Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov

Israel Baal Shem Tov was born on the 18th day of Elul in the year 5458 (262 years ago) in a little town called Okup in the Ukraine. The name Baal Shem Tov, meaning the "Master of the Good Name," was given him later, when he became known as a great and pious leader, with Divine powers to perform miracles.

At the age of 5 he lost his father, Eliezer, who was a very pious and modest man, greatly respected in his com munity. Before his death, Eliezer called his little son to his bedside and told him: "My last message to you, dear son, is: Fear no one and nothing, but G-d along! Love every Jew with all your heart and soul!"

The little orphan was placed in the care of a teacher in Cheder. Whenever the little boy had an opportunity, he ran to the nearby woods,, spending his time absorbed in thought, watching the great miracles of nature, and seeing the Divine hand in every little flower and blade of grass. These excursions in his early youth left a profound impression upon him, and later on, in one of his lectures to his disciples, he said: "When you see a leaf blown from a tree and whirled along the pathway, don't think it is an accident, for it is moved by the will of G-d!"

The big and dark woods surrounding his little town of Okup (in the Carpathian mountains) of which children spoke with great awe and fear, held no fear for little Israel any more. He felt a strong temptation to go to those woods, and his temptation grew stronger as he found out that it was very quiet and peaceful there. And so little Israel would slip away after Cheder and make his way to the woods. On the way he repeated by heart everything that he had learned in Cheder, and when he reached the woods, he would lie down on the grass, and think, and think. Most of all he thought of another little boy, Abraham, who at the age of three had recognized G-d in nature, and spent the rest of his life telling everybody about the greatness of the one and only Creator of the world. Little Israel, too, began to see that behind the movement of every leaf there is the Divine power that causes it to flutter in the wind or be torn from the tree.

Often "Yisrolik" fell asleep toward nightfall and slept in the woods through the night. In the morning he Would get up, wash his hands in the river nearby and say the morning prayer he knew by heart.

Now, little Israel, being an orphan and having neither father nor mother, was in the care of a guardian. The guardian did not like it at all when Yisrolik disappeared for a whole afternoon, and often did not come back until the following morning. None of the other little orphans who were in his care behaved quite like that, and he decided that Yisrolik was a naughty and truant boy. The only thing to do was to punish him, and this he did time and again. Yisrolik took all the punishment quietly, and never complained.

2.

Two years passed in this way, and the older Israel grew, the more he loved the woods.

One day Israel went to the woods rather earlier than usual. He had davvened with the first Minyan at dawn, and immediately went to the woods, for something within him was drawing him thither with particular force.

When Israel came to his usual resting place in the woods, he suddenly heard a voice. At first he could not distinguish it clearly, but then he followed in the direction of the sound, and saw to his great surprise that an old Jew was standing wrapped up in his Tallis and Tefillin, and davvening. Such ardent prayers Israel had never heard:

The old man did not hear Israel's footsteps, and Israel took up a position behind a tree, where he had a good view of the man, though out of sight himself.

It was a wonderful sight to behold, and still more wonderful was it to listen to the old man's prayers. Israel watched him with awe and great reverence. "No doubt he is one of the 36 hidden Tzadikim (very pious men) who are the pillars of the earth," Israel thought, and never for a moment did he take off his eyes from the venerable man.

Presently the old man finished davvening, and thereupon he took off his Tefillin, carefully folded them up and put them away. Then he also took off his Tallis and folded it. He kissed them both before he put them away. For a while the old man recited Psalms, and then he produced a book and began to learn from it aloud, as Israel had seen many Jews do in the Beth-Hamidrash, only to Israel it sounded especially pleasant and inspiring. '

Having concluded learning, the old man packed away his Tallis, Tefillin and books into his sack, arose, took up his walking cane and started on his way.

At this point Israel came out of his hiding place and went to meet the stranger.

The old man did not seem to be very surprised to see the little boy, and he asked him in a tone that suggested he knew the answer:

"What's a little boy like you doing in the woods alone? Aren't you afraid?"

Answering the questions in their order, little Israel replied:

"I love the woods and fields, bgcause there are no proud, arrogant and deceitful people here, as you may find in town. I am not afraid of anyone. I am an orphan, without a father and mother. My father olov hasholem (may he rest in peace), told me before he passed away: 'Yisrolik, do not fear any one but G-d alone!' and so I have no fear in my heart."

"Are you R. Eliezer's son?" the old man asked him.

"That was indeed my father's name," little Israel replied.

The old man beckoned him to-sit down with him on the grass. Then he took out a book=it was the tractate Pesachim -and began to learn with the little boy for quite a while. The old man seemed quite satisfied, and so was little Israel. When the old man got up, Israel decided to go with him, without knowing whither he was going, and how long he would be on his way.

3.

For many days, little Israel accompanied the old man on his wanderinks through strange towns and villages. Sometimes they would stop in one place for a day or two, sometimes for a week or longer. Israel did not know the old man's name, for he had decided that he would not ask him any questions. The old man learned with him every day. He never begged for alms, but they did not starve, and the old man shared his meager meals with his little companion.

One day they came to a hamlet, and the old man said to little Israel:

"Not far from here, in the woods, lives a pious and learned Jew. I will leave you with him for a while."

Soon they reached a small cottage in the wood, and the old man placed Israel in the care of the other Jew, and departed.

Israel's new guardian was called R. Meir, and Israel stayed with him for four years. During this time R. Meir spent much time teaching Israel, and Israel loved his teacher and his studies, and studied very diligently. Every day they 'walked to the village to pray with a Minyan. In the village no one suspected that R. Meir was a very pious man and a great scholar. To them he was a plain tar-maker.

By and by, Israel learned that there were many scholars and very pious men disguised as wayfarers or simple craftsmen, whose mission in life was to spread the light of the Torah in their own way, to cheer up their poor and . persecuted brethren, to arouse in them a pride in their heritage, to teach them to worship G-d with simplicity and sincerity of heart.

Israel became acquainted with many of those wonderful Jews, and finally, while still in his "teens," was accepted into their ranks; and became one of them. Israel then began to wander again through strange towns and villages with special missions entrusted him by the leaders of the group of Nistarim, as they were called.

The Baal Shem Tov was 14 years old when he joined the legion of the Nistarim. The spiritual leader of these "secret service" men was the great and saintly .Rabbi Adam Baal Shem of Ropshitz, the successor of Rabbi Joel Baal Shem of Zamoshtz, who in turn was the successor of Rabbi Elijah Baal Shem of Worms -all the three of them were renowned for their piety and scholarship and divine powers.

In the year 5476, when the Baal Shem Tov was 18 years of age, he introduced a new kind of service for the Nistarim to perform. They were to devote themselves to the education of Jewish children. There were many Jewish settlements and tiny communities where there were no Jewish teachers and no Torahschools (Chedarim), and the Nistarim had to provide teachers from their own ranks.

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov himself became .an assistant to the teacher of the Cheder. His duties were to recite the Shema and the blessings and prayers with the youngest children, as well as to conduct them to Cheder and back home. He loved the ittle children with all his heart, and it was his greatest joy to teach the little children the prayers and blessings. "Those days were the happiest in my life," he once said many years later, "and nothing is so acceptable to G-d as the prayers and blessings coming from the lips of those pure kiddies!

Later on, the Baal Shem Tov set up a Cheder of his own in a little town in Galicia, called Tlosty.

In his private 'life; ' Israel was a plain and modest young man, but his wisdom and honesty attracted the attention of his fellow Jews, and many brought their disputes to him to settle.

One day a prominent Jew, Ephraim of Kutty, came to him with a disputed case, and he was so impressed with R' Israel, that he offered to give his daughter Leah Rachel to him in marriage. The agreement was thereupon recorded, and R' Ephraim returned home. When the time of the wedding drew near, R' Israel went to Brody, to the bride's brother (for her father had died in the mean­ time) to claim his bride. He was dis­guised in the garb of a poor peasant; and was too modest to show any schol­arship. His would-be brother-in-law, who was a respected and well known scholar, was shocked at the prospect of having such an ignorant relative, but the bride, looking into the soul of her suitor rather than his appearance, accepted him as her husband.

R' Israel and his wife retired to the Carpathian mountains, where they lived in great poverty, but Israel had all the solitude he desired and could devote his time to the study of the Torah and Kabbalah.

The Baal Shem Tov became the spiritual leader of the legion of Nistarim and he directed all their activities. When countless Cbedarim and Yeshivoth had been established in various Jewish communities, the Baal Shem Tov gave them a new task. They were now to devote their services primarily to the grown-ups who also needed a good education and training; they had to raise the plain folk from the swamp of ignorance to a place among the learned. This they had to achieve through creating widespread interest in the Torah, and through showing a good example of devotion to the Torah and precepts.

For a period of ten, years, from the age of twenty-six to thirty-six, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov had a most unusual teacher. This was-as the Besht later revealed to one of his disciplesnone other than Ahiyah of Shiloh, the prophet who lived at the time of King David. The Besht's teacher appeared to' him regularly and taught him the secrets of the Torah. Thus, the Baal Shem Tov was blessed with extraordinary knowledge and power in preparation for the great task that awaited him.

At the age of 36 it was Divinely revealed to him that he had a special mission to carry out-to spread new light and instil new life into Israel through the teachings of Hassidism. He could no longer remain disguised, and could no longer carry on his work in secret. He had to come out into the open and carry out his mission to the fullest extent.

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov settled in Miedzyboz. He began to preach his teachings and doctrines in public, and at once began to attract unusual attention and numerous followers. Many young men, as well as venerable scholars, came to Miedzyboz to learn the new way of worshipping G-d and to attain the highest moral heights. They became, ardent disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, and were called Hassidim-meaning pious Jews. Among his many thousands of followers there were many outstanding Rabbis and Talmudists. The greatest of them, Rabbi Ber of Meseritz, later became his successor, and the teacher of the celebrated Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liady, the founder of Habad Hassidism.

The teachings of Hassidism stressed the importance of prayer, and the observance of all the precepts and commandments of the Torah with a spirit of cheerfulness, and with all the heart. Simple faith is something that every Jew possesses, and through devout prayer and the reciting of the Psalms, even the unlearned Jew can attain a high' spiritual plane. Selfless affection for fellow-Jews and selfless devotion to the Torah was to be steadily cultivated, together with a feeling of humility and absolute modesty. By countless thousands of Jews, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov is regarded as a divinely sent leader who instilled new life and new hope into the scattered and shattered flocks of Israel in all lands, and fortified them with faith and courage to meet the dreadful days that were to come on the eve of the coming of thy righteous Messiah, may he ' come speedily in our time.

In a letter to his brother-in-law, who had become his disciple, the Baal Shem Tov writes that he had an extraordinary experience on Rosh Hashanah of the year 5507 (1747), when the heavens opened before him and he saw the Moshiach (Messiah). "When will you come down to earth to redeem us?" the Besht asked him, and the reply was: "When your fountains will spread forth among all the Jews." Indeed, the disciples and followers of the Baal Shem Tov have tried their utmost to spread his teachings among all sections of the Jewish people, and with unusual success. Within half a century, about half of the world's Jewish population became Hassidim.

The opposition to this movement could not stem the tide of the Chassidic movement, which was gaining more and more followers, both among the masses of the Jewish population as well as among the Jewish scholars and Rabbis. Thus, in the final years of his life, the Baal Shem Tov witnessed the beginning of the big spiritual struggle which later, for a time, divided the Jewish people into two camps, the Chassidim and Misnagdim. But he could also see the eventual victory of his teachings and their ultimate acceptance by the Jewish people everywhere. When this will come to pass, the Besht taught, the ground will have been fully prepared for the coming of the Righteous Redeemer, the awaited Moshiach.

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov died in Miedzyboz on the first day of Shovuoth, in the year 5520 (1660), at the age of 62, but his teachings are still studied and followed by the numerous Hassidim in all lands.