The Broken Heart Opens Every Gate

Before Rosh Hashanah the Baal Shem Tov told his talmid Rav Ze'ev Wolf that he should prepare the kavanos, the deep intentions, for the blowing of the shofar. Rav Ze'ev Wolf studied the meanings and hidden connections in the order of the shofar sounds and wrote them all down in a list. He placed the list in his coat pocket and felt ready.

This kind of preparation did not satisfy the Baal Shem Tov, so he caused the list to disappear. On Rosh Hashanah, as Rav Ze'ev Wolf approached the platform, he discovered the loss. His mind was blank. He could not recall a single kavanah, and his heart broke within him. Weeping bitterly, he had to blow the shofar without preparation.

After davening the Baal Shem Tov called him over and said, “In the king’s palace there are many doors, and each has its own key. But there is one tool that can open them all, and that is an ax. The kavanos are the keys that open the gates of Heaven, and every gate has its own kavanah. A broken heart is the tool that can break through all the gates and palaces of Heaven.”