Rav Israel ben Eliezer was born in 1698, in Poland, and passed away there in 1760. During his lifetime he was known as the Ba’al Shem Tov, or Master of the Holy Name, because of his righteousness, his spiritual powers, and his total commitment to living according to the sacred teachings. The Ba’al Shem Tov was a doer rather than a scholar. He lived at a time when an intellectual approach toward spirituality could not fulfill the needs of his people, who lived in constant threat of persecution. By living a joyful, mystical, and truly holy life, the Ba’al Shem Tov showed how Light could be revealed in even the most dangerous circumstances.
Although the Ba’al Shem Tov was attacked by more traditional factions, the mystical movement that he founded quickly gained a vast following. Like a number of kabbalistic masters, he wrote no books. Instead, he chose to reveal his wisdom through his actions, or through the telling of simple stories and fables. Yet the his presence has never been more strongly felt than it is today, in the worldwide interest in Kabbalah and in the work of The Kabbalah Centre to keep the legacy of the Ba’al Shem Tov alive and well.