The Baal Shem Tov: Difference between revisions
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| signature = [[File:The Baal Shem Tov signature.png|250px|alt=The Baal Shem Tov signature]] | | signature = [[File:The Baal Shem Tov signature.png|250px|alt=The Baal Shem Tov signature]] | ||
}} | }}Rabbi '''Yisrael Baal Shem Tov''' — known by the acronym '''the Besht''' — was the head of the circle of hidden tzaddikim, and subsequently the founder and originator of the Chassidic movement and its teachings, from which all Chassidic courts branched out and developed. | ||
Rabbi '''Yisrael Baal Shem Tov''' — known by the acronym '''the Besht''' — was the head of the circle of hidden tzaddikim, and subsequently the founder and originator of the Chassidic movement and its teachings, from which all Chassidic courts branched out and developed. | |||
He was born on 18 Elul 5458 (August 24, 1698), was niftar on 6 Sivan 5520 (May 22, 1760) — the first day of Shavuos — and his place of burial is in the town of Mezhibuzh. | He was born on 18 Elul 5458 (August 24, 1698), was niftar on 6 Sivan 5520 (May 22, 1760) — the first day of Shavuos — and his place of burial is in the town of Mezhibuzh. | ||
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Before the passing of Rabbi Adam Baal Shem — the leader of the hidden circle — he was informed through a dream to transmit the writings in his possession to Yisrael ben Eliezer of Okup. He sent his son to find Rabbi Yisrael, bearing the message that these writings belonged to the root of his neshamah, and that if he was willing to learn with him, all the better. After a long search, the son found the shomer beis hamidrash named Yisrael, who was then fourteen years old. The son asked him to learn with him; Rabbi Yisrael agreed — on the condition that it appear as though Rabbi Yisrael were the student. As a result of this learning, a shidduch was arranged for him with a woman from the city of Okup — this wife passed away shortly after the marriage.<ref>Of this first wife, the Besht said at the time of his histalkus: Had my first wife been with me, I would have ascended to the heavens in the middle of the day, in the marketplace of Mezhibuzh, before the eyes of all (sicha of Purim 5718).</ref> | Before the passing of Rabbi Adam Baal Shem — the leader of the hidden circle — he was informed through a dream to transmit the writings in his possession to Yisrael ben Eliezer of Okup. He sent his son to find Rabbi Yisrael, bearing the message that these writings belonged to the root of his neshamah, and that if he was willing to learn with him, all the better. After a long search, the son found the shomer beis hamidrash named Yisrael, who was then fourteen years old. The son asked him to learn with him; Rabbi Yisrael agreed — on the condition that it appear as though Rabbi Yisrael were the student. As a result of this learning, a shidduch was arranged for him with a woman from the city of Okup — this wife passed away shortly after the marriage.<ref>Of this first wife, the Besht said at the time of his histalkus: Had my first wife been with me, I would have ascended to the heavens in the middle of the day, in the marketplace of Mezhibuzh, before the eyes of all (sicha of Purim 5718).</ref> | ||
[[File:חתימת הבעשט.png|left|thumb|250px|A copy of the Baal Shem Tov's signature from the letters of the [[Kherson Genizah]]]] | |||
At the age of eighteen, he was formally appointed as the leader of the hidden tzaddikim. | At the age of eighteen, he was formally appointed as the leader of the hidden tzaddikim. | ||