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.

Opposition to Luria's Kabbalah

It is remarkable that Besht, whose starting point was the same as that of Isaac Luria's Kabbalah arrived at opposite results. His conception of God was pantheistic; while the school of Luria laid the greatest stress upon the principle of emanation. Besht's fight against asceticism was directed more against the school from which it sprang than against pure Talmudism. His teachings concerning ("joy", simcha) were especially opposed to asceticism. The followers of Luria considered weeping an indispensable accompaniment to prayer; while Besht considered weeping and feelings of sorrow to be wholly objectionable. The sinner who repents of his sin should not sorrow over the past, but should rejoice over the Heavenly Voice, over the Divine Power, working within him and enabling him to recognize the true in admitting his sin. The function of joy in prayer is paralleled by glowing enthusiasm and ecstasy ("to become inflamed", hitlahavut) in every act of worship. Fear of God is only an initiatory step to real worship, which must spring from a love of God and a surrender of self to Him. In his enthusiasm, man will not think either of this life or of the next: the feeling of union with God is in itself a means and an end. Enthusiasm, however, demands progress, not the mere fulfillment of the Law's precepts in a daily routine which becomes deadening: true religion consists in an ever-growing recognition of God.

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