A Hasidic legend tells us that the great Rabbi Baal
Shem Tov, Master of the Good Name, also known as
the Besht, undertook an urgent and perilous mission: to
hasten the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people,
all humanity were suffering too much, beset by too
many evils. They had to be saved, and swiftly. For
having tried to meddle with the history, the Besht was
punished; banished along with his faithful servant to a
distant land. In despair, the servant implored his
master to exercise his mysterious powers in order to
bring them both home. "Impossible," the Besht replied.
"My powers have been taken from me." "Then, please,
say a prayer, recite a litany, work a miracle."
"Impossible," the Master replied, "I have forgotten
everything." They both fell to weeping.
Suddenly the Master turned to his servant and asked:
"Remind me of a prayer - any prayer." "If only I
could," said the servant. "I too have forgotten
everything." "Everything - absolutely everything?"
"Yes, except-" "Exept what?" "Except the alphabet."
At that the Besht cried out joyfully: "Then what are you
waiting for? Begin reciting the alphabet and I shall
repeat after you..." And together the two exiled
began to recite, at first in whispers, then more loudly:
"Aleph, beth, gimel, daleth..." And over
again, each time more vigorously, more fervently; until,
ultimately, the Besht regained his powers, having
regained his memory.
"I love this story, for it illustrates the messianic
expectation - which remains my own. And the
importance of friendship to man's ability to transcend
his condition. I love it most of all because it
emphasizes the mystical power of memory. Without
memory, our existence would be barren and opaque,
like a prison cell into which no light penetrates; like a
tomb which rejects the living. Memory saved the
Besht, and if anything can, it is memory that will save
humanity. For me, hope without memory is like
memory without hope.
Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live
without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope
summons the future. Does this mean that our future can
be built on a rejection of the past? Surely such a
choice is not necessary. The two are incompatible.
The opposite of the past is not the future but the
absence of future; the opposite of the future is not the
past but the absence of past. The loss of one is
equivalent to the sacrifice of the other."
-Elie Wiesel