What is so special about the prayer of the shepherd? Welcome to the Daily Holy Story. The Holy Baal Shem Tov had a siddur (prayer book) that he had used for a long time, and it got worn out. His Chasidim (students) went out to find a siddur for him. They went from home to home until they came to the home of the town shepherd. The shepherd was happy to receive the students of the Baal Shem Tov and asked them what they wanted. They told him, “We’re looking for a siddur for our Rabbi, the Baal Shem Tov, because his siddur got old and can no longer be used.” The shepherd told them, “I have a siddur that I inherited from my grandfather, who received it from his grandfather, all the way back to Maharam Mintz, who, they said, wrote the siddur himself. But I don’t really know how to, but I pray.” The Chasidim said to one another, “He’s a simple Jew. He doesn’t know how to read, and the siddur is certainly something that could serve our holy Rabbi, the Baal Shem Tov.” With his prayers, they convinced the shepherd to give them the siddur.
When the time for prayer came, the Baal Shem Tov went to the shtender (lectern) and saw the new siddur. He looked for it; he looked at it for a while. Then he told the chazan (cantor) and went to begin praying. When the Baal Shem Tov reached the Amidah, he saw that all the people who were praying were praying with him. All of a sudden, his face turned red, his entire forehead became wrinkled, he started turning white, and his lips started shaking. As soon as the Baal Shem Tov finished praying, he called his students and told them, “Return the siddur to the shepherd immediately, because there was no prayer like the prayer of that shepherd.” All the people praying there were shaken, and right away they took the siddur and returned it to the shepherd. The people were surprised that the Rabbi had said to return it. “He said to return it to him?” they wondered. They quietly entered the shepherd’s home and hid in a corner to see what was going to happen.
When the time of tefillah came, the time of prayer, they went into the shepherd’s house. He took the siddur and put it on a shtender. He put his tallit (prayer shawl) around him, together with his tefillin (phylacteries), and came close to the shtender. He opened the siddur, closed his eyes, and started shaking little by little. The longer his prayer took, the stronger his shaking got. He rocked back and forth until his entire body was shaking. So the shepherd stood for one hour, with his eyes closed, his mouth closed, and his body shaking. When he finished praying, he closed the siddur, took off his tefillin and tallit. The Chasidim looked at one another. “What kind of prayer is that? Standing and shaking for one hour?” They turned to the shepherd and asked him, “What kind of prayer is that?” The shepherd answered them, “I’m a simple man. All I know is how to be a shepherd. However, I remember that when I was younger, I used to stand behind my grandfather as he stood in prayer, and wonder at how he prayed. What a tremendous, holy prayer he had! He shook his body back and forth, and he had a beautiful, holy look about him. The holiness spread to me, and I promised Hashem that when I grow up, I will pray like him.
“But I wasn’t so fortunate to go to yeshiva. I don’t even know how to read. I don’t even know the aleph bet (alphabet). But I got the siddur from my grandfather, and I remember those holy tefillot. So what do I do? When everybody prays in their shuls (synagogues), I pray in my house. I take the siddur and put it in front of me. I close my eyes, and without any words, I shake back and forth, like I saw my grandfather do. In my heart, I turn to Hashem, asking that he consider it as if I’m praying.” When the shepherd finished his story, the Chasidim returned to the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov told them, “I know that you were wondering what kind of prayer the shepherd has, because he doesn’t even know how to pray. What value is there to shaking without any words? But tell me the truth: Is there anyone who really knows how to pray?”
The Baal Shem Tov said, “When Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to erect the Mishkan (Tabernacle), he was full of fear. Can he build the house of Hashem? Nevertheless, Hashem told him, ‘You make the Mishkan, like you saw the Mishkan of the heavens, and I will come and I will dwell in it.’” The Baal Shem Tov added, “We don’t really know how to serve Hashem. Even when we serve Hashem, it’s not complete. And even though Hashem knows that we’re not complete, if we put our hearts towards Hashem, Hashem will cause His Shechina (Divine Presence) to dwell among us.” Thank you for listening, and have a lovely, lovely day.