Brooklyn, New York 5745. THE BAAL SHEM TOV EXPERIENCES SHABBOS TRANSCRIBED BY RABBI SAMUEL INTRATOR Reprinted with permission of Connections Magazine 
It is said of the Holy Baal Shem Tov, when he was still seeking to discover the correct way to serve G-d, he was always in depression. He was fearful that maybe he did not perform G-d's commandments in the proper way. Perhaps he did not adhere to Sabbath in the required manner. Indeed, there are many restrictions in our religion. Who can ever adhere to all these legal requirements? So, he once asked his rebbe, the prophet Achia, from Shiloh, to show him the place in the Garden of Eden of those people who adhered to the Sabbath best. The prophet led him to such a high place in heaven where even angels were not permitted. High above, he saw two golden thrones, shining brilliantly. The Baal Shem asked his master, "Achia Hashiloni, for whom are these two thrones prepared?" He was told, for you, since you will be wise, and for someone you must find. That Saturday night, after Havdallah, the Baal Shem ordered his servant Alexsi to prepare his horse and wagon at once. After they left Mezubush, (the Baal Shem's home town) Alexsi lost control of the horse and it seemed to ride endlessly, for days, across rivers and mountains. Finally, they arrived in a large foreign city where no Jews resided and the horse pulled over in front of a small house in the outskirts of the city. The Baal Shem was greeted by a German who bore no semblance of being Jewish. The Baal Shem asked him if he could stay with him for a few days. Why not, the German answered him. The Baal Shem soon noted that this fellow was a plain townsman with no Jewish values. He never prayed nor ate Kosher food. But, the Baal Shem reasoned, if his horse stopped in front of this house, he must wait here and observe carefully. The Baal Shem spent Shabbos there as well. (Needless to say, the Baal Shem passed on fish, chulant or Kreayot Hatorah - reading the weekly portion from a Torah scroll; that Shabbos.) All he was able to eat were a few loaves of dry bread that he took along for the trip. During Shabbos, the German hosted a great feast for all his friends. They ate, drank, smoked and danced and really lived it up. What a Shabbos experience for the Baal Shem. He entered in a deep depression, reasoning to himself this cowboy will be my partner in the world to come. Saturday night, as the Baal Shem was preparing to leave, he could not resist asking his mysterious German Shabbos host for an explanation of the purpose of that great joyous feast he hosted earlier in the day. He responded, "When I was a small child, I was taken away from my Jewish home and brought here. I know absolutely nothing about Judaism. I only remember that my father used to always teach me that we are commanded to rejoice on Shabbos. Large numbers of people came to our house every Shabbos. That is why I developed my own custom to make a great feast every Shabbos and invite my neighbors over and rejoice together with them." The Baal Shem then realized that here is a man with a true Jewish heart. What a high soul! The Baal Shem wanted to return this great soul to its Jewish root and explain to this man how Jews really keep Shabbos. But, he simply could not express himself. It was as if his power of speech was denied to him from heaven. The Baal Shem understood that G-d is more satisfied with the way this man currently keeps Shabbos then if he were to change his approach and abide by all the laws of Shabbos. His current Shabbos is kept with his heart and with perfect joy which would most definitely be lacking if he were to keep a traditional Shabbos. This, my dear friends, is the great message of Hasidus. we all need great wisdom to know what methods to employ in our service of G-d. Such knowledge, we can receive from our pious leaders. If the irreligious people were to understand this, they would not be irreligious. After this experience, the Baal Shem asked his master, Achiya Hashioni, to show him the place of those who desecrate the Shabbos. He led him through barren desert unto the deep darkness, into the lowest pit in hell where he saw two greatly burned black coal thrones. For whom are these frightening thrones waiting for, the Baal Shern asked? His master answered, for you, G-d forbid, if you will not be wise and for a friend of yours. The Baal Shem travelled to meet his companion from hell. This journey was a short one as the horse and wagon this time led him into a densely populated Jewish quarter where you could smell the Shabbos food in its streets. The horse came to halt in front of a house where the sound of Torah study rang loud. The house was that of the town's rabbi, a man who strictly adhered to every minute detail in his observance to G-d. The rabbi hardly noticed his quest as he was so engrossed in Torah study. Nonetheless, the Baal shem remained there for Shabbos. A bitter darkness enveloped the Shabbos atmosphere in the rabbi's house. This strict rabbi was afraid to touch anything with his hand in the event he might desecrate the Shabbos and violate the restriction of Muktza or to take an unnecessary step with his foot which might result in his killing an ant on Shabbos. He simply sat around all day and wondered which restriction he may have violated. What a poor and low Shabbos. The Baal Shem wanted to inform him that the Torah was not given to angels and that Shabbos is a time to enjoy the heavenly bliss. He was, however, unable to express his thoughts. One is reminded of the Talmudic teaching, "Just as one is commanded to instruct someone if you are certain he will heed your words, so too, one is commanded not to instruct someone if you are certain that he will not heed your words." This story was told over one hundred years ago during a Shabbos Shalusudis feast in the court of Reb Abraham Yaakov of Sadyager by Reb Liebishel Istricher, a leading Hasid.

House of Love and Prayer, San Francisco 5732. Reprinted from the Holy Beggar's Gazette 
A yiddele once came to the Holy Baal Shem and said he was going on a long trip. The Baal Shem said, "Wait, I want to give you something." The Baal Shem Tov took two candles and gave them to him, and said, "Do me a favor. Don't travel without these candles." So the yiddele always had them in his sack and he didn't even use them, he just had them with him all the time. One night he came to a little inn, but the place looked a little bit strange to him. The innkeeper gave him a little candle, a very small candle. The yiddele came to his room and after five minutes the candle burned out. There was something in the air; he knew there was something wrong. He went to open the door to call the man to give him another candle. The door was locked from the outside! He was really desperate! Suddenly he remembered that he had two candles from the Holy Baal Shem Tov! He took out the two candles, and he looked at the bed. Everything looked all right, but he felt something was wrong, so he pushed the bed away and under it he saw about ten dead bodies! At night the inkeeper was coming and killing the people. Since he had the candle, he put one of the dead bodies on the bed, so that when the inkeeper came to kill him he would the the body was his. The dead body was on the bed, and the yiddele was lying under the bed to wait until the morning. A few minutes later the door opened, the man came in with a knife, stabbed the body in the bed, and then walked out. In the morning the yiddele wanted to open the window, but it was completely barred. He managed to yell out to people in the street, "I'm here in a murderer's inn! Please get me out!" So someone called the police, and they came and arrested the innkeeper and found the bodies of fifty-six people that he had killed. The yiddele went straight back to the Baal Shem Tov to tell him the story, and to thank him for the candles. The Baal Shem Tov quoted a passage from the Torah. When Moses spoke to us about going into the desert he said "tachin lekha haderekh, prepare for yourself the way." TaChIN has the initials of tfillin, kikar, yayin and ner. (Tav, chaf, yud, nun.) To prepare yourself for the way means that wherever you go, take your tfillin, a little bread, wine for kiddush and a candle. Real Chassidim always have a little bottle of wine for Shabbos, a little challah, two candles and their tfillin with them all the time, wherever they go. *********************************************
