There once was a devastating plague in Mezhibush. The people rushed to the holy Baal Shem Tov to plead for help. Surprisingly, he claimed that he couldn’t help them, and that the townspeople would have to help themselves. He then related the following:
“In Shmonei Esrei we ask Hashem: May the service of Your people, Yisroel, always be favorable to You.”
The Baal Shem Tov continued. “Our service has the power to influence Hashem’s will. Through our Avodah, we can weaken and even nullify bad decrees, and bring about good instead. This is especially true when we invoke the letters of the Torah by reading them, saying Tehilim, or collectively writing a Sefer Torah.”
He then requested that his Sofer begin writing immediately, and soon afterward the plague ceased. When completed, this Sefer Torah became known as the “Miracle Sefer Torah.”
Named after the Baal Shem Tov, Maayon Yisroel’s mission is to spread his teachings. Just as the citizens of Mezhibush were inspired to write their own Sefer Torah, we at Maayon Yisroel were inspired to write a Sefer Torah in honor of the Baal Shem Tov, and it is nearly complete. We are eagerly awaiting it’s arrival from the Holy Land.
This Nissan 5776 (May 2016), just after Pesach, Rabbi Reuven Wolf and others will take this special Torah on a journey from Yerushalayim, to the grave sites of the great Tzadikkim and Kabbalists Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the Arizal. From there it will travel to the Ukraine to visit the grave sites of the great Chassidic masters, the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezeritch, Reb Zushe of Anipali, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the Baal HaTanya, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov and others. It will continue to New York, where letters will be written in the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s private office, and then finally, on Lag b’Omer, complete its journey to Los Angeles, coming home to Maayon Yisroel.
Its very first reading will be the Aseres Hadibros, on Shavuos, the Yortzeit of the Baal Shem Tov.
Be part of this amazing journey and help us spread the legacy of the Baal Shem Tov.