Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (born 1700)

Baal Shem Tov

Polish founder of Hasidic Judaism (1698–1760)

Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov or BeShT (בעש״ט), was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. A baal shem tov is a "Master of the Good Name," that is, one able to work miracles using the secret name of God. Other sources…