The Niggun, the Havdalah Cup and the Evil Spirit

While the two Shapira brothers of Slovita were in prison, they were thrown into a cell with many other prisoners. The cell was so filthy that halacha forbade them to daven there. One brother said to the other, “Let us sing a niggun.” Their niggun lifted the spirits of all the prisoners, and before long everyone broke out in a dance.

When the warden and the guards saw this, they ordered the brothers separated from the other prisoners. As soon as they were in a cell of their own, they breathed a sigh of relief: here they could serve Hashem properly. One brother said to the other, “Now I understand the meaning of an amulet that the Baal Shem Tov once gave to a wealthy man who hosted him.”

He told the story. The Baal Shem Tov stayed with the wealthy man and did not say a word all Shabbos. On Motzaei Shabbos the man's wife asked the Baal Shem Tov to daven that they be blessed with children. The Baal Shem Tov made Havdalah and called the wealthy man to look into the cup. In its reflection he saw an evil spirit seeking to harm him, and on the spirit were written the letters yud-shin-beis, shin-beis.

“Until now I had no idea what this meant,” the brother said. “But now I think that perhaps it stands for Yehi shalom becheileich, shalvah be'armenosayich, ‘May there be peace within your walls, serenity within your palaces’ (Tehillim 122:7).”