Baal Shem Tov

c. 1698 – 22 May 1760

Israel ben Eliezer (c. 1698-1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ('Master of the Good Name'), was a Jewish mystic and healer from Podolia who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. He taught that sincere devotion, joy and prayer were accessible paths to God for ordinary Jews, not only for scholars. From his base in Medzhybizh his teachings spread through disciples into one of the major movements of modern Judaism.

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Life events

Born in Okopy, Podolia (present-day Ukraine)
c. 1698

Israel ben Eliezer was born to elderly parents in the small border town of Okopy; the traditional date of his birth is around 1698.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Orphaned in childhood
c. 1703

According to Hasidic tradition, Israel lost both parents while very young and was raised with the help of the local Jewish community.

Personal ?
Worked as a teacher's assistant and synagogue caretaker
c. 1712

As a young man he held humble positions, escorting children to school and serving as a watchman and caretaker, while privately pursuing mystical study.

Career ?
Married Chana, sister of Rabbi Gershon of Kitov
c. 1716

Israel married Chana and for some years lived in seclusion in the Carpathian Mountains, working as a clay digger while devoting himself to contemplation.

Relationship ?
Revealed himself as a baal shem, a healer and spiritual master
c. 1734

Around the age of thirty-six, according to tradition, Israel began his public career as a baal shem, healing, writing amulets and teaching a new path of joyful devotion.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Settled in Medzhybizh, which became the center of early Hasidism
c. 1740

The Baal Shem Tov settled in the Podolian town of Medzhybizh, where tax records confirm his residence and where he gathered his circle of disciples.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relocation ✓
Gathered the circle of disciples who spread Hasidism
c. 1745

His followers, including Dov Ber of Mezeritch and Jacob Joseph of Polonne, transmitted and published his teachings, turning Hasidism into a mass movement after his death.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Described a mystical ascent of the soul in his letter to Gershon of Kitov
1746

In the 'Holy Epistle', one of the few documents attributed to him, the Baal Shem Tov described a visionary ascent in which he was told his teachings would spread before the Messiah's coming.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Other ✓
Died in Medzhybizh
22 May 1760

The Baal Shem Tov died on the first day of Shavuot in 1760 and was buried in Medzhybizh, where his grave remains a site of pilgrimage.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓