The Chassidic Secret Weapon

Guns are now a preoccupation for many Jews I know. Some now carry theirs at all times, others want to acquire them, still others want to learn how to shoot them and those who were once against them are now for them.

These are the times we now live in — thanks to the alarming increase of antisemitism.

With a 400 percent increase of anti-Semitic incidents around the world in 2014 as compared with 2013, security is very much on the minds of many Jews both in America and Europe. In Chicago, for example, one prominent rabbi recently met with a former Washington secret service official to discuss security measures for the Jewish community who are now increasingly at risk for anti-Semitic attacks and vandalism.

And in March, eight members of the House of Representatives launched a bipartisan task force for combating antisemitism. In a statement announcing their new initiative, they wrote, “Around the world, we are witnessing an alarming rise of antisemitism that is dangerous and complex. Over the past few years, Jewish schools, synagogues, and even homes and property have been targets of anti-Semitic violence.”

Which is why some Jews are choosing to own guns.

On college campuses, city streets and even in synagogues, many Jews no longer feel safe.

The Baal Shem Tov (1698 – 1760), founder of the chassidic movement, offers an additional kind of weapon during times of danger. Really, it’s more of a shield than a weapon. And it’s as shockingly simple as it is powerful.

If, G-d forbid, Jews find themselves under attack or in extreme danger, the Baal Shem Tov gives this piece of advice: Make the Shehakol blessing. This is the blessing we make on water, juice, chicken, beef, chocolate, etc. It’s a blessing we make so often that it has unfortunately become rote for many of us.

But this blessing also happens to be the emuna blessing, and it can even save lives.

The blessing of Shehakol proclaims the idea that Hashem is in full control and that absolutely everything happens only by Hashem’s decree: Shehakol (everything) nihiyeh (occurs) bidvaro (by His word). And the Baal Shem Tov advises that if we say this blessing with proper intention in times of danger, instantly internalizing the first principle of emuna that everything is from Hashem, then we’ll merit being rescued.

There’s a true story of a well-respected Chasidic rebbe in Jerusalem who was rescued by saying Shehakol (it’s published in the book, You Can Learn Bitachon /Trust in G-d by the Ohr Meir Foundation). Decades ago during the State of Israel’s early years, this Chasidic rebbe was in his house of study with his followers. Arab terrorists suddenly burst their way inside, violently grabbed the rebbe and dragged him to a nearby field. They told him he was going to die. They also told him he could have one final wish before they kill him.

His followers were watching nearby. They waited to see what their rebbe’s last wish would be. Some final instructions? A spiritual will to his family and followers? Perhaps a sacred object?

The rebbe instead asked for a cup of water.

The terrorists brought him the water, and he made the Shehakol blessing slowly and sincerely, concentrating on the fact that Hashem is in full control. Just as he started drinking, an Arab sheik passed by. This sheik recognized the rebbe and saw he was about to be murdered.

The sheik shouted at the terrorists. “This is an important man! A person you should respect!” Out of reverence for the sheik, the terrorists set the rebbe free.

Later, the rebbe’s followers asked him why his last wish was a glass of water. He told them about the Baal Shem Tov’s advice to make the blessing of Shehakol during times of danger. And by making this blessing and concentrating that everything is under Hashem’s control, he was able to be rescued from being murdered by blood thirsty, Jew-hating terrorists.

Today, with the dark clouds of antisemitism gathering and terrorism erupting throughout the world, it may be prudent to remember the Baal Shem Tov’s advice.

During the recent 70th anniversary ceremony for the liberation of Bergen Belsen, Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said that just seven decades after the Holocaust, the world is “descending into the same, dangerous hell where we found ourselves before.” He added, “From the ashes of this terrible place, the Jewish people rose up and moved on. But tragically, seventy years later, the world is not moving on; it is moving backward.”

If the world is indeed moving backwards toward the dangerous 1930s and beyond, then the Baal Shem Tov’s advice is as timely as ever. Saying Shehakol with proper intention, fixating on the concept of ein od milvado, that there’s nothing but Hashem and that everything is under Hashem’s control, could protect us from danger. It’s my prayer, though, that we’ll never have to take that advice.