One of the great students of the Baal Shem Tov was the Toldos Yakov Yosef, Rev Yakov Yosef of Polnoya. The story goes that he was once in shul, and he noticed a Yid that he never met before, and was clearly a visitor. This guest was pacing back and forth in the back of the shul, clearly thinking about something deep or difficult. The Toldos Yakov Yosef decided to go and greet this guest, so he walked over and gave him a warm Shalom Aleichem, and asked him where he is from.
The Yid didn’t respond, and instead motioned with his finger “one minute”, implying that he wasn’t interested in talking right now. So a few minutes pass, and again he goes over to him and tries to greet him, asking his name and where he is from. The man responded coldly, asking him: “What’s the difference who I am and where I’m from? What do you want, that we should exchange these shallow pleasantries? I’ll tell you my name, and then I’ll ask for your name and you’ll tell me your name. And then we probably won’t even see each other again. So what’s the purpose of such a conversation? We’re just wasting our time!”
The Toldos responded, “You know why I want to know your name? Because there is a small possibility that one day we will meet again, even if it’s in a long time from now. When we meet, we’ll already have had this conversation, which will play back in our mind, where we already exchanged pleasantries and learned each other’s name, because we had already met. And then we’ll build on this small exchange, and maybe one of us will say, during that future conversation, ‘How have you been?’ or ‘How is everything?’ and then, just maybe, the other one of us will respond by thanking Hashem or saying something like ‘Baruch Hashem.’”
The Toldos continued, “Do you have any idea what happens in Shomayim when a Yid says ‘Baruch Hashem?!’ It says in the passuk ‘V’ata kadosh yosheiv tehillos Yisroel, You are holy and you anticipate the praise of the Jewish people.’ Hashem sits and waits in eager anticipation for a Jew to thank Hashem, for every little ‘Baruch Hashem, things are going well’!
If we don’t exchange these pleasantries now, it’s less likely that if we meet in the future, we’ll end up saying ‘Baruch Hashem.’ This is why I came over to greet you and ask your name and where you are from, because in a possible future follow-up conversation, there’s a chance one of us will thank Hashem and that will bring Hashem great joy!”
Later on, when the Toldos met the Baal Shem Tov, he told him about this encounter he had with that Yid, and the Baal Shem Tov replied that the Yid was sent by Hashem, just to pull this idea out of the Toldos, to set him up with this encounter so that he’d articulate and bring this powerful idea out to the world!
What a powerful lesson to keep in mind! Hashem is constantly waiting to hear the praises of the Jewish people. After Shacharis, he eagerly waits for Minchah, and after Minchah, for Maariv. Every time a Yid brings Hashem into the picture and says something as simple as “Baruch Hashem,” even in casual conversation, we are crowning Him as King, and giving him the moment He has been waiting for.
V’ata kadosh yosheiv tehillos Yisroel, You are holy and you anticipate the praise of the Jewish people.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 45.
