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Baal Shem

A portrait of Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk, the Baal Shem of London.

A Baal Shem (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. Baalei Shem) was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing various methods, Baalei Shem are claimed to heal, enact miracles,[1] perform exorcisms,[2] treat various health issues, curb epidemics, protect people from disaster due to fire, robbery or the evil eye, foresee the future, decipher dreams, and bless those who sought his powers.[3]

In Judaism, similar figures arbitrated between earthly realities and spiritual realms since before the establishment of Talmudic Judaism in the 3rd century.[4] However, it was only in the 16th century that the figures were called Baalei Shem.[1] Herbal folk remedies, amulets, contemporary medical cures as well as magical and mystical solutions were used in accordance with traditional Kabbalistic teachings as well as adapted Lurianic guidelines in the Middle Ages.[3]

Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer was a Polish rabbi and mystical healer known as the Baal Shem Tov. His teachings imbued the esoteric usage of practical Kabbalah of Baalei Shem into a spiritual movement, Hasidic Judaism.[5]

  1. ^ a b Kohler, Kaufmann; Ginzberg, Louis (1906). "Ba'al Shem". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  2. ^ Studies in East European Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism, Joseph Weiss, Littman Library: chapter 1 "Some Notes on the Social Background of Early Hasidism", chapter 2 "A Circle of Pneumatics in Pre-Hasidism"
  3. ^ a b "YIVO | Ba'ale Shem". yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  4. ^ "Talmud and Midrash | Judaism". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  5. ^ "Baʿal Shem Ṭov | Polish rabbi". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2020-05-05.

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