LETTERS FROM THE CHERSON GENIZA TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME. PART 8.
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DOCUMENT 15:
Letter from the Baal Shem Tov to his brother-in-law R. Avraham Gershon Kitover explaining why he was uneducated and how he was trying to begin to study the basics of Torah:
B”H
Thursday (Parshat) Vayeishev 5489 (1729)[1]. Akop.
To my dear brother-in-law, the rabbi and gaon etc. Mr Avraham Gershon n’ y.
I hear that you are angry at me because I cannot learn (Torah).
I (have to) ask you then, who is guilty (and responsible for) the fact that I was left an orphan, Heaven forefend, at a tender age.
But I am informing you that (now) I want to be an assistant (to a children’s Torah teacher) and want to learn a little Torah.
Thanks to G-d, blessed is He, that I have learned to write a little.
(From) your brother-in-law:
Yisroelik of Akop.
(P.s.) My wife, your sister, may she live, is, thank G-d, alive and well and sends regards.
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DOCUMENT 265:
Receipt by the Baal Shem Tov declaring he has money on loan from R. Gavriel:
B”H
(Written) here in the holy community of Telusk 5490 (1730). Erev Shabbat (Parshat) Veyechi.
I, Israel of Telusk, have received fifty Ruble Teller, in cash, from the Torah personality, Rabbi Gavriel n’y, as a loan.
I am obligated to repay (the loan) at whatsoever time he (R. Gavriel) claims (it back).
I am the undersigned,
Yisroelik the assistant from Telusk, son of R. Eliezer.[2]
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DOCUMENT 33:
Letter from the Baal Shem Tov to his wife telling her he will bring the alcohol himself as he cannot find a reliable courier:
B”H
Wednesday (Parshat) Veyeira 5491 (1731)
To my wife, Mrs Leah Rachel, may you live.
I do not know what to do with the alcohol.[3]
I have no trustworthy courier (with whom to send it home).
Therefore, when I come home for the holy Shabbat, I shall bring it myself.
From your husband,
Yisroelik.
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DOCUMENT 29:
Letter from the Baal Shem Tov to his wife informing her he has found a courier to transport the alcohol which is for ‘good luck’ (success):
B”H
Wednesday (Parshat) Vayeira 5491 (1731)[4]. On the mountain close to Brod.
To my wife, the righteous woman, Mrs Leah Rachel, may you live.
I am sending by means of the bearer of this letter two measures of alcohol, which is good for luck (success).
(Please) send me my large coat.
G-d willing, after the holy Shabbat of Parshat Vayishlach, may it descend upon us for good, I shall return home.
From your husband,
Yisroelik.
(P.s.) Greet my brother-in-law the holy rabbi and gaon, our teacher the rabbi, Rabbi Avraham Gershon from Kitov, n’y, your brother.
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DOCUMENT 308:
Letter from the Baal Shem Tov to R. Chaim of Lvov informing him that he has received the ‘writings from the well-known teacher’ but doesn’t understand them:
B”H
Wednesday (Parshat) Vayeira 5491 (1731)[5] (in the) holy community of Zlotchov.
To the beloved of my soul, the rabbi the Nistar[6], our teacher the rabbi Rabbi Chaim of Lvov, n’y.
I have received all the writings.
To tell the truth, it is hard for me to understand them.
(Please) come to me so that we can understand them.
This (request) that you come to me is based on the permission of the well known (unnamed) teacher and rabbi.
From your friend,
Yisroelik of Akop.
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DOCUMENT 47:
Letter from R. Adam Baal Shem Tov to the Baal Shem Tov informing and warning him that the time had come for him (the Baal Shem Tov) to reveal himself and come out of hiding - failing which, dire consequences were predicted:
B”H
Letter 13.
To the honourable hidden one who was sent from Heaven, the holy and pure, Mr Yisrael, son of the rabbi Rabbi Eliezer. I do not know where you are (presently).[7]
(It is written in) the holy Zohar, (Parshat) Chayey (Sara):
“Come and see;
Jacob was under (a particular) holy jurisdiction (as long as he was in the Land of Israel). But when he left the land that jurisdiction departed and was replaced with another jurisdiction etc.
The Holy One, blessed be He, appeared to him in a dream and he saw what he saw etc.”
I (R. Adam Baal Shem Tov) am revealing to you (the Baal Shem Tov) that ‘Jacob’ is the aspect of ‘Isreal’ [8].
And you will illuminate the candle (neri) which stands for Nefesh, Ruach and Yisrael.
You will illuminate the world and those that dwell in it.
However, if you do not reveal (yourself), heaven forefend, wrath and fear shall descend. But with the power of your arm, they shall be quietened. Enough said.
From the one who loves you who was sent in place of your (unnamed) rabbi,
Adam Baal Shem Tov from Ropshitz.
The writer signed (this letter)[9] on Sunday (Parshat) Toledot) 5491 (1731).
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[1] This letter, written in 1729, would have been written when the Baal Shem Tov was about thirty years old. According to some accounts, he was born in 1698 and according to other accounts, it was 1700.
[2] In later letters the honorific is expanded to: ‘son of our master the rabbi, Rabbi Eliezer’.
[3] The assumption is that perhaps this alcohol was stock for resale.
[4] This letter is dated the same day as the previous letter, implying that a reliable courier was found later in the day.
[5] The last three letters are all dated on the same day.
[6] The followers of R. Adam Baal Shem Tov were known as Nistarim.
[7] The assumption is that the Baal Shem Tov may have been travelling or roaming the mountains at this time.
[8] An allusion to Israel Baal Shem Tov. Just as Jacob moved from one phase to another and was protected, so too must his namesake Israel move from the phase of a hidden Tzadik to that of a revealed one.
[9] Hko”ch is an abbreviation for haKotev Chatum, which means the writer signs (below).
You pursue an eclectic course. Those who might have an interest in the matter question the authenticity and reliability of the letters and those who don’t have an interest don’t really care one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteIt was however interesting to see how the Baal Shem Tov professed to a lack of education. It is interesting to note that from the time of Dwight Moody to the current evangelists such as Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jim Baker and numerous others including South Africa’s Angus “mighty men” Buchan were /are also of limited education- certainly at least when they were building up a following and as they started off . They all had/have millions of followers. A case of the common man knowing what the common man wants?
(Question; Just how kosher was the name Adam in the Jewish community at the time the Baal Shem Tov was around?)
Thank you for that, mitnad. There is, however a third option; This is my current theory - that the relaibility of the letters is achnowledged but because they are so frank and often not what we were brought up believing from stories around the table - that it is easier to cast aspersions on the material. If they were forged as a means of making money by selling them to Chassidic Courts, as alleged, why place the financial gain in jeopardy by revealing these sometimes uncomfortable writings?
ReplyDeleteFor your question about 'Adam', see some interesting views in KOTZK BLOG 119 - CHASSIDISM - A RUSSIAN CONNECTION?
Truthfully, I felt like after the last comment I should stop saying things, but I actually do know who the last letter is referring to, according to the tradition Chabad has. Firstly, we have a tradition that the Besht sent the letter to his brother-in-law stating (note, not directly, but essentially *confirming without lying* that that was what his brother in law thought.) that he was unlearned. The tradition we have is that he was in fact very learned already, but he had concealed himself very very heavily, and only revealed to his brother in law what he knew at a much later point in time. I think this is the exact letter where he essentially told him "What you think can indeed be true for you, and here's what I'm going to do regardless."
ReplyDeleteAs for the second, as I stated previously, there is a tradition that the Besht's teacher was Achiyah Hashiloni. However, it would actually make sense that they would avoid writing his name down, for a variety of reasons. In this case, many of the previous "unnamed individuals" could be cleared up as being people like Eliyahu Hanavi and/or Achiyah, and/or someone we don't know of from the traditions we received. That R Adam Baal Shem would send a letter making it clear "I am not your teacher, and I know who is, said unnamed person" should be some clarity on this. As for the above comments about Adam, I believe that b/c Adam means Adameh L'elyon (ie a reference to Hashem), while an uncommon name, permissibility was not the concern of the ones giving these names, especially in context of the tradition that parents have Ruach Hakodesh at the instant they give the child's name, since it reflects a portion of who they are for the rest of their lives. Stating that the name is strange is no disproof, reality is always stranger than fiction. This should not be an exception.
I hope you don't mind me sharing all of this haha, while I still have some holes in the knowledge that I have, I do have enough information to add some bits of context to things you've approached before. (And thank you either way, this blog is a great resource for me, as I am definitely missing large pieces of the information you speak about on here, though I am aware of some things already.)
Thank you for all your comments and for sharing so candidly your views on the various matters. Please do continue as this is an open forum and I value the sincere views of people like you.
ReplyDelete