Ariel Mayse · Exploring Hasidism: Meet the Baal Shem Tov
- Pacific Time In-Person Program
$18.00
This program is presented in memory of David Biale.
Who was Rabbi Yisra’el ben Eli‘ezer of Mezhbizh (the Baal Shem Tov), Hasidism's legendary “founder”? His religious personality defies easy categories. Through his students and followers, he ignited a popular revivalist movement—an explosive spiritual force that has profoundly shaped modern Jewish life. For nearly three centuries, his image has captivated historians, scholars, artists, storytellers, and spiritual seekers alike. Yet the individual at its center remains elusive: a creative religious mind shrouded in mystery. Drawing on a forthcoming intellectual biography for the Jewish Lives series, this course explores the teachings and afterlife of this electrifying leader, whose vision planted the hardy seeds of the most influential movement of Jewish mystical renewal in history.
