213. The Earthquake That Saved A Jew In Spain From The Inquisition

00:15 Shalom Aleichem, kindalech. I share with you a beautiful story with the Baal Shem Tov. In the time of the Baal Shem Tov, there were still Jews living in Spain under the Inquisition. As you know, the Inquisition was the, the church of this-- of Spain and also of Portugal, where they forced Jewish people that lived in Spain and in Portugal to become Christian, to convert to their religion. And if a Jew was found that he was doing mitzvahs and secretly doing mitzvahs and living like a Jew, which many Jews did, many Jews pretended that they go to church on Sunday and pretended they liked the Christians and worshiped their idols. Uh, but in secrecy, when nobody knew, in the basement, they would, they would do mitzvahs, and on Pesach they would do a Seder. It had to be done very secretly because if the police of the Inquisition would find them doing mitzvahs, like, uh, having a Seder on Pesach or lighting Shabbos candles and making kiddish on Shabbos, if they were caught doing this, they would get killed. They would burn them alive in the st-- at the stake. Be very dangerous. So these-- many of these Jews had Mesirut Nefesh, and they did do mitzvahs in secrecy, secretly. But, uh, in-- outside, towards the Goyim, they pretended that they were like the Christians. They would go to the church on Sunday, pretended they're like real Christians, but they really weren't. Amongst the, uh, Jews that were, um, that were secretly Jewish, but pretended that

02:13 they became Christian and told the Goyim around them that they, they bec-- they converted, and they really, uh, loved to be Christians, so they wouldn't kill them. So one of them was a very important government official, a minister in the government. A minister means somebody very important, high up in the government, who's very close to the king. He was very close to the king of Spain. The king of Spain loved him because he was very, very smart, very wise, you know, was a great advisor to the king. He did a lot of good things for the king. He did a lot of favors to the king. He helped the king a lot in all of his, uh, things, in his money, uh, finances, the, you know, the stuff that the king needed. He was very, very helpful to the king. So he was one of those Jews that were secretly Jewish, but in the open, they, they pretended that they were Christians. Otherwise, he couldn't be a minister in the government. He wouldn't, wouldn't have survived. He would have been killed. But, uh, so he kept it secretly. But one day they caught him. They caught him in the middle of a Pesach Seder. They're sitting with his whole family in a basement with all the shades down, and they're eating matzah and maror and drinking four cups of wine. And so they arrested him. They took him to prison, and they decided that he's gonna have to be killed. But the king, when he

03:50 heard this, uh, he loved this, this Jew because he was very good to him, he was very nice to him. So he asked the, the galachim who were in charge of killing him that they shouldn't kill-- they should give him another year. They can keep him in prison for another year, and in a year they can kill him, but they, but they should wait a year. The king was hoping that maybe during the year, he'll be able to save him from the galachim. So they waited a year. So then the king said, "Can you wait another month?" So they waited another month. Then he said, "Okay, can you wait another week?" So they waited another week. Then he said, "Can you wait another day?" So they waited another day. Finally, the day came, and there was a big announcement made. Today, this minister who's really Jewish, and he tricked everybody, and he lied, said that he's a Christian, but he's really Jewish because we caught him. We found him doing a Seder, and he's really, really, uh, being a Jew. So therefore, we're going to kill him, and everybody should come. Everybody's invited to watch how he's being killed in a fire. So they took him to the center of the city, and thousands of people came to watch. Suddenly, before they were able to turn on the fire and kill him, a massive earthquake took place. You guys know what an earthquake is? When the earth begins to tremble. Happens a lot of times

05:31 in different countries, and many people unfortunately get killed. When there is a really bad earthquake, that the earth begins to shake, and all the buildings fall down, and people die. A massive earthquake took place right there where he was being taken to be killed. And there were thousands of people running, running. The people got so scared, they ran and ran and ran and ran away. Many people died because of the earthquake. He, the minister, saw that everybody was running away, so he also ran away. And he ran away, and the king secretly sent a messenger to help his friend escape and leave the country. So if he would leave Spain, he'd be safe, and they won't c- catch him again. But there was this chance to save his life because of this massive earthquake. There was a ‹ foreign language › that exactly when they were about to kill him, this earthquake took place. This minister managed to run away from Spain. He ended up in Germany. Germany was okay for Jews to be. It was, uh, Jews are allowed to be Jewish. There you didn't have to pretend that you're Christian. There you could be Jew, a Jew openly. So he started to think what happened to him. Look what just happened. His life was saved by this incredible ‹ foreign language ›. What a ‹ foreign language › Hashem sent to save his life. But then he thought, "Maybe it's just an accident. Maybe it's just... You know, it just happened, you know.

07:11 There was supposed to be an earthquake, and I was just lucky that there was an earthquake just before he got killed. But it's not really that Hashem did it on purpose to save his life. Maybe there was an earthquake for other reasons. I just happened to be there, and it just happened the right time, and I was lucky." Maybe ‹ foreign language › Hashem. And he decided that he's gonna have to think about this and ask different ‹ foreign language › if they can convince him that this was a ‹ foreign language › that Hashem made just for him, and the whole reason there was an earthquake is just because of him, so to save his life, and he can be convinced of that, then he'll become a Jew openly, and he'll, he'll, he'll stop pretending to be a goy, and he will start going to show like a regular Jew and live life openly like a Jew. But if he can't be convinced that this was a special ‹ foreign language › Hashem made for him, then he'll continue to live the life that he lived till now. He will, uh, continue to, you know, on the outside with the goyim, he'll pretend he's a goy. And, and he'll just do Jewish things in, in pri- in his home secretly where nobody can see. So he spoke to many ‹ foreign language ›, and they... Each one tried to convince him, but it didn't work. He wasn't convinced. Finally, they heard that there is

08:39 a, a great tzadik. His name is the Baal Shem Tov, and he thought maybe he can help him. So he traveled to Medzhybizh. When they came to Medzhybizh, he saw outside in the courtyard a ‹ foreign language › of the Baal Shem Tov. His name was Reb Ze'ev Kitzes. Reb Ze'ev or the Reb Wolf. Ze'ev is in Hebrew, Wolf is in Yiddish. Reb Wolf Kitzes, that was his name. Reb Wolf Kitzes was a ‹ foreign language › Baal Shem Tov, was a big tzadik. He was taking care of the horses of the Baal Shem Tov. He was feeding them, cleaning them, taking care of them. So this Jew who came from Spain saw this and says, "Oh, he's probably a helper, like a guy who takes care of the horses." Says, "A nobody." So he asks this, this Reb Ze'ev, Reb Wolf, "Where is the Baal Shem Tov? I heard of this great tzadik. Can you tell me where I go, which door I go to see him?" And he told him, "Just you go to that door, and that there, this is his room." So this, uh, Spanish Jew went, knocked on the door, and as he opened the door, the Baal Shem Tov saw him, and right away, before he could open his mouth, before this Jew from Spain could open his mouth, the Baal Shem Tov said, "Oh, ‹ foreign language ›, the minister from Spain." Now, when he heard this, he said, "Wow, this man, this Baal Shem Tov, he has

10:04 ‹ foreign language ›. H- how does he know I'm the minister of Spain? Nobody knew that." So he realized that this is a, a very special person. This is a tzadik who has ‹ foreign language ›. And b- before he could say anything to the Baal Shem Tov, the Baal Shem Tov continued and said to him, "I know you have a question about Hashem, whether this miracle that happened to you is made specially from Hashem as a miracle for you to save your life or whether this is just, again, an accident. You know, you just happened to be lucky. You were in the right place at the right time." So the Baal Shem Tov said to him, "An answer to your question you'll get from my student outside who you just met, Reb Wolf Kitzes." So then he was, uh... The, the Jew from Spain was very surprised, "Oh, he's not just a, a k- a guy who takes care of horses. He's really a great, a big tzadik." So he went outside and told Reb Wolf, "The Baal Shem Tov told me to ask you my question, uh, about the earthquake that happened." And Reb Wolf said to him, "Listen, let me explain to you something. As we know, everything Hashem does, Hashem had planned in advance every detail from the time of creation. When Hashem created the world 5,785 years ago, Hashem created the world, he already planned then every little thing that's gonna happen in the, in the history of the world,

11:38 including this earthquake. You know, Hashem planned at that time that you, you will be at that time, um, in danger, and the Inquisition is gonna wanna kill you, and he planned it that you should be there during that earthquake. That means Hashem made sure that the earthquake should be exactly at the same place at the same time that you were going to be killed, and that earthquake will save your life. So obviously, what more do you need? This is clear proof that Hashem planned it that way, and he wanted to save your life." When this Jewish, Spanish Jew heard this, he right said, "Yeah, that sounds right." He was convinced. He decided to become a full Jew, even in the open, and become a Hasid of the Baal Shem Tov.