Once the rabbis of the town of Mezibuz came to the Baal Shem Tov's succah. When they saw the schach (covering) and how it was made, they said that the succah was not kosher!
The Baal Shem Tov, who was a great Torah scholar in his own right, brought sources from the sages ruling that his succah was kosher according to halacha. But the rabbis of Mezibuz refused to listen.
The Baal Shem Tov opened his hand and revealed a parchment on which was inscribed, “The succah of Rabbi Israel is kosher" signed by Matat, the heavenly minister.
For years, that parchment was used by descendants of the Baal Shem Tov to miraculously heal sick people. Finally, it was hidden from Above because it defied the laws of nature.
This story, our Rebbe says, raises a number of questions.
- 1-The Baal Shem Tov was acknowledged by the Maggid of Mezritch and the Alter Rebbe as a great expert in Torah and Jewish Law. So, since his succah was obviously kosher, why weren't the Rabbis convinced until he brought support from on High.
- 2-We can't say those rabbis were antagonists; after all, they came as guests to the succah of the Baal Shem Tov.
- 3-Why would the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe of the generation and all future generations, have a questionable [albeit kosher] succah?
- 4-What lesson can we learn in the service of Hashem from this story
A possible explanation is that some things are permitted for use, but the other side complains, "it's permitted, enjoy it but it's not fitting for a mitzvah.” In other words, this physical object is not fully prepared and appropriate to serve as a dwelling for G-dliness.
Therefore, the succah needed a halachic decision declaring it a fitting vessel for the very high spiritual lights called “Makifim of Binah.” In this case however, the physical stuff was so course and unrefined, it did not appear fit enough to be declared kosher by a legal argument alone [through a verbal decree]. Instead, it also needed action to reveal its kashrus. Therefore, Baal Shem Tov sat in that succah for seven days to prove it was kosher, and he was supported from on High.
Still, the kashrus of the succah was questionable. So even though it was technically kosher, how could it have been a fitting succah for a Jew of the stature of the Baal Shem Tov? After all, he could have chosen to sit in a succah free of questionable kashrus.
On the other hand, it takes someone special to use a thing connected (on some level) to un-holiness for a holy purpose. And this purification could be the very reason that a person's soul descended to this world.
Here we see the greatness of the Baal Shem Tov. He brought holiness into the schach of a succah even when, due to its coarse level, it could not be elevated by a verbal halachic ruling, as we see that the rabbis of Mezibuz would not agree with the ruling of the Baal Shem Tov.
Nevertheless, by sitting in that succah for seven days the Baal Shem Tov revealed that it was a kosher succah, not through kabala but through Torah law. As the Tzemach Tzedek said, that the angel Matat does not give rulings in Jewish law but is just a messenger of the higher court.
Yet how do we find a lesson in our own service from this G-dly service by Baal Shem Tov?
Sometimes our Rebbe says that a mitzvah can be so very difficult that we ask Hashem, why does He have to make it so hard to accomplish? The answer is that for an especially bright light of G-dly satisfaction to be revealed, it requires an extraordinary effort on our part to accomplish it.