In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov

Reb Leib Sarah's once sat with a friend, and the two were telling stories of tzaddikim. When they began to speak of the Baal Shem Tov, his whole body began to tremble.

“You speak of this great tanna. I will tell you what he was. Had he lived in the times of the Geonim, he would have been a Gaon. In the generation of the Amoraim he would have been an Amora, and in the era of the prophets he would have been a prophet. Had he lived in the age of the Avos, he would have been a significant figure. What do I mean by this? Just as we say ‘the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov,’ so would we have said ‘the G-d of Yisroel.’”