Awake, Awake, You Sleepers!

Notwithstanding that the blowing of the shofar on Rosh ha-Shanah is required by Scripture, it also has a symbolic meaning, as if to say: "Awake you who sleep, slumberers emerge from your slumber, search your deeds, return in Teshuva, and remember your Creator! They that forget the truth because of the evaporation of the times, who err all of their years by pursuing worthlessness and nothingness, which has no purpose or redemption look to your souls, improve your ways and your tendencies, let each one of you abandon your evil path and his thought which does no good!

But the LORD cast a mighty wind upon the sea, and such a great tempest came upon the sea that the ship was in danger of breaking up.

In their fright, the sailors cried out, each to his own god; and they flung the ship’s cargo overboard to make it lighter for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the vessel where he lay down and fell asleep.

... Once the Baal Shem Tov directed that wine be brought from Bessarabia under tremendous supervision and strictly guarded to be kosher under the most exacting standards. He gave this matter to his disciple David the Rabbi of Mikulov (Nikolsburg) . R. David went himself to Bessarabia to the city of Tileneshti and was delayed there two months, Elul and Tishrei throughout the wine making season. He supervised himself every detail in the production without losing focus for an instant so that it would be completely kosher to the highest degree. From the moment the grapes were purchased and in all aspects of the crushing he exerted himself to keep is eyes wide open to every operation that it's kashrut be the highest of the high. And even after Sukkot he delayed further the extra weeks to finish its fermentation so that it could be put into barrels. Because this was a time when the roads were deteriorated he worked with great effort and mighty stamina on his return with the wine to his house. He gave just about all he had every furlong in order that there not be a lapse in focus in any way during his guarding of the wine for even a moment during day or night through downpours and high winds and blizzards and roads ruined by mudslides and feet sunk in muck with water up to his neck - until through toil and stamina with utmost observance and tremendous kashrut he came to the town of Mezhbizh. He ran immediately to the Baal Shem Tov's house to give him the news that that he had brought the wine guarded with excellence as he had wanted.

At the very moment the barrels stood before the house of the Besht, a cossack who was one of the warden's guards, rode up to make sure that these barrels were not contraband brandy from another place. He would not budge until the wine barrels were opened up or speared to be seen and tasted. The cossack left but the wine was no longer considered kosher due to the handling of the cossack.

R. David was miserable after all the great effort and massive endurance evaporated into nothing. He entered to the Baal Shem Tov crying and bitterly despondent.

"Let me know, dear Rebbe, for what do I deserve such great punishment for wanting only to give myself over to a mitzva to provide the Rebbe with the end all and be all of kashrut and to have it all evaporate into nothing. The Besht replied "This is fitting for you because you put your heart and soul into guarding the wine yet you forgot what the guarding was all about. That you should pray to G*d to help you guard well the wine. Since you forgot the guarding of G*d, the ultimate Guardian, thus did G*d do with you.

As it is written: If G*d guards not the city, the guards are awake for nothing.