Israel ben Eliezer[a] (c. 1700[1] –1760[2]), known as theBaal Shem Tov (/ˌbɑːlˈʃɛmˌtʊv,ˌtʊf/;[3]Hebrew:בעל שם טוב) orBeShT (בעש"ט), was aJewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder ofHasidic Judaism. Abaal shem tov is a "Master of the Good Name," that is, one able to work miracles using the secret name of God.[4][5] Other sources explain his sobriquet as arising from a reputation of being a saintly, or superior,miracle-worker, hence he was given the nickname Baal Shem Tov, that is, the"goodBaal Shem".[6][7]
Biographical information about the Baal Shem Tov comes from contemporaryPolish documents and from the largely legendary traditions about his life and behavior collected in thePraise of the Besht (Hebrew:שבחי הבעש"ט,romanized: Shivḥei haBesht).[8]
A central tenet of the teachings associated with the Baal Shem Tov is the direct connection withthe divine, "dvekut", which is infused in every human activity and every waking hour. Prayer is of supreme importance, along with the mystical significance of Hebrew letters and words.[9]
Israel was born about 1700 to a certain Eliezer.[1] According toShivḥei haBesht,[10]
Eliezer lived at the edge ofWallachia. He and his wife were elderly. Once upon a time, they were captured and taken prisoner to a far-away land . . . Eliezer found his wife, who thankfully still lived, and the Besht was born when each was near 100 years old.
According to other early Hasidic legends, he was born in "Okop" (probablyOkopy, Ternopil Oblast), althoughShivḥei haBesht only mentions him residing there as an adolescent, and only in a parenthetical insertion by the 1815 printer.[11] Later legend names his mother Sarah.
Solomon Isaac Halpern (1727[12] or 1729[13]-1791[14]) records two anecdotes about his father Jacob (1698-1738), the rabbi ofZhvanets, meeting "the renowned Israel Baal Shem, master of divine knowledge" which are apparently non-legendary, as Halpern was not a hasid, although he was only 9-11 when his father died. Israel performed a dream-quest and discovered that Jacob was the reincarnation ofIsaac Alfasi. These meetings necessarily occurred before 1738.[13][12]
1758 Polish tax census of Medzhybizh showing "Balsam" in house #95
Polish census records show that a certain holy man lived inMedzhybizh from 1740 to 1760, which was presumably Israel.[5] In 1740 the census describes a "kabbalist," in 1742 and 1758 a "baal shem", and in 1760 a "baal shem doctor", the last being perhaps testimony to Israel'sthaumaturgical practice.[5]
Meir Teomim (d. 1775) mentions inMeirat Einayim (printed 1782) that "I saw a letter from the Holy Land, written by the pious Rabbi Gershon to his brother-in-law, the renowned master of the Good Name, Rabbi Israel, may he live . . ." From the honorific "may he live", it seems that this book was composed in Israel's lifetime; this is the only time the Baal Shem Tov was mentioned by name before his death.[15]
Beyond these very scant sources, a few letters on theological subjects, attributed to Israel, were printed posthumously. Their authenticity is still debated by scholars. Nothing more can be gleaned of his biography from contemporary sources.[5]
He is last seen in the census as a resident of Medzhybizh in 1760. By 1763 another resided in the house, and Hasidic legends give various dates around 1760.[5]
Several letters attributed to Israel or his associates have been printed since his death, and their authenticity is still debated by scholars. According to a letter supposedly from Besht's brother-in-law to the Besht himself—as interpreted by Rosman—the latter was a practitioner of prophecy, being able to see a messianic figure arrive in Jerusalem despite living far from the city; the brother-in-law claims to have inquired into the figure and discovered the Besht's vision to be true. This would support the belief that the Besht had the ability to see the souls of men, divining the messianic quality of the man despite only seeing him through a vision.
Rosman also describes another letter written by the brother-in-law which claims that the Besht could travel to heaven and commune with God. This view is derived from a series of titles given to the Besht, attributing various religious achievements to him such as understanding the mysteries of God.[16]
Monument to the Baal Shem Tov in Medzhybizh (before restoration in 2006–2008), inscribed רבי ישראל בעל שם טובThe old synagogue ofMedzhybizh (c. 1915). This building, which was never used by Israel (he preferred an alternate minyan),[5] burned duringWorld War II. Today a replica attracts tourists to Medzhybizh under the name "Baal Shem Tov Shul".[17] A second replica opened in 2022 as a community synagogue inWesley Hills, NY.[18]An 18th-centuryKabbalisticsiddur in theChabad library. Chabad claims that this siddur was used by Israel.
Israel ben Eliezer left no books; theKabbalistic commentary on Psalm 107, ascribed to him (Zhitomir, 1804),Sefer miRabbi Yisrael Baal Shem-tov, is not genuine. Therefore, the only record of his teachings is in his utterances as recorded in the works of his disciples (Hasidim). Most are found in the works of Jacob Joseph of Polnoy. But since Hasidism, immediately after the death of its founder, was divided into various parties, each claiming for itself the authority of Besht, the utmost of caution is necessary for judging as to the authenticity of utterances ascribed to Besht.[4]
Jacob Joseph quotes over eight hundred teachings of Israel in his books. Jacob Joseph sometimes states that he's not sure if a quote is the "exact" words of the Baal Shem Tov, apparently implying that other quotes are verbatim.
The later developments of Hasidism are unintelligible without consideration of Besht's reputed opinions concerning man's proper relation with the universe. True worship of God consists of the cleaving to, and the unification with, God. He is supposed to have said, "the ideal of man is to be a revelation himself, clearly to recognize himself as a manifestation of God." Mysticism, then, is not the Kabbalah, which everyone may learn, but that sense of true oneness, which is usually as strange, unintelligible, and incomprehensible to mankind as dancing is to a dove. However, the man who is capable of this feeling is endowed with a genuine intuition, and it is the perception of such a man which is called prophecy, according to the degree of his insight. From this it results, in the first place, that the ideal man may lay claim to authority equal, in a certain sense, to the authority of the Prophets.[4] This focus on oneness and personal revelation help earn his mystical interpretation of Judaism the title ofPanentheism.
A second and more important result of the doctrine is that through his oneness with God, man forms a connecting link between the Creator and creation. Thus, slightly modifying the Bible verse,Hab.2:4, Israel is quoted, "The righteous can vivify by his faith." His followers enlarged upon this idea and consistently deduced from it the source of divine mercy, of blessings, of life; and that therefore, if one loves him, one may partake of God's mercy.[4]
On the opposite side of the coin, the Baal Shem Tov is said to have warned the Hasidim:
Amalek is still alive today ... Every time you experience a worry or doubt about how God is running the world—that's Amalek launching an attack against your soul. We must wipe Amalek out of our hearts whenever—and wherever—he attacks so that we can serve God with complete joy.
It may be said of Hasidism that there is no other Jewish sect in which the founder is as important as his doctrines. Israel himself is still the real center for the Hasidim; his teachings have almost sunk into oblivion. AsSchechter ("Studies in Judaism," p. 4) observes: "To the Hasidim, Baal-Shem ... was the incarnation of a theory, and his whole life the revelation of a system."[4]
Chapin and Weinstock contend that the Besht was essentially the right person, in the right place, at the right time. 18th centuryPodolia was an ideal place to foster a seachange in Jewish thinking. It had been depopulated one generation earlier due to theKhmelnitsky Massacres. A Turkish occupation of Podolia occurred within the Besht's lifetime and along with it the influence within this frontier territory ofSabbatai Zevi and his latter-day spiritual descendants such as Malach andJacob Frank. Once the Polish Magnates regained control from the Turks, Podolia underwent an economic boom. The Magnates valued the economic benefits the Jews provided, and encouraged Jewish resettlement to help protect the frontier from future invasions. Thus, the Jewish community itself was essentially starting over.
Hasidim soon filled volumes with fantastical legends about his life. These volumes, especiallyShivḥei haBesht (1815), are presumed to contain a small historical kernel, but scholars continue to debate which passages are credible.
The opening legend ofShivḥei haBesht tells that his father, Eliezer, was seized during an attack, carried from his home inWallachia, and sold as a slave to a prince. On account of his wisdom, he found favor with the prince, who gave him to the king to be his minister. During an expedition undertaken by the king, when other counsel failed, and all were disheartened, Eliezer's advice was accepted; and the result was a successful battle of decisive importance. Eliezer was made ageneral and afterwardprime minister, and the king gave him the daughter of the viceroy in marriage. But being mindful of his duty as a Jew and as he was already married, he married the princess only in name. After being questioned for a long time as to his strange conduct, he confessed to the princess that he was a Jew, who loaded him with costly presents and helped him escape to his own country.[4] On the way, the prophetElijah is said to have appeared to Eliezer and said: "On account of thy piety and steadfastness, thou wilt have a son who will lighten the eyes of all Israel; and Israel shall be his name because in him shall be fulfilled the verse (Isaiah49:3): 'Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'" Eliezer and his wife Sarah, however, reached old age childless and had given up all hope of ever having a child. But when they were nearly a hundred years old, the promised son (Besht) was born.[4]
In 1703, Israel became an orphan, and was adopted by the Jewish community ofTluste. After the conclusion of his studies at the localcheder, he would often wander into the fields and forests that surrounded the village.
In 1710, he finishedcheder and became an assistant to amelamed (instructor incheder).
In 1711 at the age of 13/14 he entered the "Chaburas Machane Yisroel", a group of hiddentzaddikim led byAdam Baal Shem. Adam introduced him to Kabbalah.[19]
Sometime in 1712 Israel became ashammash (sexton) of the local synagogue.
He was hired as a teacher's assistant in thecheders of the small villages through which they passed. He later related that he took great pleasure in accompanying the children to and from school, using this opportunity to recite prayers with them and tell them Torah stories. TheMezritcher Maggid would later say, "If only we kissed a Torah scroll with the same love that my master [the Baal Shem Tov] kissed the children when he took them to cheder as a teacher's assistant!"[20]
In 1716 Israel married, but soon his wife died and he went on travelling throughoutEastern Galicia. After serving for a long time as a helper in various small communities ofWest Ukraine, he settled as amelamed at Tluste.
Israel became the leader of this movement at the age of 18.[22] Caring for the Jewish poor, the group of Tzadikim encouraged Jews to move to agrarian lifestyles as alternatives to the chronic poverty of city Jews. In continuation of this policy, they decided that they needed to look after the educational needs of the children living in small farm communities. If a suitable teacher could not be sourced they themselves would provide one, and therefore Israel became a teacher's assistant. He later commented "The most joyous time in my life was teaching the small children how to say Modeh Ani, Shema Yisrael and Kametz Alef Ah".[23]
He was chosen by people conducting suits against each other to act as theirarbitrator andmediator. His services were brought into frequent requisition because the Jews had their owncivil courts in Poland.
He is said to have made such an impression onEphraim ofBrody that the latter promised Israel his daughter Channah in marriage. The man died, however, without telling his daughter of her betrothal; but when she heard of her father's wishes, she agreed to comply with them.[4] After their marriage, the couple moved to a village in theCarpathians betweenKuty andKassowa,[4] where their only income was from his work diggingclay andlime, which his wife delivered to surrounding villages. The couple had two children: Udl (born in 1720) and Zvi Hersh. A maternal great-grandson of Israel and his wife wasNachman of Breslov whose paternal ancestry came from (according to Hasidic tradition), theMaharal's family descendedpatrilineally from the Babylonian Exilarchs (during the era of thegeonim) and therefore also from theDavidic dynasty.[24]
Israel later took a position as ashohet (ritual butcher) inKshilowice, nearIaslowice, which he soon gave up in order to manage a village tavern that his brother-in-law bought for him. His first appearance in public was that of an ordinaryBaal Shem, a faith-healer who wroteamulets and prescribed cures,[4][25][26][27][28]
After many trips inPodolia andVolhynia as a Baal Shem, Israel, considering his following large enough and his authority established, decided about 1740 to expound his teachings in theshtetl (Jewish village) ofMedzhybizh and people, mostly from the spiritual elite, came to listen to him. Medzhybizh became the seat of the movement and of theMedzybizh Hasidic dynasty. His following gradually increased and with it the hostility of the Talmudists. Israel was supported at the beginning of his career by two prominent Talmudists, the brothers Meïr (chief rabbi ofLemberg and laterOstroha, and author ofMeir Netivim (a work of halachic responsa) and other works) and Isaac Dov Margalios. Later he won over recognized rabbinic authorities who became his disciples and attested to his scholarship. These includeYaakov Yosef Hakohen, rabbi ofPolnoy; Dovid Halperin, rabbi of Ostroha; Israel ofSatinov, author ofTiferet Yisrael; Yoseph Heilperin of Slosowitz; andDov Ber of Mezrich. It is chiefly due to the latter that Israel's doctrines (though in an essentially altered form) were introduced into learned Jewish religious circles.[4]
Israel undertook journeys in which he is recorded as effecting cures and expelling demons and evil spirits (shedim). Later Hasidic tradition, however, downplayed the importance of these healing and magical practices, concentrating on his teachings, his charm, magnetism, and ecstatic personality.[29]
The "Agudas Ohalei Tzadikim"[30] organization (based in Israel) has restored many graves ofTzadikim (Ohelim) in Ukraine, including the Baal Shem Tov's. A guesthouse and synagogue are located next to theOhel of Baal Shem Tov, and the Baal Shem Tov's synagogue in the village proper has been painstakingly restored. Both synagogues are used by the many visitors from all over the world.
Israel took sides with the Talmudists in their disputes against the Frankists (Jacob Frank's cultist movement which regarded Frank as theMessiah, modelled afterSabbatai Zevi.) After the mass conversion of the Frankists, the Baal Shem Tov allegedly said that as long as a diseased limb is connected with the body, there is hope that it may be saved; but, once amputated, it is gone, and there is no hope.[31] It is alleged that he died out of grief that the Frankists left Judaism.[32]
The Besht was a mystic who claimed to have achieveddevekut ("adhesion"), meaning that his soul could ascend to heaven and speak with any soul there, and intervene between humans and God. His followers believed that had the ability to protect the Jewish community from plague and persecution.[33]
According to legend, he atefarfel everyFriday night because the word was similar to the worldfarfalen which means "wiped out, over and finished". He considered the noodles a symbol marking the beginning of a new week.[34]
It was believed the Besht was a great medical practitioner with vast knowledge regarding salves, balms, and similar medicants. Some aspects of his medical practice are said to have been mystic in nature, though the degree to which this is the case is not agreed upon. Some claim[like whom?] that the Besht could only heal others through prayer, but others describe other mystical methods.[16]
Besht did not combatrabbinical Judaism, but the spirit of its practice. His teachings being the result of a deep, religious temperament, he stressed the spirit. Though he considered the Law to be holy and inviolable, and he emphasized the importance of Torah-study, he held that one's entire life should be a service of God.[4] Hasidic legend tells of a woman whom her relatives sought to kill on account of her shameful life, but who was saved in body and soul by Besht. The story is said to be characteristic of Besht's activity in healing those in need of relief. More important to him than prayer was a friendly relationship with sinners. Unselfishness and high-minded benevolence are a motif in the legends about him.[4] Besht's methods of teaching differed from those of his opponents. He directed many satirical remarks at them, a characteristic one being his designation of the typical Talmudist of his day as "a man who through a sheer study of the Law has no time to think about God". Besht is reported to have illustrated his views of asceticism by the following parable:
A thief once tried to break into a house, the owner of which, crying out, frightened the thief away. The same thief soon afterward broke into the house of a very strong man, who, on seeing him enter, kept quite still. When the thief had come near enough, the man caught him and put him in prison, thus depriving him of all opportunity to do further harm.[4] Besht held a firm conviction that God had entrusted him with a special mission to spread his doctrines. He believed that he had heavenly visions revealing this mission to him. For him, every intuition was adivine revelation, and divine messages were daily occurrences.[4] An example of the power of his spiritual vision is found at the beginning of his grandson's work,Degel, where he writes that his grandfather wrote toGershon Kitover who lived in Israel, asking him why he was not in Israel that particularShabbos.
He was portrayed byLuzer Twersky in the Ukrainian filmDovbush (2023).
The Israeli authorYochi Brandes authored the novelAdele, which explores the life of Baal Shem Tov from the perspective of his daughter, Adele (Udel).[39]
^Hebrew:ישראל בן אליעזר. Also transliterated Yisroel, Yisrael.
^abAccording to aforged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only byHabad Hasidim, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, whileSimon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue for a date around 1700.
^Hasidic sources give various dates around the year 1760. In his last documentary appearance, Israel was listed as aMedzhybizh resident in a 1760 census.
^Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.),English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN3-12-539683-2
^abJay, Rosman Murray (1996).Founder of Hasidism: a quest for the historical Ba'al Shem Tov. Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN9780520916760.OCLC44962956.
^John M. Efron,Medicine and the German Jews: A History,Yale University Press, p. 91: "Israel ben Eliezer Baal Shem-Tov (1700–1760), the founder of Hasidism, was in fact a faith healer and amulet writer"
^Kerstein, Benjamin (2018-09-27)."Kabbalah".www.worldhistory.org. "Hasidism or Hasidic Judaism was ostensibly founded by an 18th-century CE itinerant mystic and faith-healer who came to be called the Baal Shem Tov" functioning as a type of shaman.
^Rosman, Moshe."Ba'al Shem Tov".The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.YIVO. Retrieved2025-02-21. "(Yisra’el ben Eli‘ezer, 'the Besht'; ca. 1700–1760), healer, miracle worker, and religious mystic... founder of the modern Hasidic movement... in the 1730s, Yisra’el began using the titleba‘al shem orba‘al shem tov (... meaning that he was a 'master of God's name,' which he could manipulate for theurgic purposes), denoting his skills as a healer—one Polish source refers to him asba‘al shem doctor—and his general qualifications as a shaman, a figure who could mediate between this world and the divine spheres in an effort to help people solve their... problems."
^Margolin, Madison (2021-07-26)."Judaism's Psychedelic Renaissance".Tablet Magazine. "The Baal Shem Tov, himself, the father of the Hasidic movement, was said to be a medicine man, an herbalist, and shaman of sorts, who would go around with his enchanted pipe, providing healing to people."
The chief source for the Besht's biography isBer (Dov) ben Shmuel’sShivchei ha-Besht, Kopys, 1814, and frequently republished, and traditions recorded in the works of various Hasidic dynasties — especially by the leaders of theChabad movement.[citation needed]
Sefer Baal Shem Tov, a two-volume anthology of his teachings compiled from over 200 Hasidic texts, and constituting the most comprehensive collection.
Tzava’at HaRivash andKeter Shem Tov are anthologies and have been reprinted numerous times. Both texts have now appeared in annotated editions with corrections of the texts. (Tzva’at HaRivash 1975, fifth revised edition 1998;Keter Shem Tov - Hashalem 2004, second print 2008.) These new editions were edited byRabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet who also added analytical introductions, notes of sources and cross-references, commentaries, supplements and indices, and were published by the Chabad publishing houseKehot in Brooklyn NY.[citation needed]
Israel Zangwill,Dreamers of the Ghetto, pp. 221–288 (fiction).
Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community inEastern Europe, Volume 1.ISBN0-595-00666-3 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.
Rosman, Moshe, "Miedzyboz and Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov",Zion, Vol. 52, No. 2, 1987, p. 177-89. Reprinted withinEssential Papers on Hasidism ed, G.D. HundertISBN0-8147-3470-7, New York, 1991.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."BA'AL SHEM-ṬOB, ISRAEL B. ELIEZER".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
