Sermons On The Second Readings
Elie Wiesel relates this story. When the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezrith, had occasion for the same reason to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen!