KESER SHEM TOV
Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov
KST 31.
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
“And now, Israel, what does G-d ask of you – only to have awe of G-d your L-rd.”1
That is, G-d asks “what” of you – “what” implies humility and selflessness. When a person reaches this level, awe of G-d will be easily attainable for him, just as it was for Moses, as the verse concludes, “only to have awe.”2
With this we can understand the verse, “His concubine,”3 which refers to false humility, “whose name was Re’umah” – that is, re’u mah, which means, see that I am “what,” that I possess humility. “[Re'umah] gave birth to Tevach” [tevach literally means slaughter], since this will eventually kill the person’s soul.4
Similarly, the names of the Tribes, Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, which have holy connotations, can also have unholy ones. For instance, Re’u ben – which means, see that I am a son (of G-d); Shim’on – which means, his fame, that is, one who acts properly so that fame becomes universally known; Levi Judah – which means accompaniment and praise, that is, one who accompanies the righteous so that he receive praise.
1Deuteronomy 10:12
2As we saw in KST 29, the level of a person’s awareness and experience of G-d is intimately connected with the level of his selflessness.
3The verse quoted in this paragraph is from Genesis 22:24.
4G-d, is the Source of all life and of truth, and thus, any type of falseness inevitably dissociates one from G-d and leads to spiritual death.
Translation and commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua Starrett.
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