Rabbi Avraham Yakov of Sadigura told a story about the Baal Shem Tov. Once, the Baal Shem Tov suddenly arrived to spend Shabbat in a certain town. After the Friday night service, he instructed the residents to recite Psalms until nearly midnight. Then he told the community to go home to eat the Shabbat meal, but to return immediately afterward to continue the recitation of Psalms until morning.
Later, it became clear that that evening, local peasants had been preparing to attack the Jews of the town—they were already armed and ready for their mission. The Baal Shem Tov, through the recitation of Psalms, thwarted their plot.
The Sadigura tzaddik asked, "why did the Baal Shem Tov need to trouble himself and travel to the town? Could he not have accomplished what he did from his own place? Rather, this is what he said: if I succeed in my actions, good; if not, my desire is to be with those Jews."
