The Baal Shem Tov Redirected a Desperate Man to a Wealthy Benefactor, and the Blessing Worked

A Jewish man came weeping to the Baal Shem Tov and begged him to pray for relief from a personal crisis. The Baal Shem Tov was deeply pained by the man’s suffering, but he saw that the decree in Heaven had already been set and that he could not change it directly.

He then opened a volume of Talmud and found the line, “Whoever takes a coin from Job is blessed.” That passage reminded him of a man named Rabbi Shabbtai Meir, whom he described as a learned, righteous, charitable and very wealthy Jew. According to the story, Rabbi Shabbtai gave generously, lived simply, and increased his wealth only so he could distribute more charity. Because of this, the tale says, Heaven decreed that anything he spoke would come true, and his blessings were especially powerful.

The Baal Shem Tov concluded that the whole sequence was a sign from Heaven. He told the distressed man to go to Rabbi Shabbtai before Shabbat, where he would surely be welcomed, since the rabbi hosted many guests generously. After Shabbat, the man asked for a blessing on his problem, and Rabbi Shabbtai blessed him.

The man was then saved from the trouble he had brought. The story closes with a blessing that the merit of the Baal Shem Tov should help every Jew find a personal salvation.