(Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov, wa...)
Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov, was the founder of the Chassidic movement. His divine influence lives on through the recorded actions and anecdotes of his life. The reader will discover how the Baal Shem Tov used his extraordinary spiritual insight to guide his followers and to strengthen their dedication to Torah and Mitzvos. The reader will partake of the timeless wisdom which inspires a joyful, Torah directed life imbued with Divine light and will discover a path for satisfying the heart-felt yearnings of their Divine Soul.
Rabbi Yisroel (Israel) ben Eliezer, often called Baal Shem Tov or Besht, was a Jewish mystical rabbi.
Background
Yisroel (Israel) was born circa 1700 to poor parents Eliezer and Sarah in a settlement near Okopy Świętej Trójcy, a newly built fortress close to Kameniec in West Ukraine, where Zbruch connects with Dniester. Today, Okopy is a village located in the Borschiv Raion (district) of the Ternopil Oblast.
Career
He was apprenticed to the local teacher and was later employed as an aid to the sexton of the synagogue, where he spent his nights studying the Cabala, or Jewish mystic lore. He worked as a laborer, but he managed to devote considerable time to prayer and contemplation in the forest. He learned the use of medicinal herbs for the treatment of disease, and he became a Baal Shem, a master of the occult art of manipulating the name of the Ineffable and his ministering angels as a means of exorcising demons, driving out ghosts, and avoiding other evils. He ministered to his rural neighbors, both Christians and Jews, and performed miraculous cures of both body and soul. He is said to have undergone an Hitgalut (self-revelation) at the age of 36, through the mediacy of a divine spirit.
About 1740 the Besht (the common abbreviation of Baal Shem Tov) settled in Miedzyboz, Podolia. His kindliness and sanctity attracted many followers, who were called Hasidim (the pious). To aid men in their religious life, he introduced a new functionary into Judaism-the Tzaddik (the righteous), who has a highly developed awareness of the divine. The Tzaddik has become the hereditary leader of the Besht's followers. The Besht used anecdotes and parables to illustrate his teachings. He wrote no works, but after his death compilations of his sayings and teachings were published. Hasidism had, and continues to have, a notable impact on Jewish life.
(Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov, wa...)
Religion
The Besht was a mystic and redeemer. He used exorcism and amulets. He claimed to have achieved devekut (“adhesion”), meaning that his soul had reached the high level where he could speak with the Messiah, and intervene between humans and God.
Views
The Besht's teachings emphasized the love of God and trust in Him. God is everywhere and there is no place free of Him. The Besht taught that devoted and fervent prayer was a channel through which divine light flows to man and leads his soul to God. Gloom and sadness were anathemas to the Besht; one of his principles was, "Serve the Lord with gladness. "
Connections
Israel married at the traditional age of 18, but his wife died shortly afterward. He then moved to Brody in Galicia, where he met and married the rabbi's sister. They moved to a distant village in the Carpathians.