ABaal Shem (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl.Baalei Shem) was a historical Jewish practitioner ofPractical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing various methods,Baalei Shem are claimed to heal, enact miracles,[1] perform exorcisms,[2] treat various health issues, curb epidemics, protect people from disaster due to fire, robbery or theevil eye, foresee the future, decipher dreams, and bless those who sought his powers.[3]
In Judaism, similar figures arbitrated between earthly realities and spiritual realms since before the establishment ofTalmudic Judaism in the 3rd century.[4] However, it was only in the 16th century that the figures were calledBaalei Shem.[1] Herbal folk remedies, amulets, contemporary medical cures as well as magical and mystical solutions were used in accordance with traditionalKabbalistic teachings as well as adaptedLurianic guidelines in the Middle Ages.[3]
Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer was a Polish rabbi and mystical healer known as theBaal Shem Tov. His teachings imbued the esoteric usage of practical Kabbalah ofBaalei Shem into a spiritual movement,Hasidic Judaism.[5]
Alternatively transliteratedBa'al Shem orBa'ale Shem, the term is a conjunction of two separate Hebrew words.Ba'al, (Hebrew: בַּעַל,Hebrew pronunciation:[ˈbaʕal]) translated as "lord", stems from a verb describing a state of possession or control.[6][unreliable source?] Historically,Shem (Hebrew: שֵׁם,Hebrew pronunciation:[ʃɛm]) meaning "name," has been used to reference a person's deeds or traits in addition to given names.[7][unreliable source?] InHebrew, the combination of these two words translates more exactly to "master of [God’s] name", signifying both the possession of God's power and an ability to manipulate it through spiritual means.[8]
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The unofficial titleBaal Shem was given by others who recognized or benefited from theBaal Shem's ability to perform wondrous deeds, and emerged in theMiddle Ages, continuing until theearly modern era.
RabbiElijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm is the oldest historical figure to have been contemporaneously known as aBaal Shem.[9] He was known to studyKabbalah. He received the title ofBa'al Shem because of his creation of this anthropomorphic being through the use of a "Shem" (one of God's names.)[10] His descendant,Tzvi Ashkenazi, mentioned that people attested to him having created aGolem usingSefer Yetzirah.[11]
Baalei Shem were seen asmiracle workers who could bring aboutcures andhealing, in addition tomystical powers that allowed them to foresee or interpret events and personalities. They were considered to have a "direct line" toHeaven, evoking God's mercies and compassion on suffering human beings. In Jewish society, thepracticaltheurgic role of Baalei Shem among the common folk was a mystical institution, contrasted with the moretheosophical andecstatic Kabbalistic study circles, which were isolated from the populace. TheBaal Shem, the communalmaggid preacher and themokhiakh (מוֹכִיחַ/preacher) of penitence were seen as lower level unofficial Jewish intelligentsia, below contract rabbis and study Kabbalists.[12]
While a few people received the title ofBaal Shem among Eastern and Central EuropeanAshkenazi Jewry, the designation is most well known in reference to the founder ofHasidic Judaism.[citation needed]Baal Shem Tov, born in the 17th centuryKingdom of Poland, started public life as a traditionalBaal Shem, but introduced new interpretations of mystical thought and practice that eventually became the core teachings ofHasidism. In his time, he was given the title ofBaal Shem Tov, and later, by followers ofHasidism, referred to by the acronymBeShT.[13] He disavowed traditional Jewish practice and theology by encouraging mixing withnon-Jews and asserting the sacredness of everyday corporal existence.[14]
During his life, he was able to devote time to prayer and contemplation, traditional practices within the realm of contemplative Kabbalah. There, he was able to learn the skills to become aBa'al Shem, and practiced with neighboring townspeople, including both Jews and Christians. Modern texts state that he underwent ahitgalut (revelation)' by the age of 36.[15]
The leading KabbalistIsaac Luria (1534–1572) forbade people of his time to use Practical Kabbalah. As theTemple in Jerusalem is not standing, and no one possesses the ashes of theRed Heifer, people are unable to become pure, he stated. Without the ability to reach a state of purity, Practical Kabbalah can be very damaging, he taught.[citation needed]
The Ba'al Shem Tov learned and took part in traditional practices of Practical Kabbalah as well as contemporary methods established byLurianic Kabbalah.[15] The Ba'al Shem Tov taught that one could remove asceticism from the practice of Judaism. This allowed a larger array of people to become devout within Judaism, and therefore within Hasidism. Moreover, he taught that the letters, in contrast to the words, were the key element of sacred texts. Therefore, intellectual and academic skills were no longer necessary to reach mastery of the sacred texts.[15]
From the 1730s, the Baal Shem Tov (BeShT) headed an elitetheurgicmystical circle, similar to other secluded Kabbalistic circles such as the contemporaryKlaus (Close) inBrody. Unlike past mystical circles, they innovated with the use of their psychic heavenly intercession abilities to work on behalf of the common Jewish populace. From the legendaryhagiography of theBeShT as one who bridged elite mysticism with deep social concern, and from his leading disciples,Hasidism rapidly grew into a populist revival movement.[citation needed]
Beginning with Hasidic Judaism in the late 17th century, the role mysticaltzadik was established to conceptualize a follower's connection to God. Thetzadik was a divine channel that could connect a devoutly religious follower to God. This was the first instance of popularJewish mysticism.[16] The movement borrowed this role fromKabbalistic theosophical terminology.Hasidic philosophy encourageddevekut attachment to the rabbis within the movement, who were said toembody and channel thedivine flow of blessings to the world.[17] This replaced the formerTzadikim Nistarim, which was understood as list of 36 righteous men that were able to connect blessings to the world.[18] It was understood that this list was made up of private pietists andBaalei Shem in Eastern Europe.[citation needed] As doctrine coalesced in writing from the 1780s,Jacob Joseph of Polonne,Dov Ber of Mezeritch,Elimelech of Lizhensk,Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin and others shaped Hasidic views of thetzadik, whose task is to awaken and draw down the flow of divine blessing to the spiritual and material needs of the community and individual common folk.[citation needed]
The activity ofBaalei Shem among the community, as well as the influence of Kabbalistic ideas, contributed to the popular belief inTzadikim Nistarim. The new mystical role of the Hasidictzadikleader replaced Baal Shem activity among the populace, combining the Practical Kabbalist andmaggid, the itinerant preacher. In addition, it replaced Practical Kabbalah with thetzadik's theurgic divine intercession. The 1814–15Praises of the Besht sets the Baal Shem Tov's teaching circle against his remaining occupation as travelingBaal Shem.[citation needed]
Baalei Shem were understood to take their power from the holiest of God's names in Judaism: theTetragrammaton.[19] Historically, this name was pronounced only by theHigh Priest onYom Kippur.[20] With the destruction of theSecond Temple by the Romans in the year 70 CE, the true pronunciation was presumably lost.[21] In some accounts, theBaal Shem were understood as Jewish healers who had rediscovered the true pronunciation, perhaps during deepmeditation.[19] Some stories say he pronounced it out loud, and others say he visualized the name in his mind.[citation needed]
Practical Kabbalah (Kabbalah Ma'asit) is the portion of Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use ofmagic to affect physical realities. Historically, leading Kabbalists have disagreed over concerns of illegitimate use of Practical Kabbalah.[22] WhileBa'alei Shem used Practical Kabbalah to affect miracles and heal those that sought their help, this was controversial. As practitioners of Practical Kabbalah, they were mocked by rabbinic authorities throughout the Middle Ages and by followers of theHaskalah movement beginning in the 18th century.[23]
A scholar of Jewish mysticism and modern day Hasidicrabbi,Yitzchak Ginsburgh,[24] notes that theTorah sanctions the use ofamulets. This can be understood as a way of arguing for the acceptance of certain parts of Practical Kabbalah within modernrabbinical Judaism:Amulets are on the border between Practical Kabbalah and an external manifestation of Kabbalah, such as name calculation. There is a source for amulets in the Torah. When a great sage writes Holy Names, without pronouncing them, on parchment and puts it into a container which is worn by the recipient, it can possess healing and spiritual powers. At the beginning of the Baal Shem Tov's life, since he was a healer, he used amulets. Sometimes the amulet works because of the faith of the recipient in the spiritual power of the amulet. At the end of his life, the Baal Shem Tov never wrote the Names of God, only his own signature, Yisrael ben Sara or Yisrael ben Eliezer. This was the ultimate amulet given by the Ba'al Shem Tov.
TheSages teach us that whoever receives a coin from the hands ofJob (atzadik) receives a blessing. This is the source in theTalmud that receiving a coin from a greattzaddik brings with it a blessing. Thus we see that there are amulets that are permissible. The determining factor is the righteousness and intentions of the person giving the amulet.[25]
Due to their emergence during similar times in Renaissance Europe,Baalei Shem and physicians found themselves competing for business. Not yet differentiated, their overlapping roles caused oneBaal Shem to write a prayer of protection against these physicians:
Preserve me from enmity and quarrels; and may envy between me and others disappear. Let, on the contrary, friendship, peace, and harmony prevail between me and the physicians, . . . that I may be respected in their opinion, . . . that they may not speak evil of me or of my actions. (Toledot Adam, Zolkiev, 1720)[26]
In his autobiography,Salomon Maimon, an 18th-century Lithuanian Jewish philosopher, referenced aBa'al Shem that was both insightful and appropriately learned in medical science enabling him to compete with physicians.[26]
A rare group of people have been recorded as holding the titleBaal Shem. The first recorded person to receive the title wasEliyahu of Chelm.[1]
OtherBaalei Shem (besides the above) include:
The nameBaal Shem mainly survives in Jewish surnames of people descending fromBa'ale Shem such asBalshem,Balshemnik andBolshemennikov.
