Thursday, September 25, 2008

Posting Live on the Uman Drive - Part 3 - The Baal Shem Tov



Part 1 here

Its hard to believe in fact I am waiting to wake up from this dream. As we entered the village of Mesbitche you could tell something about this place was different. The road was made of inlaid broken stone and we could see the holy site in the distance. A million thoughts flew through my mind all at once. The ones that stood out were "the Baal Shem tov walked on this street and looked at this place just about 300 years ago" and of course "am I really here is it possible" the father of chassidus. The holy rebba that taught us and brought the idea into the world that not only is there elokus in everything but that everything is elokus even the shell. Every jew has to love one another simply because we are all one. When you look at another yid you are looking at a piece of you. We entered the bais medrash and the first thing we did was fill our stomachs with the most helig vegetable soup from the chader ochel. Next we made our way to fill our neshomas with our renewed koach haguf with the teffilos of mincha. Now we were ready to try and enter into the holy mokom of the Baal shem tov Hakodosh zechus yagen alenu! B'h there were yidden everywhere this is the first time we had seen other yidden since we started this Journey. By the way we are all convinced that our driver is an alter einekel of Alexi the faithful driver of the Baal shem hakadosh. For all of you that are not familiar with the Driver Alexi I heard that he had the zechus to drive the Baal Shem tov because he saved the life of one yiddishe neshoma. We just got pulled over by one of the crooked police and he said Baruch Barushna and he left us alone. I don't know who Barushna is but he must be a good guy. You could actually feel the uniqueness of this mokom although if I made any attempt to put it in word it would and could not justify the moment. Someone told me I am a tzaddik simply because I gave out some candles to some people that did not have any. If it were only that simple however to use the loshon of tzaddik in front of this tzaddik perhaps there is yet hope.

I can tell you that everyone reading this email that your names were uttered in front of these tzaddikim by myself or the holy chevrah that I am traveling with. In fact I don't know where this email will end up but I can assure you that we prayed for all of klal yisroel. Its amazing I just realized that when we pray for ourselves we are also praying for all of klal yisroel because we are all kulnu biyachad. Buried right next to the Baal Shem tov is the Apter Rav, Rav Baruchel Mimezbitche, Rav Nachman Mehuridansk, and the Deygal Machaneh Efraim. WOW it can't be possible that every tiffilla did not pierce through shamayim. The holy kedoshim were mevatel their entire lives for all of klal yisroel and in truth that koach is still present in this world. We concluded our visit with davening Maariv with a minyan in the Bais Medrash.

You know when someone asks me now "how are you" I can really say I am a different person than I was 2 days ago. It is not possible to walk amongst the Greatest Tzaddikim and daven next to them and actually think for a moment that you are not a changed person. As my neshoma begins to break through the many layers and husks of phisicality and to reveal itself as it tries harder and harder then ever before to connect with Hakodosh Baruch Hu I begin to feel I am breaking through preparing myself for Rosh Hashana. On that note 40 years have passed by and I have never made better preparations for Rosh Hashana than I have the last few days. All I have always felt is the pain and guilt that I could have done so much more. Well today I can and off to the holy lebidik tzaddik Reb Levi Yitzchak of Bardichiv we go. Faster and faster our faithful driver Leon presses into the night off to our next opportunity of kirvas elokim through one of the greatest tzaddikim that walked in this world. To be continued....................

***
Yesh Boreh olam umanhig as hakol!


Part 4 here

(Picture of My Holy Chevrusa by the Baal Shem Tov's Kever courtesy of Reb Chaim!)

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