Rabbi Shmuel Arieh, who once lived in the village of Koshilovitz, where the Baal Shem Tov had worked as a shohet (slaughter) before his greatness was revealed, related this to me: “I met an 80 year old shohet in that village and I asked him if he had ever met a Jew who had actually met Rabbi Israel, the Baal Shem Tov. The shohet answered that he had never met a Jew who had met the Baal Shem Tov, but he had met a Gentile who not only met Rabbi Israel but also recognized him. I questioned how a Gentile could possibly recognize a Jewish holy man who had not yet revealed himself even to Jews; and this was the shochet’s answer.”

“When I was a young man I used to lodge with a Non-Jewish farmer. Whenever I would pour water on a stone before sharpening my slaughtering knife, the farmer’s grandmother, an old lady in her 90’s, would shake her head. I used to think this was due to her old age. One time I sensed she was doing it out of disapproval; so I asked her why do you shake your head while I work?

She answered me, “You do not go about your task in a nice way. That nice young man Israel, before he sharpened his knife on a stone, would wet the stone with his tears.” (Adapted by Rabbi Allen Maller from: A Book That Was Lost by S.Y. Agnon p. 211)

The Seer of Lublin was one of the most famous and formidable of the Hassidic Rabbis at the end of the 18th century. His greatest disciple (who had exactly the same name as his master) was called the Yehudi in Lublin, and the Holy Yehudi everywhere else. The two Rabbis loved each other very much, although they suffered many heartaches due to rivalries among their own disciples, especially those in Lublin. The Seer, as his appellation indicates, was a visionary who was interested in large movements and long term developments. The Holy Yehudi was a humble saint, famous for the power of his worship of God, who developed a reputation (which he always denied) as a healer of souls.

The Seer’s wife Beile, often overheard the gossip and slanders of the Seer’s disciples and began to believe what she had heard. When her young child fell ill she feared it was an evil eye from the Yehudi. Beile begged her husband to pray for the child’s recovery. He replied, “You know to whom you must turn.” meaning God. But perhaps because she felt guilty about the slanders she overheard and, like her husband, had failed to rebuke, Beile decided to go to Pshysha, where the Holy Yehudi held his court.

She begged him to forgive her sins against him and to pray for her son’s recovery. The Holy Yehudi was struck dumb that the Seer’s wife could think he would wish her or her child ill; and he sobbed. Finally he told her, “I will pray without ceasing.” Being generally naive, he neglected to tell her that he forgave her. When Beile returned home her son was dying.

What the Seer and his wife concluded from all this no one knows. But some weeks later, the Yehudi’s son, who was almost 12, now fell ill. At first, it did not seem serious, but then it got worse. His mother Schoendel, cried hysterically for days. Once the told her husband, “This is their vengeance!” The Yehudi replied, “Don’t go to pieces!” She gave all that she had to charity, but the boy........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)