R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk was raised by the Maggid of Mezritch. When he was a boy of about 12, the Maggid took him to his Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov for the first time. On Friday night, the Baal Shem Tov delayed his prayers until the boy reached his shul, but other than that showed him no attention throughout the Shabbos. On Motzaei Shabbos, the Maggid presented the youth to the Baal Shem Tov.

The Baal Shem Tov began telling a long parable involving the journeys of a young man. R. Menachem Mendel, the Maggid, and the other disciples of the Baal Shem Tov (including R. Yaakov Yosef of Polonnoye, author of Toldos Yaakov Yosef) listened attentively, sensing that the tale contained a message of significant import.

Years passed. Both the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid passed away, and R. Menachem Mendel assumed the leadership of the chassidic movement in White Russia. In 1777, he led a group of chassidim on aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. Before he left for the Holy Land, he went to visit R. Yaakov Yosef in Polonnoye.

“Do you remember the parable the Baal Shem Tov told you?” R. Yaakov Yosef asked.

“Yes,” replied R. Menachem Mendel. “That is why I’m here. For implicit in the allusions of the parable was that on my way to Eretz Yisrael I would visit you.”

R. Menachem Mendel would later say that at each phase in his life, he was able to understand the insinuations the parable had for him.

The implication is that each of our lives is a story, a Divinely inspired mission which we are destined to fulfill. Another implication is that the souls of certain individuals like the Baal Shem Tov are cognizant of the missions of others, and able to guide them in accomplishing their purpose.