Mystical systems
Baal Shem Tov
Direct answer
Baal Shem Tov: The Baal Shem Tov, Israel ben Eliezer, who died in 1760, was a Jewish healer and teacher at Medzhybizh in Podolia from whose circle the Hasidic movement grew.
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At a glance
- Also called
- besht, israel ben eliezer, founder of hasidism
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Hasidic Mysticism, Tzaddik, Devekut, Jewish Mysticism
The Baal Shem Tov, Israel ben Eliezer, who died in 1760, was a Jewish healer and teacher at Medzhybizh in Podolia from whose circle the Hasidic movement grew.
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Who was the Baal Shem Tov?
Baal Shem Tov means master of the good name. A baal shem was a known kind of practitioner in the Jewish communities of eastern Europe: a healer who worked with prayers, amulets and the names of God. Israel ben Eliezer, often called the Besht from the initials of his title, was one of these, and he was also a teacher who gathered a circle of learned pupils.
The teachings handed down in his name say that God is present in all things, that prayer should be said with joy and whole attention, and that a simple person's sincere devotion counts for as much as a scholar's learning. He wrote no book. His sayings reach us through his pupils, above all Jacob Joseph of Polonne.
On the tree of the hidden arts: The mystics.
What sets Baal Shem Tov apart
Two men carry the name. One is in the archives: a baal shem on the tax rolls of Medzhybizh, living in a house the community owned, with a known circle of scholars round him. The other is in the tales: a hidden saint, a digger of clay who revealed himself at thirty-six. Since Moshe Rosman's work of 1996 historians have worked from the first to judge the second. He founded no organisation; the movement was built by the generation of his pupils.
- Name: Israel ben Eliezer; Besht from the initials of Baal Shem Tov
- Dates: born about 1700, died at Medzhybizh in 1760
- Title: baal shem: a healer working with divine names and amulets
- Own writings: a few letters; no book
- First Hasidic book: Toldot Yaakov Yosef by Jacob Joseph of Polonne, 1780, which quotes him
- Tales printed: In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov, 1814
Often mistaken for something else: A baal shem was a trade, held by several healers before him; the Baal Shem Tov is the one man of that trade from whose pupils Hasidism grew.
The story behind Baal Shem Tov
He was born about 1700 and settled about 1740 at Medzhybizh, now in Ukraine, where he died in 1760. A letter he sent to his brother-in-law, describing an ascent of the soul, was printed in 1781. Jacob Joseph of Polonne quoted him at length in the first Hasidic book, printed in 1780. The collection of tales In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov appeared in 1814. In 1996 the historian Moshe Rosman showed from Polish records that the town housed him free of tax as a respected resident.
Why Baal Shem Tov matters
Every Hasidic court traces itself to him, so the gap between the man in the archives and the man in the tales shapes how the whole movement is read.
How to read Baal Shem Tov
Historians use the name for the man in the Polish records; Hasidim use it for the founder whose stories and sayings are told at the Sabbath table.
Baal Shem Tov in practice: an example
A reader of Hasidic tales meets him walking in the forest to pray, and can ask of each story whether it is record or the love of later generations.
Where readings of Baal Shem Tov go wrong
Most stories about him were printed two generations after his death and are devotional literature, not eyewitness report.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- who was the baal shem tov, besht, israel ben eliezer, baal shem tov teachings, founder of hasidism
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
Who was the Baal Shem Tov?
He was Israel ben Eliezer, a healer and religious teacher who lived at Medzhybizh in Podolia and died in 1760. The Hasidic movement grew from his pupils, and its communities regard him as their founder.
What does Baal Shem Tov mean?
It is Hebrew for master of the good name. A baal shem was a healer who used the names of God in prayers and amulets, and the title was held by several men before him. The short form Besht is made from its initials.
Did the Baal Shem Tov write any books?
No. A few letters survive, one of them printed in 1781. His teachings were recorded by pupils such as Jacob Joseph of Polonne, and the well known tales about him were first printed in 1814.
