Israel ben Eliezer

Rabbi Israel (Yisroel) ben Eliezer (about 1698 Okopy Świętej Trójcy – May 22, 1760 Międzyborz) was a Jewish Orthodox mystical rabbi who is better known to most religious Jews as the Holy Baal Shem ("der Heiliger Baal Shem" in Yiddish), or most commonly, the Baal Shem Tov. The name "Baal Shem Tov" is usually translated into English as "Master of the Good Name", with "Tov" ("Good") modifying "Shem" (" Name"), although it is more correctly understood as a combination of Baal Shem ("Master of the Name") and Tov (an honorific epithet to the man). The name Besht?the acronym of the first letters of his name, bet shin tet?is typically used in print rather than speech. The appellation "Baal Shem" was not unique to Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer; however, it is Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer who has achieved near synonymity with "Baal Shem", being as he was the founder of the spiritual movement of Hasidic Judaism.

Development as leader and challenges

The Besht's condition was bettered when he took a position as a ritual butcher in Kshilowice, near Iaslowice. This position he soon gave up in order to conduct a village tavern that his brother-in-law bought for him. During the many years that he lived in the woods and came into contact with the peasants, Besht learned how to use plants for healing purposes and to effect wonderful cures. In fact, his first appearance in public was that of an "ordinary" Baal Shem. He wrote amulets and prescribed cures. To his credit be it said that he was far from practicing the quackery of his fellows in the craft. In treating, for instance, those who suffered from melancholy, or the insane, he sought to influence their minds.

Related Topics:
Baal Shem - Amulet

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After many trips in Podolia and Volhynia as a Baal Shem, Besht, considering his following large enough and his authority established, decided (about 1740) to expound his teachings in the little city of Międzyborz; and the people, mostly from the lower classes, came to listen to him. His following gradually increased, and with it the dislike, not to say hostility, of the Talmudists. Nevertheless, Besht was supported at the beginning of his career by two prominent Talmudists, the brothers Meïr and Isaac Dob Margaliot. Later he won over Baer of Meseritz, to whose great authority as a Talmudist it was chiefly due that Besht's doctrines (though in an essentially altered form) were introduced into learned circles.

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