Baal Shem Tov, R. Israel

Learn about the life and teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the 18th century mystic who permanently changed the Jewish landscape.

Israel Baal Shem Tov was born on the 18th day of Elul in the year 5458 in a little town called Okup in the Ukraine. The name 'Baal Shem Tov' meaning 'the master of the Name', was given him later, when he became known as a great and pious leader, with ...

When the man saw me he asked: "What is a small child doing all alone in the forest? Are you not afraid to be in the forest all by yourself?"

Every hundred years or so, a person comes along and changes the way we look at ourselves and our world. But there is something that is rarer still -- someone who will tell us something that we already know

There are many myths and legends about the Baal Shem Tov. Even the most fantastic ones, they say, are true. But there's one, very popular, myth that's not true: the Modern Jewish Legend of the Baal Shem Tov...

"Chai Elul" - the 18th day of the month of Elul - is the birthday, in 1648, of the founder of Chassidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. It is also the day on which his " spiritual grandson," the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was born, ...

Who was the founder of Chassidus? What was there about him and about his teachings that attracted - and continues to attract - both the greatest Torah scholars and also the least learned of our people?

Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov entered a chilled, dreary world and set it afire. He taught that even the simplest soul can bond to the Infinite Creator with love and joy . . .

Yisroel stood in the doorway, cheeks and nose bright red from the cold, snow encrusting his thick brown bangs. “My mother is still not here, and I’m frozen. Can I wait inside?”

Other religions are based on a philosophy; their codes of conduct a direct consequence of their belief system. Judaism, however, is based on a Torah which is principally a book of rules. Jewish philosophy developed afterwards, and is based on the ...