Pulse Diagnosis – Baal Shem Tov
Once, a certain distinguished and famous physician visited a princess in the city, and the princess repeatedly praised the Besht, telling him what a great man he was and how knowledgeable he was in the art of healing. The physician said, “Have him summoned; let him come here.”
She replied, “That would be disrespectful. We must send a carriage for him, as we would for a great nobleman, for he is a great man.”
She sent for him, and he appeared before them.
The physician asked him, “Is it true that you are knowledgeable in the art of healing?”
The master replied, “Yes, it is so.”
He asked, “And where, and under which expert, did you study?”
He replied, “The L-rd G-d granted me understanding.”
The physician found this amusing and asked again whether he could diagnose a person by his pulse.
The master said, “I have an illness of my own. Diagnose it from my pulse, and I will examine and check your pulse.”
The physician felt his pulse and realized that he was suffering from some ailment, but could not identify what kind of illness it was. In truth, he was possessed by a love of G-d, blessed be He, and such an illness was beyond a physician’s understanding.
Then the master felt the physician’s pulse. He turned to the princess and asked her, “Were certain valuable objects of yours not stolen?”
She replied, “Yes. They disappeared several years ago, and I do not know where they are.”
The master said, “Send someone to his estate and have them open his chest. There you will find those objects safe and sound.”
She sent someone at once and found them there, exactly as he had said by virtue of his Holy Word.
The physician left in shame and disgrace.
The explanation is that the Other Side of Abba (Father—in Lurianic Kabbalah, one of the Divine Faces, or partzufim) has the gematria 184—the same number represented by the letters of the word “dofek” (pulse).
The gematria 184—the partzuf of Abba—is connected with the Divine Name whose gematria is 72, “Ayin-Bet”, which, when its letters are rearranged, yields the value 184.
Therefore, tzadikim are able to identify sins through the pulse, as stated in the Holy Zohar and in the Tikkunei Zohar (1, 54a).
(From the book “Shivchei HaBesht”)
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