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383 only with the German-Polish Jews when they hecame acquainted with the practical Cabala of the school of Luria. The payyetan Benjamin b. Zerah is indeed called "Ba'al Shem," which, however, only indicates that in his piyyutim he frequently alludes to the various mystical names of God. The first one who is known to have borne this name, Elijah of Chelm, flourished about 1500, at the period when the study of the Cabala was wide-spread in Poland. The Ba'al Shem, which first was undoubtedly applied only as a special distinction to particular men who were considered great saints and in whose miraculous powers the people believed, had two centuries later developed into a profession. These "Ba'ale Shem " represented a mixture of quack doctor, physician, and cabalist. They wrote amulets, prescribed empirie medicines, with which they were well acquainted, and engaged also in casting out or sum* moning spirits. Their profession was such that they incurred the hostility of physicians, with whom they often entered into serious competition. The following prayer, composed by a Ba'al Shem for himself and his compeers, is indicative of the attitude toward the physicians " Preserve me from enmity and quar:

and may envy between me and others disappear. Let, on the contrary, friendship, peace, and harmony prevail between me and the physicians, rels;

that I may be respected in their opinion, that they may not speak evil of me or of my actions" ("Toledot Adam," Zolkiev, 1720). Solomon Maimon speaks, in his autobiography (i. 217), of a Ba'al Shem who possessed medical knowledge and sufficient astuteness to make him a formidable competitor of the physicians. Following is an approximately complete alphabetical list of persons known to have been Ba'ale.

.

Shem (1)

zer,

Baal-Hazor

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

383

'"

Elhanan, rabbi in Vienna, seventeenth century (DembitKelilat Yofl," 786);

Elijah, rabbi at

(2)

Chelm (govern-

ment

of Lublin), a progenitor of Zebi Ashkenazi, flourished about 1500 (Responsaof Zebi Ashkenazi, No. 93 Emden,"MegUlat Sefer," 4); (3) Elijah b. Moses Loans (1555-1636); (4) Falk, Hayyim Samuel, 1708-1783 (5) Gedaliah of Worms, an eminent Talmudist, died between 1622 and 1624 (Kaufmann, " Ta'ir Hayyim," Bacharach, p. 20, note 2) (6) Israel b. Eliezer (1700;





1760),

commonly known

Ba'al Shem-Tob

as

(see article)

Joel b. Isaac Heilprin, middle of the seventeenth century (8) Joel b. Uri Heilprin, beginning of the eighteenth century (9) Selig of Lublin, beginning of the eighteenth century (Kahana in the passage cited below, p. 63); (10) Wolf, who, like most of the Ba'ale Shem, lived in Poland in the beginning of the eigh(11) Sekl Loeb Wormser (1768teenth century (Kahana I.e.) 1846), the Michaelstadter Ba'al Shem, still known in Germany under that name. (7)



See Hasidiji Bibliography pp. 59-64







Folk

JIedicine. 1900,

I.e.

L. G.

K.

BAAL SHEM, ELIJAH. See Loans, Elia. BAAL SHEM, JOEL. See Heilprin, Joel b. Isaac, and Heilprin,

Joel

b.

Uri.

BA'AL SHEM-TOB, ISRAEL

ZER

B.

ELIE-

(commonly known by the initial letters of his name, 13"tJ>ID> BEShT): Founder of the sect of Hasidim; born about 1700; died at Miedzyboz (MedzhiThe little biographical inforbozh), May 22, 1760. mation concerning him that exists is so interwoven with legends and miracles that in many cases it is

Shem

hard to arrive at the historical facts. He is said to have been born at Akuf (fppx), a border-city between Poland and Wallachia; but no such place is known. From the numerous legends connected with his birth it appears that his parents were poor, upright, and pious, and that when left an orphan he was taken care of by the community in which he lived. At the " heder " he distinguished himself only by his frequent disappearances, being always found in the lonely woods surrounding the place, rapturously enjoying the beauties of nature. His benefactors gave up the hope of his ever becoming a rabbi, and made him a "helper," who took the children to and from school and rehearsed short benedictions and prayers with them. Early Life. His tender, sentimental nature, to which his later success was in great measure due, now stood him in good stead for he could win children and attach them to him by explanations suited to their understanding. Later he became " shammash " in the same community, and at about eighteen he married. AVhen his young wife died he left the place, and after serving for a long time as helper in various small communities of Galicia, he settled as a teacher at Flust near Brody. On account of his recognized honesty and his knowledge of human nature he was chosen to act as arbitrator and mediator for people conducting suits against each other; and his services were brought into frequent requisition owing to the fact that the Jews had their own civil courts in Poland. In this avocation Besht succeeded in making so deep an impression upon the rich and learned Ephraim of Kuty that the latter promised Besht his daughter Anna in marriage. The man died, however, without telling his daughter of her betrothal but when she heard of his wish, she did not hesitate to comply. Besht's wooing was characteristic. In the shabby clothes of a peasant he presented himself at Brody before Abraham Gerson Kutower, brother of the girl, and a recognized authority in the Cabala and Kutower was about to give him the Talmud. alms, when Besht produced a letter from his pocket,



showing that he was the designated bridegroom.

Kutower

tried in vain to dissuade his sister

from shaming the family by marrying

this "

Anna

'am ha-

arez"; but she regarded her father's will alone as authoritative.

After his marriage Besht did not long remain with who was ashamed of him (for he kept up the pretense of being an ignorant fellow) and he went to a village in the CarpaHis worldly thians between Kuty and Kassowa. property consisted of a horse given him by his Every week his wife took a wagonbrother-in-law. load of lime to the surrounding villages and from But the this they derived their entire support. magnificent scenery in this, the finest region of the Carpathians, and the possibility of enjoying it without the interruptions of city life, compensated him Besht's condition was betfor his great privations. tered when he took a position as shohet in KshiloThis position he soon gave wice, near Iaslowice. up in order to conduct a village tavern which his brother-in-law bought for him. During the many years that he lived in the woods and came into this aristocratic brother-in-law,



Kahana, B. Yisrael Ba'al Shcm-Tob,

Dembitzer,

Ba'al