Baal Shem Tov

Baal Shem Tov (1700?-1760), Jewish mystic and founder of Hasidism, a spiritual movement in Judaism.

Born in the region of Podolia (now in Ukraine), he was named Israel ben Eliezer, but was called Baal Shem Tov, meaning “master of the Divine Name,” because he professed to perform miracles by using the name of God. He was also known by the acronym Besht. A rabbi and student of Kabbalah, a mystical system of thought, he stressed inner conversion, personal piety, humility, charity, mystical and ecstatic experience of the divine presence, and a joyful attitude toward life, rather than traditional learning and fixed doctrine. He preached the doctrine of religious joy to the downtrodden masses who had neither the means nor the opportunity to study with the great rabbis of their age. The people responded eagerly to this evangelist of prayer and ecstasy.

From about 1740 until his death, the Baal Shem Tov lived in Medzhibozh, Podolia, where he attracted a large number of followers. From this group, which numbered about 10,000 at the time of his death, the modern Hasidic movement developed. Even during his lifetime, the Baal Shem Tov became the subject of many legendary tales. His sayings and the legends about him, preserved orally at first, were committed to writing as the Hasidic movement grew.