Talk:Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov)
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[edit] Wrong Image
It has become widely known recently that it is a common misconception of the photo being of the Baal Shem Tov. Rather, it is said to be of a Dutch Kabbalist who was called Israel Baal Shem (not to be confused with Israel Baal Shem Tov). If anyone has any sources on that, please post.
- Take this to the image's talk page. 220.233.48.200 17:20, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
Actually, its Hayyim Shmuel Yaakov Falk, who was called the Baal Shem of London.
Source: Jewish Encyclopedia, under Falk.
Jewish Enlightenment in An English Key by David B. Ruderman
see http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/6953.html
and
http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2006/03/baal-shem-tov.html
[edit] Proposing rewording
Many of his disciples believe that he comes from the Davidic line tracing its lineage to the royal house of King David, and by extension with the institution of the Jewish Messiah.
To
It is claimed he comes from a Davidic line tracing its lineage to the royal house of King David, it is unknown if this is true as he did not have the certificate that King David gave for all of descendants, but it was known that over the generations many families lost their's in fires, wars and the like.
If anyone can come up with a slight better wording, please share. If not with the possiblity of slight editing this version will go up in 48 hours. 220.233.48.200 17:21, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
- The reason why changed the "many of his disciples beleive" part saying his disciples is not valid. As it was his family which claims it. 220.233.48.200 17:24, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Pantheism
The Besht advocated panentheism, not pantheism. I am removing the catagorization. PhatJew 22:44, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The Baal Shem Tov's Audience
I’ve changed the line “and the people, mostly from the lower classes, came to listen to him” to “and people, mostly from the spiritual elite, came to listen to him.” Although the jury is still out on exactly who made up the Baal Shem Tov’s audience it appears that his teachings were addressed to the spiritual elite and did not necessarily include the masses. It is true that in general his teachings can be read as inclusive but there are a number of indications that this was not his intention. See especially his epistle where the Baal Shem Tov is comforted that it will be possible for others to reach his level of spirituality. The term he uses is “Biney Gili” which usually means, especially as it is used here, my “colleagues”, “contemporaries” or “peers” which would indicate that his target audience was made up of people of spiritual stature. But as I mentioned the issue is still unclear in the scholarship literature. In my opinion the strongest evidence in support of this thesis is the nature of the content of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. It would be hard to imagine the illiterate masses understanding the import of most of them.
