Why did the Baal Shem Tov call down the Samech-Mem himself and why did the Samech-Mem become alarmed when five tzaddikim convened in an abandoned house on the edge of a tiny village? * What is the segula to hasten the Geula and why did R’ Boruch of Mezhibuzh’s stomach turn every morning? * What did the Yid of Peshischa learn from the gentile? * A compilation of stories about tzaddikim who did so much to hasten the Geula and to raise the Sh’china up from the dust. * From the book U’Meivee Goel.
THE DISPUTE THAT WAS ALREADY DECIDED
One year, the Baal Shem Tov made a commotion with his prayers in order to hasten the coming of Moshiach. After exerting intense effort in his prayers, from heaven they told him the following story:
Before his pure soul descended to this world, a great dispute broke out in heaven among the souls of tzaddikim. Some of the tzaddikim demanded that the Geula be hurried up since the Jewish people’s oppression was unbearable. But other tzaddikim said it was not yet time for the Geula, since there were still many souls that needed rectification and elevation, and Moshiach could not come until that happened. The first group of tzaddikim maintained that it was not possible that the Jewish nation should suffer in exile because of these errant souls.
The judges in the heavenly court decided that since there was a great soul in the treasury of souls, the soul of the Baal Shem Tov, this soul should be consulted about what to do.
The two sides presented their cases and after the soul of the Baal Shem Tov weighed the matter carefully he quoted the verse about nobody being forsaken.
However, this answer did not placate the tzaddikim who continued crying out about the miserable lot of the Jewish people. So in heaven they decided that the time had come for the Baal Shem Tov’s soul to descend to the world to rectify and elevate those forsaken souls from the depths of klipa.
“If so, what are you demanding now when you yourself wanted to postpone the Geula?”
WHO WILL PURIFY YOU
“It is clear to me,” said the Baal Shem Tov about his great disciple, the Maggid of Mezritch, “that if he was healthy and was able to walk and immerse in a mikva, Moshiach would come immediately. (The Maggid was lame and used crutches and apparently, because of this, could not immerse – MZ.) Because by immersing, he with his tremendous holiness would bring about thoughts of t’shuva in all peoples of the world and we would merit the Geula.”
OBTAINING
THE KEY TO GEULA
The Alter Rebbe told a frightening story that he heard from the Baal Shem Tov himself in one of his visions after the Baal Shem Tov’s passing.
The Baal Shem Tov said that until the age of eighteen, Achiya HaShiloni would descend from heaven and learn with him. Afterward he merited to be the student of Moshiach Tzidkeinu himself.
When he was thirteen he was taught, from heaven, all the holy names and their permutations, except for one name which they did not teach him. The Baal Shem Tov asked his teacher why he did not teach him that exalted name and was told that he himself did not know the secret of that name since in heaven it was given to the Samech-Mem. Why? Because when Hashem wanted to send the Samech-Mem to destroy the Beis HaMikdash, the Samech-Mem refused to go down until they gave him this name as a deposit, so that nobody would be able to rebuild it, because the Geula depends on this name.
The Baal Shem Tov did not give up. For years he worked to wrest this exalted name away from the Samech-Mem in order to hasten the Geula, but heaven warned him that many great people had tried to extract this name and were harmed. But the Baal Shem Tov did not give up and said that he was not afraid of anything but Hashem.
After mighty effort and lofty spiritual intentions, the Baal Shem Tov managed to bring the Samech-Mem before him. The Samech-Mem was furious and roared, “Putrid drop! I was only here in this world two times, during the destruction of the first and second temples. How dare you bother me to bring me to this lowly world a third time?”
The Baal Shem Tov replied, “I fear nothing but Hashem Himself,” and he succeeded in extracting the name from him.
(Yagdil Torah)
WHERE IS THE PLACE OF THE SACRIFICES?
When they told the holy Rabbi Boruch of Mezhibuzh that a rabbi had written a seifer called B’Mayim K’doshim, on the Order of Kodshim, he said:
“I am very surprised. How can someone manage to write a work on the entire Order of Kodshim? When I daven in the morning and say, ‘Eizehu mekoman shel z’vachim’ (where is the place of the sacrifices) and I think about where the ‘place of the sacrifices’ is now, for the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed due to our many sins, my innards turn over and I cannot go on.”
(Sippurei Chassidim – Zevin)
WHEN WE TRULY DESIRE IT
One day, the holy Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok, the Yid of Peshischa, was walking with his disciples. They came across a gentile whose hay wagon had turned over. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to get it back up. When the farmer saw the group strolling along, he asked for their help. They tried to lift the wagon but were unsuccessful. The farmer looked at them with annoyance and said, “You could pick up the wagon but you don’t want to!”
The Yid HaKadosh turned to his disciples and said with great yearning, “Do you hear what this gentile is saying? We can raise up the Sh’china from the dust, from exile, but we don’t want to…”
(Sichos Chaim; Beer Ha’chassidus)
AND THOSE WHO RETURN, WITH TZ’DAKA
Rabbi Shlomo Shapiro of Munkatch would put many coins in the pushka of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes every day before davening Shacharis. With each coin he would whisper, “Behold, I give this coin so that the Sh’china will return to its place with the coming of the righteous redeemer speedily in our days. Behold I am giving this coin so that His blessed name will be sanctified…”
(Beer Ha’chassidus)
SQUANDERING THE TREASURES
The Rebbe said in a sicha:
Under the leadership of R’ Dovber, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Chassidic movement grew with the addition of many Chassidim. As a result, the teachings of Chassidus were disseminated all over.
One of the Rebbe’s enactments was that any guest who visited Lubavitch had to review all the maamarim he heard from the Rebbe and later, when he returned home and passed through towns and villages, he had to repeat the maamarim to the local residents. The Mitteler Rebbe was very particular about this.
Once, one of the great Chassidim had a private audience with the Rebbe. This Chassid reviewed Chassidus in a clear fashion and he complained that he felt prideful about his excellent reviews. For this reason, he asked permission not to have to review Chassidus for others anymore.
The Mitteler Rebbe told him, “Be an onion but review Chassidus” (alluding to the idea that although the taste of an onion is bitter it brings out the sweetness in other foods).
The Rebbe concluded this story with a lesson in avodas Hashem:
“Spreading Chassidus everywhere was done to an even greater extent by my master and father-in-law, the Rebbe Rayatz, who said maamarim should be translated into various languages, and demanded that Chassidus be learned with every Jew, no matter his level of knowledge of Torah and fulfillment of mitzvos. We ‘squander’ all the hidden treasures of Chassidus, the main thing being to win the war – to bring the Geula very soon.”
(VaYeishev 5714)
AT THE LAST MINUTE
Rabbi Eliezer Zev, the Holy Elder of Kretchnef, told a frightening story about the attempt made by the holy Baal Shem Tov together with a few other masters of the sublime to hasten and bring Moshiach:
Five tzaddikim convened to hasten the Geula. The Baal Shem Tov led the others: R’ Meir the Great of Premishlan, R’ Moshe Pastik – R’ Meir’s brother, who was a hidden tzaddik, R’ Shabsi of Rashkov and Rabbi Tzvi Patiker.
On the appointed day, these five tzaddikim met at an abandoned house on the edge of a remote village and there, far from other people, they hoped to join forces in their supernal unifications and to pray for the hastening of the Geula.
The Samech-Mem knew that if these five tzaddikim succeeded in bringing the Geula, his end would be bitter, so he disguised himself as a simple villager from that small village. He went to the home of the mayor of the town and said that five Jews were in an abandoned house and were plotting to burn down the town.
Hearing this, the mayor sent the police to capture them while they were still plotting, but the tzaddikim sensed something was wrong and knew that in another few minutes police would come to arrest them. They immediately invoked lofty divine intentions and used permutations of letters, according to kabbalistic teachings, and made themselves invisible. Only Rabbi Meir the Great of Premishlan did not want to use the holy names to save himself and he did nothing.
A few minutes later, the police arrived and were surprised to see just one Jew sitting quietly instead of a group of plotting Jews. Nevertheless, they arrested and handcuffed him and brought him in the police wagon to the jail.
While on the road, R’ Meir thought about how his sitting in jail would impede his service of Hashem, especially if he would not be released by the next morning and would not be able to don t’fillin. Without anyone noticing, he slipped off the wagon and went home.
Satan’s work was successful in that the group of tzaddikim who gathered to hasten the Geula had disbanded and the auspicious time was lost.
(Raza D’Uvda)
REBUILDING THE SUPERNAL MIKDASH
Every year, the Oheiv Yisroel of Apt and the Chozeh of Lublin would celebrate Simchas Torah with their master, the holy Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, who cherished them greatly.
One year, they did not show up which pained R’ Elimelech greatly. When his son, R’ Elozor, asked in surprise, “We have other great tzaddikim with us,” he replied, “Whenever I say, ‘kuma Hashem lim’nuchasecha,’ I build the supernal Mikdash, while they bring in the Aron and Luchos. I have nobody like them now.”
(Sippurei Tzaddikim)