08 Mar KI TISA: BELIEF IN OUR SELF

There was once a
priest who was very ill with wounds all
over his body, and he asked the Baal Shem
Tov for a cure. The Baal Shem Tov told him
that his illness came because he pursued his
taavos. “The only solution is to stop
pursuing your desires.”
The priest responded that he was so
addicted to his temptations that he couldn’t
control himself. He asked the Baal Shem
Tov whether he successfully controlled his
taavos.
The Baal Shem Tov pointed to his white
beard, indicating that he is an old man, and
he doesn’t have to struggle with these
matters anymore.
The Baal Shem Tov’s grandson, Rebbe
Boruch’l of Mezhibuzh was present during
this exchange.
Rebbe Boruch’l asked the Baal Shem Tov,
“Why didn’t you tell him that you are a Yid,
and a Yid is able to control his temptations”?
The Baal Shem Tov replied, “It is
impossible to explain to a goy what it
means to be a Yid.”
We add that it is impossible to explain to a

Yid what it means to be a Yid.
We don’t recognize our greatness, our
potential, how much Hashem loves us, etc.
As it states (Tehillim ,האדם לבני להודיע
145:12 (, גבורותיו this means we must tell
people about their strengths and how much
they can achieve, if they put their heart to it.
And even if you are at a very low level,
you are beloved to Hashem. The following
story took place in the year 1960, and it was
well known at the time.
The Pittsburg Rebbe zt’l
lived in Ashdod. From time to
time, he traveled to his
chassidim in New York. Once,
he was flying to New York,
together with eight other
Yidden. Midflight, the plane
began gliding downwards, and
the passengers didn’t know
why. They were still far from
their destination.
Panic reigned on board.
Finally, a flight attendant
announced that they were
having engine problems, and
they were hoping to find a runway nearby.
Otherwise, the plane will plummet into the
forest below.

The Yidden on board said viduy, kriyas
Shema, and davened for a miracle. It was a
frightening moment. With Hashem’s
compassion, they found a small airport in
the vicinity, and the plane landed safely.
It was time to daven Shacharis, but there
was a lot of commotion in the airport. The
Yidden approached a member of the ground
crew and asked, “Is there a secluded place
where we can pray?” The man fainted on
the spot.

When he awoke, he spoke to them in
Yiddish. He said, “Don’t judge me by my
appearance. I am a Yid. I was brought up in
a chassidic home in Williamsburg. I was
orphaned from my father when I was
ten, and I made some foolish choices in
my life. I now live and work here,
distant from all Yidden.
“Last night, my father came to me in a
dream and said, ‘It’s my yahrtzeit and I
want you to say Kaddish for me.’
“I replied, ‘How can my Kaddish help
you? I’m so distant from Yiddishkeit.’
“My father replied, ‘No, my son. Your
Kaddish will help me immensely.’
“’But there is no minyan where I live.
How can I say Kaddish for you?’
“My father replied, ‘If I send you a
minyan, will you say Kaddish for me?’
“I said I would. And here you are, nine
people, sent down from heaven so I can
have a minyan and say Kaddish.”
What a lesson in the value of every
yid!
A wise speaker was called to speak
before bachurim who fell to very low
levels, r’l. He stood before them and
raised a one-hundred-dollar bill. “Who
wants this bill?” he called out. They all
raised their hands.
He crumpled the bill until it was a tiny
ball and announced, “Now who wants
it?” Once again, they all hooted and
raised their hands.
He threw the crumpled, hundred-dollar
bill into the mud, and asked them, “Now
who wants the hundred-dollar bill?” and

they all said that they
wanted it.
He trampled on it,
he jumped on it, and
he asked them, “Who
wants this crumpled,
dirty, stomped on
one-hundred-dollar
bill?” They all said that they nevertheless
still wanted it.
He asked them for an explanation. They
replied, “A hundred dollars remains a
hundred dollars, no matter what you did
to it. We can straighten it out, wash it
off, and we have a hundreddollar bill.”
The speaker told them, “The same is
with a Yid’s neshamah. Even if it is
crumpled, covered in mud, and is
trampled on, you can wash it off and
straighten it out, and it remains a holy,
special neshamah.”
פרתו של ר‘ Shabbos (Mishnah The
אלעזר בן עזריה היתה ,) 4:5 יוצאה ברצועה
,Shabbos On , “שבין קרניה שלא ברצון חכמים
Reb Elazar ben Azaryah’s cow would
walk outdoors while wearing a strap,
and the Chachamim didn’t agree to this.” It
is forbidden for one’s animals to carry on
Shabbos. (It’s called בהמתו שביתת , the Jew’s
animals must keep Shabbos, too.)
It actually wasn’t Reb Elazar’s cow. It was
his neighbor’s cow. But since he didn’t stop
her and didn’t rebuke her for doing so, the
Mishnah attributes the aveirah to Reb
Elazar ben Azaryah.
The Yerushalmi (Shabbos 5:4) tells us that
Reb Elazar ben Azaryah did teshuvah for
this, and “His teeth turned black because of
all his fasting.”
Reb Chaim Vital asked the Arizal, “If Reb
Elazar ben Azaryah did so much teshuvah
for his relatively minor aveirah, what will
be with us? If so much teshuvah is needed
for every sin, how can we possibly attain
forgiveness for our many aveiros?”
The Arizal replied, “This story happened
in the previous generations. But in our
times, the darkness of galus is very great.
Even just one moan from the depths of the
heart is equal to years of fasting in years
gone by.” (Written in Yismach Yisrael,
Chanukah 56).
Therefore, we must believe in the
greatness of a Yid. In the previous section,
we discussed raising our awareness and
belief in Hashem.
These two emunos: belief in Hashem and
belief in the Jewish nation, are related to
this week’s parashah. Although we don’t
have a yetzer hara to worship avodah zarah,
there remains a struggle to believe in
Hashem and to believe in ourselves. When
we study about the egel, it is an ideal time
to train ourselves to believe in Hashem and
to believe in ourselves.