The Hasidic Parable

To Break Down All the Doors and Locks

To Break Down All the Doors and Locks very lock has a key that opens and fits that particular lock, but there are also thieves who open doors and locks without using any key at all but rather by simply breaking the lock. Similarly, every hidden matter has a key, namely the kavvanah, the specific contemplation appropriate to that matter. But the ideal key is to do as the thief does and break down everything, namely break one's own heart with submission, thus breaking the barrier separating man from God, which serves as the lock keeping man out. (Keter shem tovY This parable is included in Keter shem tOY by Aharon ben Meir ha-kohen of Apt, who related it in the name of Rabbi Baer-most likely Dov Baer of Mezherich-whose teachings are frequently included in that work by Aharon of Apt. The following version of the above analogy is found in a homily by Binyamin of Zalozetz, who ascribed the parable to the Maggid of Mezherich. It sometimes happens that people open a lock with a key, but there is also the case of a person who has no key and who needs to break the door and the lock with some strong object capable of breaking iron. So it is that the earlier generations, after the destruction of the Temple, 159 To Break Do\Vn All the Doors and Locks very locl~ has a l~ey that opens and fits that particular locl~, but there are also thieves who open doors and locl~s without using any l~ey at all but rather by simply breal~ing the locl~. Similarly, every hidden matter has a l~ey, namely the kavvanah, the specific contemplation appropriate to that matter. But the ideal l~ey is to do as the thief does and breal~ down everything, namely breal~ one 7 s own heart with submission, thus breal~ing the barrier separating man from God, which serves as the locl~ l~eeping man out. (Keter shem tov)1 This parable is included in Keter shem tOY by Aharon ben Meir ha-kohen of Apt, who related it in the name of Rabbi Baer-most likely Dov Baer of Mezherich-whose teachings are frequently included in that work by Aharon of Apt. The following version of the above analogy is found in a homily by Binyamin of Zalozetz, who ascribed the parable to the Maggid of Mezherich. It sometimes happens that people open a locl~ with a l~ey, but there is also the case of a person who has no l~ey and who needs to breal~ the door and the locl~ with some strong object capable of breal~ing iron. So it is that the earlier generations, after the destruction of the Temple, 159 160 THE ttAflDIC PA~ABLE would open all the locked gates with keys, namely, the kavvanot. The later generations, however, lack the power of the kavvanot and consequently we must break all the locks without keys, employing instead simply the shattering of our own evil hearts.... (Turei zahav) 2 In a collection of hasidic stories from a later period? the above parable is ascribed to the Baal Shem Tov, the central figure in the emergence of Hasidism, after he himself, to prove his point, took the paper upon which was written the specific kavvanah to be recited prior to the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. The person appointed to sound the shofar and unable to locate the written kavvanah would be in a state of dismay. And that situation would occasion the parable related by the Baal Shem Tov, which questions the need for such kavvanot. This would appear to be another example of a parable that, over time, served as the kernel of a legend told concerning the Baal Shem Tov. Hasidism claimed as a fundamental part of its legacy the body of mystic teaching associated with Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572), even though hasidic teaching in some significant ways followed a different spiritual and ideological direction than the teachings of Lurianic Kabbalah.4 Although not without a measure of ambivalence in certain of its circles, Hasidism made an open break with a Lurianic practice which, in time, became more and more complicated, with the reciting of kavvanot-designated statements to be recited with contemplation prior to performing certain mitzvot. The kavvanot were believed to enhance the effectiveness of those acts in restoring the Divine Unity. Hasidism ceased the practice of...