SCHOLAR OF AFTERLIFE MYTHOLOGY

 Selections from Jewish Views of the Afterlife

THE BAAL SHEM TOV'S DEATH

When the Baal Shem Tov fell ill shortly before his death, he would not take to his bed.  His body grew weak, his voice faint, and he would sit alone in his room meditating.  On the eve of Shavuot, the last evening of his life, his disciples gathered around him and he spoke to them about the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  In the morning he requested that all of them gather together in his room and he gave his final instructions for burial to members of the Hevra Kaddisha.  Afterwards he asked for a Siddur (prayer book) and said: "I wish to spend some time communing with Hashem Yitbarach (the Name, may He be blessed).

Then after his time spent in prayer and preparation for greeting the Angel of Death, he told his disciples that as a sign, at the moment of his death the two clocks in the house would stop.

The Baal Shem Tov then asked his disciples to sing Reb Zlotcher's melody and they did so...After a while the Baal Shem Tov began to describe how the soul was leaving his body, first through the extremities, slowly, slowly...slowly...Then in a quiet voice he said:  "Now I can no longer speak with you."  His disciples looked and noticed that at the moment, one clock in the house had stopped.

The Baal Shem Tov then motioned for his disciples to cover him with blankets and he began to shake and tremble as he did when praying the silent prayer.  The final he grew quiet, inhaled his last breath of air, and there was no exhalation, only stillness, peace.  At that moment, the disciples noticed that the second clock in the house had stopped too.

And those who buried the Baal Shem Tov said they had seen his soul ascend towards the heavens as a blue flame. (Buber, Vol. 1, pp. 83-84)