255. The Baal Shem Tov Helped A Jew Become a Talmid Chochom

00:15 Shalom Aleichem, kindelech. Here is a story that the previous Rebbe tells in his sichas, a remarkable story about a simple man. And the story goes like this. Uh, the Ba'al Shem Tov before he became famous, when he was still run- going around from town to town, uh, where people didn't know who he was, he was hiding his own greatness, and he pretended that he's like the ordinary simple people. He would go from town to town and go to the marketplaces where all the Jews, the simple Jews used to hang out, trying to sell things and make a living, and he would try to encourage them to daven and to learn that Hashem loves them, and they shouldn't feel like bad that they don't know how to learn. He would make them feel good and make them-- encourage them to do mitzvahs and to say Tehillim, even if they don't understand what they're saying because Hashem loves it anyways. He would give them a lot of encouragement. Also, he would see the-- all the troubles that the Jews were having in the small villages from the pogroms that used to make their lives miserable, and he would daven for them. He would try to help them out. So this is the kind of work he did. He traveled from town to town, from village to village, trying to help where he could help Jews that were in need, that were in trouble. So one of them in-- this was during that time when the Ba'al Shem

01:51 Tov was not known. He was, uh, leading a life of a hidden tzadik. So there was a, a young boy who lost his father at a very young age, and then he lost his mother two years later. And, um, he was very, um, very alone. He didn't have anybody. But he had an uncle who is, um... Who took him into the house because he didn't have any parents. He was three years old when his father died, and when he was five, his mother died. So his uncle took him in, and he raised him. And he tried to send him to a special teacher. In those days, every city, every big community had a cheder, a school, where all the kids could go. And the community, they supported the school. So it didn't cost the parents, maybe cost them a little bit, but not much to send the kids to school. But then those who wanted the kids to have a real good education, they should learn a lot, so they would have a special private melamed that a few kids together would learn by this melamed. So this uncle got a melamed that taught other kids in the class, and he was-- they joined this young boy who, uh, was an orphan. He didn't have any parents. They should join this melamed and learn Torah. But unfortunately, the young boy had a very, very weak head. That means didn't have the ability to understand things well. So he tried very hard, but he couldn't remember

03:43 anything. So when the Rebbe taught Aleph Beis, while all the kids already had learned all the Aleph Beis, he still didn't under... Weren't able to repeat the Aleph Beis. It, it, it didn't remember. Nothing went into his head. And then when the Rebbe kept teaching the kids further Chumash, and they were learning Chumash, Mishnayot, and then they went on to Gemara. And here, this little boy was still learning Aleph Beis because he still didn't learn how to say the letters properly. And the Rebbe told the kids in the class not to laugh at him, not to mock at him, but to be very nice to him. And the kids listened, right? In those days, the previous Rebbe said kids were very, were very nice. They knew that you shouldn't laugh at another kid who is not able to learn as well. Maybe Hashem didn't give him a good head. Anyway, so this is how he grew up. And then the, the teacher saw that no matter how much they try, he's not going to learn a lot. He's, uh, he's not able to learn. A little bit he learned Aleph Beis. It was finally he was able to repeat the Aleph Beis, all the letters, but still didn't know how to read. Everything took years and years for him to learn. Then they send him to the regular community cheder and school. And there also were-- the kids were learning Gemara, and he was still learning how to read the words. Kamatz aleph, o. Kamatz

05:18 beis, bo. And, and, you know, it was very, very hard. The, the, the, the, the family, his uncle decided, you know, "What's the point of keeping him in school? Let's go teach him a job." He was twelve years old, and he barely, barely knew how to read. So but he sent him to a man who made, um, you know, metal pots, um, metal plates, metal pots. And, um, you know, and, and he said, you know, "Teach this boy how to make metal tools, and then he'll have-- he'll make a living at least." So the, the, the, the, the man who made the pots agreed, took in the boy, and he taught him. And he actually learned very well. How to make these tools and how to work in the store with fire. You gotta melt it and then shape it and then hit it with a hammer till it becomes a full, full tool and a, and a pot. So he learned how to do it, and he was very good at it. But to learn Torah, he couldn't. His head was stuffed. Wasn't able to take anything in. And the boy was very saddened because he really, really wanted to learn. He tried so hard, but it didn't work. He became very sad. Why don't why, why am I punished that I can't learn anything? And he davened, he cried a lot. Hashem, please, I wanna understand, but he couldn't learn anything. No, uh, the guy who taught him how to make pots saw

06:58 that he's very good at making pots, so to him he said to him, "Listen, you know what? You can open your own store because I see you can do it yourself. You don't need me anymore." And that's what he did. He opened up a store, and he did very well. Did very well. Then he got older, and he ma- he made a lot of money, and, and he gave a lot of tzedakah. But again, he was very, very upset and very sad that he couldn't learn Torah. Finally, the, the community decided to find him a wife. He got married to the daughter of a Jew who lived in a village not far from there. And his father-in-law, his wife's father, he lived in a village, a small village next to the forest, and his business was from getting certain, uh, uh, c- certain like, uh, fluids, certain liquid that comes from the trees, and they make special things from it. So he made a business. The son-in-law, the, the, the pot maker, who's now a young pot maker, he decided also to settle in the village with his new wife, and he opened up a store where he made these, uh, metal things, and he was very successful. He became even very rich. He became very rich, and he gave a lot of tzedakah, but he used to cry a lot, a lot, a lot. Hashem, why can't I learn anything? Now, the village where he lived now with his father-in-law, there were f- there

08:29 were like a few Jewish families, and they had a little shul, and they even have a shechita and a teacher for the kids. And they also had one Talmid Chaham, a learned Jew. So this, uh, uh, young man, who the pot maker, who was an orphan, went to see and speak to the Talmid Chaham in the village and to, to explain to him and to, uh, to pour out his heart and tell him why he's so sad and he's crying. He says, "I wanna learn Torah. What can I do for Hashem to help me? What, what need I do?" And the Talmid Chaham said to him, "You don't have to do anything. Sometimes there are people that Hashem is happy if they just support and give tzedakah for other people to learn. They give tzedakah to Yeshiva. So if they can't learn, so they can give the support to the yeshiva, to those that learn Torah. And for Hashem, they are just as important as those that learn, and maybe even more important than them." Okay, but he wasn't very satisfied. He, he wanted to learn himself. Now, in that village, there was a custom that when a guest came from another place, like a traveler, uh, which happened very rare because it's such a small village, very few people used to go through that village, but if it happened that a guest came, then everybody wanted to have him in their house to do the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim. It was like a, you

09:59 know, a race. Everybody wanted to have him. So what did they do? They made a lottery. And, and the one who, who won the lottery, he was able to get the guest to come into his house and gave him a bed and gave him food and took care of him. One day, a stranger came to the village, and the stranger was... Nobody knew who he was. He had a lot of wounds all over his body and leprosy. And again, everybody wanted to have him as a guest. And they made a lottery, and who won the lottery? A young man, the pot maker. He, he won the lottery. So he took this, uh, str-- this guest, this stranger, uh, who looked very sick, a lot of wounds on his body and leprosy. Like tzaraat, it's called in the Torah. And he took him home, and he saw that he's very sick, so he helped him. He washed him and put cream, special medical creams on the wounds to help him, you know, heal the wounds. And after a few days, the, the guest looked much better. He looked a little healthier. I mean, he wasn't totally recovered, but he was much better than before. After a few days, the guest says, "Okay, um, thank you very much for having me in your house. It's time for me to go." But the pot maker begged him, "No, please stay a few more days. I'm so happy that you're here. I can do the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim.

11:26 I can help you. I wanna help you. I want to stay-- I want you to stay here, at least for a few more days." So the, the, the, the, the, the stranger agreed. One day as they were sitting eating supper, the, the, the, the, the pot maker says to the guest, "Tell me, how did you get sick like this?" So the guest answered, "Once I used to be very bakki." Bakki means I knew the whole Shas, the whole Gemara. Every Gemara I knew ba- I knew by heart. I knew everything, all the Gemaras. Uh, but I also wanted to learn all the commentaries from the Rishonim and the Achronim, from all the different Meforshei, all the, the, the... who give, who give, who explain the Gemara, Rashi, Tosfos, and the Rosh and the Ran, and I wanted to know it well. And I knew I need Hashem's help to help me that I should be able to learn all that. So I fasted many days, and then when I fasted, I learned Torah with great, great, great diligence. I learned Torah every day and night. I learned so much till I became weak and sick. From that, I became sick. After a short time, the guest left. Then this young path maker, he remembered what this, uh, Talmud Chacham who he was his guest. Now he realized he's a Talmud Chacham, he knew the whole Shas, and he, um, decided that, um, uh, that while he's begging and crying to Hashem to help him become

13:01 a Talmud Chacham, somebody who's learned, um, he'll do what the Talmud-- what this, this guest did. He will also fast and fast and cry to Hashem, and he will take all the terrible torture on his body, whatever it... even if it hurts, he's gonna do it because he wants Hashem to help him. So what did he do? He went out to the forest every day. He fasted. He sat down where the ants, like big ants, used to crawl, and they used to bite him. And while they were biting him, he was saying Tehillim. He knew how to read by that time but he didn't understand what the words meant. So he used to say Tehillim and cry and cry for hours, and that's what he did. One day, as he's sitting there in the forest and saying Tehillim, crying bitterly, he sees a man with a cane and a bag on his shoulder. That means it's a stick. He's holding the bag. The bag is hanging from his cane, and he's leaning the, the cane on his shoulder so that he would carry the bag on the, the back of his shoulder. And the man with, with the bag and the cane is approaching him. First, at first, he was afraid. Who is this person? It's a stranger in the middle of the forest. But then he calmed down, and the person who walked over said to this path maker, "Why are you crying? In the middle of the forest, why, why are you doing

14:44 this? What's, what's going on?" And the young man said to the Jew, to the stranger, "I'm an Am Ha'aretz." Am Ha'aretz means somebody who knows nothing, doesn't know how to learn, doesn't know anything in Torah. "And that's why I'm crying, and I'm very upset because I'm an Am Ha'aretz." And he said to this Jew, "I had a guest in my house who knew the whole Shas, and he told me how he fasted and fasted and fasted and learned Torah even though it was very hard, and then he got sick even, and I decided I'm gonna do what he did. I'm gonna go and fast and daven to Hashem till Hashem will help me." So when the Jew, the stranger that came over, uh, heard his story, he said to him, "Look, that's an idea, but if you want, I have a better idea for you which will be much easier for you to become a learned Jew, a Talmud Chacham." When the path maker heard this, he said, "Oh, yes. Please, please, please help me. I, I... Please tell me what, what the idea is. What is the, the, the idea where I can become a... I wanna become a Talmud Chacham so badly." So the Jew said, "Listen, there's one condition. I'll teach you. You'll see. You'll become a Talmud Chacham, but you have to give me all your-- everything that you own, all the gold and silver and money and furniture, your house. Everything that you own has to be given to me,

16:20 and then you're gonna have to join me on my trip, on my walking, on my travels for three years, and I promise you at the end of the three years, you'll be able to come back to your wife and your kids, and you will be a Talmud Chacham. I promise you. So this is the condition. You have to give me everything you own. Uh, give it to me away, give it away to me, and then come with me and travel." But so the, the, the path maker says, "Well, of course, I'll, I'll give everything away. What do I need money for? Take everything. Just make me a Talmud Chacham." He so badly wanted to learn Torah. So the, the Jew said to him, "Hey, hey, not so fast. First you gotta talk to your wife, see if she wants. You gotta tell her she has to give away everything, even the house. Everything is gonna belong to me. So go ask her first if she agrees with that." So he said, "Okay." And the o-- and the man, the str-- the, the visitor, the stranger said to him like this, "You're gonna meet me here in the same spot in eight days from now, and you're gonna give me the answer. Are you willing to do what I say? Sell ou-- give me everything, and then you go and travel with me for three years." And the path maker says, "Yes, I'm gonna come back in eight days. I'm gonna tell you the answer." He

17:39 went home, told his wife everything that happened, and she said, "Of course. You always wanted to be a Talmud Chacham. Give him everything. Give away everything that you own and go with him for three years so that your wish can come true. You can actually become a Talmud Chacham. I agree with it. Tell him that I'm fine, that you should go and give him everything." "But on one condition," she said. "I'm, I'm agreeing to this plan, but on one condition, that before we give him away everything and you travel off with him for three years- You're going, I would like him to come to us for a meal because after we give away everything, after we give away everything, we're not going to have anything to give him a meal, to give a chassid sarchim because we're not going to own anything. So before I give him away everything, I want him to come with you for a meal so we can do the mitzvah of chassid sarchim. And then I'll give everything away happily and you should go with him for three years. And you'll become a talmud chacham. So the pot maker went to his father-in-law, his wife's father who lived in the village, and asked his advice. What does he think? He said a different thing. He said, no, no, you shouldn't do it. What do you mean? You're going to leave your wife and kids alone? The Torah doesn't like such a thing. And give away everything to him and then

19:17 abandon, leave behind your wife and kids. And you give everything away to this man, this stranger. I don't think this is a good idea. The Torah doesn't allow a person to do such a thing. And you should basically tell him that you can't do that. And you can support talmud chacham even if you don't become a talmud chacham. You can support others that learn Torah. That made him doubt. And wow, this father-in-law made him question maybe he shouldn't accept the offer. He went back to his wife and told her what her father said to him. And that he's very confused. He's not sure what he should do. So his wife said to him, listen, if you really want to be a talmud chacham, then nothing would stop you. If my father can make doubts in your head and make you question whether you should take the offer or not, that means you really never really wanted truthfully to become a talmud chacham. If you really want to be a talmud chacham truthfully, then you wouldn't care about what anybody says. You would go and do it. When he heard that, he says she's right. And he went and went back to the same spot eight days later and told the old man that he's agreeing to do this. But he told him and he also told him what his father-in-law said. When he told the old man what his father-in-law said, he says the old man said to him, well, maybe you should listen to

20:53 him. He has a good point, you know, to leave your wife and kids behind and go off for three years and give all your belongings away to this strange person. Maybe that's not a good idea. But the pot maker says, no, no, no, no. My wife said that if I really want to be a talmud chacham, I should be willing to do anything. She's telling me that this is the right thing to do. She's encouraging me. And therefore, we're going to do it. But on one condition, she says, that you must come to our house. We're going to have a meal at night, a supper. She's going to make a beautiful supper. The last time before you, we give away everything. We're not going to have anything else to make for dinner. This way, at least you can do the mitzvah of chassid sarchim. So the old man agreed. And he and the pot maker went back to town. And they went to his house. And when they came to the house, they see that the table was decked with beautiful food, with candles like a yontif, like it's a yontif. So the old man asked the wife, what's the yontif today? Why is there such a festive meal, such a beautiful meal with candles? He said for two reasons. First of all, that I can do a mitzvah of chassid sarchim. It's a really yontif, right? It's not so common to do a mitzvah of chassid sarchim in this place. It's not so easy,

22:14 you know. And not so many people come by this place. So it's a big yontif for me that I can do this mitzvah. The second thing he says, I see that Hashem decided to take away all our belongings, all the money and silver and gold that we gathered over the years. Hashem is going to take it away from us. What a more beautiful way to take it away from us so that my husband can be a talmud chacham. He could have taken it away in a different way, which wouldn't be so nice. But he is taking it away from us so that my husband can be a talmud chacham. So for that, it's a yontif, he said. I'm so happy about it. Okay. They had a meal and then they brought a big bag and they put in all the gold and silver and money, everything they put down. And the old man says, okay, here's a document. You're going to sign that you're giving everything away to me. And they brought two witnesses. The way you write a document, you have always two witnesses, two neighbors that signed. And that's it. The next morning, before the Jew and the old man and this pot maker left the town, the old man said to the wife of the pot maker, even though the house is now mine, I'll let you live there. You can live there with your children as a neighbor for free until your husband comes back after three years. He also said

23:31 that he's going to leave her bags of flour and potatoes so she can make food for the kids. She has enough for the next three years. He also told her she can plant the garden, which is next to the house and use the fruits and vegetables. She can sell it and make money and give the food to the kids and all for free. But he owns it. Then he gave a bracha to the wife and the two sons and the daughter. And he took the bag with the silver and the gold and left together with the pot maker. The woman was left alone and she planted the garden and the field and it made a lot of good vegetables and fruits. And she was able to live well. The previous Rebbe doesn't tell us what happened during the three years. All he says is it's a long story, but he doesn't, apparently didn't have time to tell all the details. But he says at the end of the three years, the husband came back and the husband and his wife, they settled in a different place. They moved to another town and there he became very successful and became very rich and he became a hidden tzaddik. That means he was a talmud chacham and a hidden tzaddik. But he remained a hidden tzaddik till the end of his life. After 120 years, they gave the pot maker a beautiful place in Gan Eden together with all the chachamim in Gan Eden to learn Torah

25:08 there. And for the wife, they gave a very special place for all the holy women, whoever in Gan Eden. She was together with them. Every time when the husband would be taken to a higher place in Gan Eden, he used to bring his wife and they would announce in all the heavens that all of this that's happening to him is because of her. And the Alter Rebbe then finished the story. The Alter Rebbe told that story. The Friediker Rebbe mentions, the Alter Rebbe told that story on Shvir Shal Pesach Tov Kuv Samach Alef. And he finished the story and he said that the man, the old man with a cane and a bag that showed up in the forest was the Baal Shem Tov before he became famous. And then he concluded that the greatness of the woman, that she had Mesiras Nefesh for Torah Mitzvahs and she did it joyfully. And then the Alter Rebbe said when the Jewish people came out of Mitzrayim and they crossed the Yam Suf, they said the song of Oz Yoshir. And it says in the end of Oz Yoshir, the woman also danced and sang with Simcha, but the woman did more than the man. The man just sang Oz Yoshir Moshe when they crossed the Yam Suf to thank Hashem for the Nissim. But the woman, they brought tambourines and all kinds of, and they danced. They were more Besimcha than the man. And that's why the Haftarah of Parashat Shira, of Parashat Beshalach, when we

26:38 read the Shira and the crossing of the Yam Suf, we read the Haftarah of Atosha D'Vera, D'Vera Neviah, when she, in the Sefer Sheftim, when she was leading a war against the enemies of the Jewish people, and she was successful and they were victorious. And so she said a special Shira, a song of praise for Hashem. And we read this in the Haftarah of Parashat Beshalach, when we read the Shira that Moshe sang with the Jewish people when they crossed the Yam Suf. And it's to show that everything that happens is in merit of the woman. And that's it. That's the end of the story with this pathmaker and his wife. Is an example of that.