to the tailor and says, "Why are you so upset? Why are you so scared?" He says, "Re-Rebbe, look outside. There's hundreds and hundreds of students, anti-Semites. They hate Jews. They have big rocks. Look, they wanna stone the whole place, come in a-and kill us all." Baal Shem Tov says, "Wait a second." He goes to the door, opens the door, and he looks at the hundreds of violent students who wanna throw these rocks, and they're picking up the rocks to throw at the Baal Shem Tov. And the Baal Shem Tov with his eyes staring at them, and as soon as they saw the eyes of the Baal Shem Tov staring at them, they became terrified. They were so scared. They dropped the rocks and began to run like somebody, like a wild animal is, is chasing them. They're like were afraid. They turn white in the face, and they were running, running, "Oi vey, oy, oy, oy, oy." They feel like they're in danger. They didn't know why. Baal Shem Tov just looked at them, but they felt this fear, and they were running and running, and they went to their professor, their big professor, and they told him what happened. Now, this professor, he was a Goy, but he knew Hebrew 'cause many of the professors,

17:15 they study in university Hebrew. Like they study other languages, also study Hebrew. And some of those professors even study Gemara. They learn the language, and then they study Gemara. So he was very interested, said, "What? This man just came out there and looked at you, and you started fearing for your life, and you ran away. What? Well, this man is either a magician or he's a great tzadik. I wanna go see him. Show me where he is." So the student showed him here, there by the tailor shop. This professor went to the tailor shop, and he stood by the door. He went inside and stayed by the door. And the Baal Shem Tov just started davening Kabbalah Shabbos. And the Kabbalah Shabbos was so amazing. The son-in-law that, that, who came with the, with, uh, with the Baal Shem Tov in the wagon, he was like, "Oh, he's never heard and seen such davening in his life." Baal Shem Tov was like with such kavanah. His face was red, and he was singing, and he was like, his whole neshamah was, was davening. It was like an amazing, amazing davening. He's never seen anything like it. You could see Mamash, a tzaddik davening with such kavana, and the tailor and his workers, they're all watching, and they can't believe what they're seeing. This is a Kabbalah Shabbos they've never heard in their lives. And this professor is standing by the door and looking the whole time at the Baal Shem Tov. He doesn't take his

18:42 eyes off, he doesn't say a word, just stands there and looks and stares. The Baal Shem Tov, after two hours, finished davening Kabbalah Shabbos and Ma'ariv, then he goes and makes Kiddush. His Kiddush took a long time because he was saying Kiddush with such kavana, with such zechus, with such, uh, you know, passion. He was all excited. You could see it in his face. His face was like red and sweat coming down his face. You could see he was very deep, deep in thought with great kavanas. And when he finished the Kiddush, they sat down, they washed for the challah and they ate, and the professor is watching and staring. The Baal Shem Tov said divrei Torah. They sang songs, and this professor didn't move. He stared at the Baal Shem Tov the whole time, and the Baal Shem Tov didn't look at him. Baal Shem Tov didn't raise his eyes at him, didn't even stare at him. Nothing. He ignored him. He didn't say a word to him. After they finished benching, the professor told the tailor, "Please, in the morning when the rabbi is starting to pray, to daven, could you please send somebody to call me? Because I wanna be here." Tailor says, "Okay, I'll do that." Okay. Uh, the tailor and his workers, they already went to sleep. The next morning, before the Baal Shem Tov went to daven, they started davening, the tailor sent somebody to this professor that he should come, the Baal Shem Tov is starting to daven.

20:14 The professor came, and again, he's-- came into the door and stayed by the door and just watched the Baal Shem Tov daven. The entire time, didn't take his eyes off the Baal Shem Tov. They finished davening. The Baal Shem Tov is not looking at him. He's ignoring him. He's not paying attention to him. They went to eat a meal, the sh-- the, the lunch, the Shabbos lunch, and they made Kiddush again and ate challah and so on. Then again, the professor is leaving. He says to the tailor, "Before Mincha, I wanna see him again. Please call me." Comes Mincha time, the professor comes again. And then came Shalosh Uddes, and the Baal Shem Tov said a long Torah, uh, a long drash, a long Torah. And, and everybody was like... The young man was like very, very, very impressed. He, he's never heard anything like this, such deep, deep Torah from the Baal Shem Tov. And the professor is watching and listening. And then after Havdalah, the Baal Shem Tov, Baal Shem Tov ma- dav-- Ma'ariv, made Havdalah with great-- again, with great kavana and great excitement. And then the professor left. And then the Baal Shem Tov said to the young man and to Ivan, his wagon driver, "Guys, we're gonna pack our bags. We're going back to Brod." They go into the wagon and the young man says to the Baal Shem Tov, "Oi, I came all the way from Brod to Posen where my family lives. I was hoping to see my

21:44 parents. Now we're going back to Brod. I even saw their house from a distance. I'm coming all the way from Brod here and I'm not even gonna say hello to them." Baal Shem Tov said, "Listen, don't worry. We're going back to Brod. Just don't ask questions." So the young man says, "Rebbe, but can you please explain to me two th-- three things? I won't bother you about going to see my parents. I understand. I had to come with you on this trip, come all the way from Brod to Posen, to Poland and Posen and, and not to see my parents. I understand. But please explain me three mysterious things that happened on this trip. The first thing is that we stopped on the way here in a place, a field with very tall grass. And you s-- the, the horses stopped, and you told Ivan to go bring us water so we can say Shehakol. What was the meaning? Why, why, why did we do that? Why did you, why did you have to stop in that pla- place and say Shehakol with a special kavana?" And the Baal Shem Tov told him, "That's the first question." "The second question," he says, "who is this man who is full of wounds from his head to his toes and leprosy everywhere, and that you embrace, you're so-- You loved seeing him. You were so excited to see him. He was so excited to see you. Who is this man? And the third question is, what was

23:10 the purpose of coming to Brod? We came to Brod, we went into this terrible and scary street which no Jew has ever gone to. We spent the Shabbos in the tailor shop, and now we're going back home. What was the reason? Please explain these three things to me." And the Baal Shem Tov said to him, "The first question you asked about why we stopped in this particular location with the tall grass and drink water with Shehakol with great kavana, I'll give you the answer to that. There were once two Jews who traveled through this area, and they were killed by robbers, and they were buried there. And their neshamah couldn't go up to Gan Eden because there's never been a Jew in that area that davened, said a word of holiness, of kedusha. So that's why I came to that place, and I wanted both of us, you and I, to say Shehakol with great kavana, and with that, we gave these two neshamas, or these two Jews that were killed a few years ago, that their neshamas can go up to Gan Eden. That's the first question. The second question you asked me, 'Who is this man who is covered from head to toe in wounds and leprosy?' Well, I'll tell you, in every generation, there's a great tzaddik who will be the Mashiach. That means if the Jewish people do the right thing and Hashem decides to bring Mashiach, he'll be the one. If, chas ve'shalom, the Jews don't deserve to get Mashiach,

24:42 then that person will die, and there'll be another tzaddik be born later. But in every generation, there's a man. This person was the Mashiach of our generation. And I know him. He's one of the hidden tzaddikim, but he especially is not just a hidden tzaddik. He was meant to be the Mashiach. I wanted to visit him. He wanted me to stay with him for Shabbos. But I saw that that Shabbos by Shalosh Uddes time, he,he was gonna be in his Now the third question he asked me, why we went to Brod to spend the Shabbos in this tailor shop and then go back right away to Brod? We went to Posen, we left Brod and, and, and took us two days and we went back. Well, that I cannot answer you now, but years from now you'll find out the answer. Okay, they came back to Brod and the whole city heard that the Baal Shem Tov and this young man went all the way to Posen from Brod, all the way to Posen, to Poland, and they did it in two days. Two days there and two days back. It takes weeks and weeks to get to Posen. Everybody heard there was this miraculous thing. It's called kfitzas hadelech, when you go very fast in, not in a natural way, something, it's something totally unnatural. You go through such vast distances, so far, far, but very, very fast. So this young man, you know, f- at that time he was learning day and

26:32 night. His father-in-law said, "You can sit and learn, I'll support you." But then after a number of years, the son-in-law said to the father-in-law, "Listen, it's time for me to get a business, a job, so I can earn my own, my own living." And the father-in-law said, "Sure, no problem. I'll give you a few thousand rubles. You can use that money to make a business, and you have your own business, you make your own money." So the young man took the money and they-- he made a business, used to travel to Germany to buy merchandise. Maybe he was buying clothes or jewelry, and then he would come back and sell it in, in, in, in the Ukraine. So one day he's traveling to Germany and he ends up in a, in a, in a, in a big city. And, uh, he asked the people in the big city, "Is there a shul?" "Yeah, there's the shul." He goes into the shul. Says, "Can I stay here for Shabbos? Where can I stay for Shabbos?" They show him there's a house. "You can stay for Shabbos." They had to have guests. He can stay there. So he settled in that house for Shabbos. Then he asked the people, "Is there a Rav, a Talmid Chacham in this town?" They said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have a big gaon. A Rav is mamash an amazing gaon. His name is Rabbi Avrum the Ger. He's a Ger. He's a-- He converted to Judaism. He wasn't Jewish before, but

28:00 he became a convert. He converted, became a Ger, and, and he learned Torah day and night. Now he's a big gaon. He's also a tzadik. He's a gaon." "Okay, I wanna meet him." They say, "Sure, you can go see him. He's very nice. He lets people in to come in and talk." So he got himself invited to the Rav's house for Shabbos lunch, and they started talking and talking, and the young man sees that this Rav is really a big gaon. So they talk and talk till Shalos Shudis time, and then when they keep talking, the Rav tells him, "A psa-- a pshat, something in the Dvar Torah." And the young man hears Dvar Torah, and he's, like, shocked. And the Rav asks him, "Why are you so shocked?" He says, "I remember hearing that speech, that Dvar Torah that you just mentioned before. I think I heard it from the Baal Shem Tov when we were in a tailor shop in the city of Posen." The Rav says, "What? Are you that young man that came with this Baal Shem Tov to the tailor shop?" He says, "Yes." "What, you know about that trip that I and the Baal Shem Tov took?" "Well," says the man, "the Rav, do you remember a professor that came and stood by the door the whole Shabbos watching the Baal Shem Tov?" He says, "Yeah, of course I remember." "Well, I'm that professor. Let me tell you what happened. When I came in and I saw the Baal

29:47 Shem Tov davening Kabbalah Shabbos, inside me something happened. I started feeling like I needed... This is a- an incredible world. The Baal Shem Tov is this great tzadik. I wanna be like him. I wanna be close to him. I don't know what happened to me, but I, I was, like, hooked. I, I was like, you know, nailed to the ground. I couldn't move. I was so amazed by what I saw and heard. And so I, I, I wanted to come back again and again. And then when the Baal Shem Tov left after Shabbos, I said, 'Oi, I, I need to become Jewish. This is so powerful. This is so amazing. What I saw this Shabbos is just unbelievable. There's a world of kedusha, holiness like the Baal Shem Tov. This is amazing.' And I decided to go convert. I left Posen. I went to a far city. I found a Rav. I learned with him. I converted, and I started learning Torah day and night till I became a Rav, and now I'm a Rav in this city." And he said to him, "That drashah that I told you now, which you said you remember the Baal Shem Tov saying, well, I heard that drashah too by Shalos Shudis, and it's because that drashah really, really excited me so much that I wanted to become Jewish. That's why I love that drashah very much. It's very special to me. So every time I meet somebody, I like to share the drashah with them." And that's

31:23 when the young man got his answer for his third question. What was the purpose of the Baal Shem Tov going to Brod to spend the Shabbos in this tailor shop and then go right back? Now he understood that the Baal Shem Tov saw all the way from Brod that there is a neshamah, a spark of a neshamah that is in galus, and it's trapped in the body of a goy who want-- who needs to become Jewish. And the Baal Shem Tov took all these godly sparks, these holy sparks that are hidden and buried deep inside the world of Goyim in Posen, and this professor came to him, and then he became Jewish, and that brought that godly spark back to its godly source, to Hashem himself is the source of that spark. It was reunited, and that was the purpose of the trip. Great tzadikim sometimes travel to far distances. Nobody knows why. They don't know anybody there, but they go there for a reason. They go there because they see be'ok ha'kodesh. There's a neshamah that's lost that needs to be helped, and they need to take the neshamah out of the galus, of the klipos, of the evil, and the tumah, the uncleanliness that they are trapped in, and that's why they travel sometimes far away to help one neshamah.