WALLS OF FEAR

A disciple was overcome with despair and came to his teacher, Baal Shem Tov, the great sage.

“No matter how hard I try,” he said, “I feel distant from God. My prayers feel hollow. The good deeds I do—they don’t uplift me. I feel like I’m trapped outside a castle I’ll never enter.”

The Baal Shem Tov listened quietly, then invited him to close his eyes.

“Imagine that you are walking through a vast forest. In the distance, you see a palace glowing with light. You begin walking toward it. But a wall appears before you every few steps—thick and tall. You turn back, defeated.”

The disciple nodded. “That’s exactly how it feels.”

The Baal Shem Tov leaned in and whispered: “Each wall is an illusion. If you had kept walking, your body would have passed right through it. The walls are made of your fear, your self-judgment, your certainty that you are unworthy. You stop—not because you must, but because you believe you must.”

The disciple opened his eyes, tears falling freely.

“God is not hiding from you,” the Baal Shem Tov said gently. “You are hiding from God, behind walls your own thoughts have built.”