177. The Rov Who Saw The Baal Shem Tov In Gan Eden And Became A Chossid

00:15 Here is another story, Kinderlach, from the Ketz HaShem Tov, also from, uh, Sefer, from the Toiras of the Baal Shem Tov. A story there about a Yid who was a big Talmid Chacham. He was a... knew how to learn the whole Shas, Bava, Yrushami. He was a big Gaon, and he lived in the same city as the Baal Shem Tov, but he didn't go to the Baal Shem Tov. He didn't believe in the Rebbes and the Baal Shem Tov. He just wanted to learn Torah, and he, and he didn't go to the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov saw that he was a big Talmid Chacham, and he felt it'd be good for him that he comes to the Baal Shem Tov and learns Chassidis. So the Baal Shem Tov wanted him to become his Talmid, but he didn't want. He just wanted to learn Gemara, Rashi, Tosfos, Shulchan Aruch, Rambam. He didn't want to have anything to do with Chassidis. One day, this Rav was learning a very difficult Gemara, and when he finished learning the Gemara, he started learning the Tosfos, the Tosfos on that Gemara. And he-- The Tosfos was very difficult. He couldn't understand what Tosfos is saying. Didn't make sense to him. And he tried once, and learned the Tosfos again, and learned the Tosfos again. For days, and days, and days, he tried to learn the Tosfos and understand. He couldn't understand it. One night, he's sleeping, and he has a dream. That his Neshama is going up

01:59 in the higher worlds in, in Gan Eden. And he goes to a higher world, and a higher Gan Eden, a higher world in Gan Eden, until it gets so bright with so much light of Hashem that he bec-- he couldn't see because it was too much for him. Now it was too much for him, so he became like blinded by like, it's like as if you go into a room with so much light and you can't see because the light is blinding your eyes. So he couldn't see anything, but he kept going to higher levels, higher levels, but he couldn't. He was, like, blinded by so much light of this world. You know, the higher the world, the more light there is of Hashem. It's not physical light, like the light in a, in a room. It's spiritual light, but it's, it's in a similar way, right? That when it's too much light, you can't see. It's too much for you to take, so much for you to, to, to be able to see. And so then he couldn't see anything, and he kept going to higher and higher places until he came to one place in Gan Eden. There was very, very, very much light, and he couldn't see anything, and he, he just closed his eyes because it, it was... the light was too strong. So finally, he hears a voice telling him, "Why are you closing your eyes? Open your eyes." And he opened his eyes, and he saw. He was able

03:23 to see what goes on in that place in Gan Eden. He saw a long table, and great Tzadikim and Geonim are sitting and learning Torah. Then he looks at the head of the table, and who does he see at the head of the table? The Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov? The Baal Shem Tov is sitting in Gan Eden and teaching Torah to these Geonim and Tzadikim. And then he's even more surprised because he sees that the Baal Shem Tov is learning with these Geonim this Tosfos, the Tosfos that he was having a hard time with. He was trying to understand, and he couldn't understand. And the Baal Shem Tov is teaching that Tosfos to these Geonim and Tzadikim in Gan Eden. And the Baal Shem Tov explains it so clearly that he was, like, so surprised, "How come I didn't think of it?" It is such a clear explanation of Tosfos, and everything is clear. There's no questions anymore. He understands it perfectly well now. And then he woke up, and this was a dream. At first, he didn't make a big deal about it. Eh, maybe it's just a dream, so he didn't... But when he woke up in the morning, he decided to go look at the Tosfos again because he remembered exactly what the Baal Shem Tov said in the dream about the Tosfos. So he went to look into the Tosfos, and he remembered how the Baal Shem Tov learned it, and he realized this is not just a

04:55 dream. It's true. The Tosfos makes a lot of sense now. This is a great, great explanation of Tosfos. So he was a little bit puzzled. He didn't know what to think of it. Is it, uh, it's just a dream? Is it real? So the next Shabbos, he decided to go to the Beis Medrash of the Baal Shem Tov. And Bashalashus, the Baal Shem Tov, he said, "Sit with his Talmidim and say Torah." As soon as this Rav came in to the Shul and the Baal Shem Tov saw him, the Baal Shem Tov says, "Bruch haba, shalom aleichem." And then he turns to him and says, "Nu, did you look up the Tosfos? Did my explanation of the Tosfos make sense now?" When the Rav heard this, he was, like, shocked. He realized that the Baal Shem Tov knows about his dream, and it wasn't just a dream. The Baal Shem Tov really was in Gan Eden and learned the Tosfos on purpose to teach him, to show him the Baal Shem Tov can help him understand the Torah better. And from that day on, he became one of the great Talmidim of the Baal Shem Tov, became a Chassid. And not only did he learn Gemara, and Tosfos, and Rashi, he learned also a lot of Chassidis. A freilechen Mayid.