Storytelling Guru

Once, the Baal Shem Tov came to his disciples and said, “This is the last year of my life. Each of you will have a role to fill after I’m gone.” He pointed to one of his followers, saying, “You will be the leader of the community here.” To another he said, “You will explain the teachings to those who come here and ask.” One by one, he told each of the disciples what they should do.
The last he turned to was Reb Yaakov. “You will be the storyteller. You will travel from village to village and spread the stories of what has happened here among us.”
Reb Yaakov cried out, “Holy master, I would do whatever you want, but please! Give a different task to me! As a storyteller, I would be poor! And travelling from place to place, I would never have a home or a family.”
The Baal Shem Tov replied, “As for your poverty, perhaps you will be surprised. And as for settling down, one day there will be a sign – and then you will know that your job is completed and you may cease your wandering.”
Here there some of the stories Reb Yaakov kept on telling.:


I. What is the problem?  
A downcast hasid came to his rebbe.
“Rebbe, I am in serious financial trouble.”
“So, what is the problem?”
“Rebbe, I lost my job. I lost every job I ever had.”
“And why do you keep losing them?”
“Well, whatever job I take, it seems my heart is not really in it.”
The rebbe looked hard at his disciple.
“You are an outstanding student of the Torah. You work well with people. Why don’t you become a rabbi?”
The hasid grimaced. “Rebbe, I have yearned to be a rabbi. But rabbis interpret the Law for people. Their judgements might affect the destiny of a person’s soul. I can’t be a rabbi. I’m afraid I might make a mistake!”
The rebbe met the hasid’s eyes.
“So? Who should become a rabbi? Someone who is not afraid of making a mistake?”


II. How do we know?
Some students of the Baal Shem Tov came to him one day with a question. “Every year we travel here to learn from you. Nothing could make us stop doing that. But we have learned of a man in our own town who claims to be a tzaddik, a righteous one. If he is genuine, we would love to profit from his wisdom. But how will we know if he is a fake?”
The Baal Shem Tov looked at his earnest hasidim. “You must test him by asking him a question.” He paused. “You have had difficulty with stray thoughts during prayer?”
“Yes!” The hasidim answered eagerly. “We try to think only of our holy intentions as we pray, but other thoughts come into our minds. We have tried many methods not to be troubled by them.”
“Good,” said the Baal Shem Tov. “Ask him the way to stop such thoughts from entering your minds.” The Baal Shem Tov smiled. “If he has an answer, he is a fake.”


III. Who has the answer?
Some Hasidim of the Maggid of Mezheritz came to him. “Rebbe, we are puzzled. It says in the Talmud that we must thank God as much for the bad days, as for the good. How can that be? What would our gratitude mean, if we gave it equally for the good and the bad?”
The Maggid replied, “Go to Anapol. Reb Zusya will have an answer for you.”
The Hasidim undertook the journey. Arriving in Anapol, they inquired for Reb Zusya. At last, they came to the poorest street of the city. There, crowded between two small houses, they found a tiny shack, sagging with age.
When they entered, they saw Reb Zusya sitting at a bare table, reading a volume by the light of the only small window. “Welcome, strangers!” he said. “Please pardon me for not getting up; I have hurt my leg. Would you like food? I have some bread. And there is water!”
“No. We have come only to ask you a question. The Maggid of Mezheritz told us you might help us understand: Why do our sages tell us to thank God as much for the bad days as for the good?”
Reb Zusya laughed. “Me? I have no idea why the Maggid sent you to me.” He shook his head in puzzlement. “You see, I have never had a bad day. Every day God has given to me has been filled with miracles.”




Marcel van der Pol (Keridwen)

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