Alef beis

It is told, that the Baal Shem Tov was once travelling, and found himself in a dangerous situation. To make matters worse, the Baal Shem Tov suddenly found himself devoid of his “moichin”, he had forgotten all of his kabbalistic secrets, and his special powers were suddenly gone. The Baal Shem Tov felt no different than a simple Jew; how would he resolve his difficulty?

The Baal Shem Tov picked his brain his brain to try to draw up some Torah thought, at least, that could be the catalyst to restoring his elusive powers, but it was in vain, his mind was a blank.

But, presently, the Baal Shem Tov asked the person accompanying him “Don’t you remember the letters of the aleph beis?” When he replied that he did, the Baal Shem Tov said that that would suffice, and they began reciting the letters of the aleph beis one by one. When they concluded, the Baal Shem Tov found that hismoichin had returned, and the danger was averted.

Something of such “katnus” such as the letters of the aleph beis served to draw back the great illumination of the holy vision of the BeSHT.