Baal Shem Tov

What is the Absolute? Does God exist?

The King one serves fills everything: in every letter there is divinity

Both personal and impersonalStated explicitly

The Baal Shem Tov wrote no books: apart from one letter, his teachings come to us through the homilies of his disciples, above all Jacob Joseph of Polonne, and through later anthologies. In those sources the God of Israel to whom one prays and to whom one cleaves (devekut) is at the same time the presence that fills everything, so that no place is empty of Him. In his own letter to his brother-in-law, instructing him on prayer, he states that in every letter there are worlds, souls and divinity. From Lurianic Kabbalah he takes the idea of divine sparks scattered in things, which man raises when he eats, works or prays with intention. God is thus the King served with joy and the vitality hidden in each thing: concealment exists only for one who cannot see Him.

Who am I? Is there a true self?

A soul that ascends, and a man is where his thought is

A created, immortal soulInferred from their doctrine

The Baal Shem Tov wrote no treatise on the soul; what we know of his view of the self comes through his letter and the sayings his disciples transmitted. In the letter to his brother-in-law he tells how his soul ascended, at the New Year of 1746, to the palace of the Messiah: the soul can leave the body and travel through the upper worlds. The anthologies record a maxim that shifts the centre of the person: wherever a man thinks with his thought, there he is entirely. The true self is the soul cleaving to God; the ego that compares itself and grows vain is a hindrance, which is why he warns that whoever serves with devotion must not think himself greater than his fellow, for he is a creature like the others, made to serve.

Why do we suffer?

Sadness distances from God; behind every concealment He is there

Separation from GodInferred from their doctrine

The teachings his disciples attribute to the Baal Shem Tov place the greatest evil not in outward misfortune but in the sadness that separates from God. Weeping, says the Testament of Rabbi Israel, is very bad, because the Creator is served with joy; only weeping for joy is good. Melancholy and scruples are traps that draw one away from cleaving to God (devekut). Suffering itself is not foreign to God: according to a teaching his disciples transmit, God hides behind the walls of misfortune like a king behind illusory walls, and whoever knows He is there dissolves the concealment. In his letter the Besht also appears as an intercessor in epidemics and persecutions: the community's pain calls for prayer, not resignation.

What happens after death?

To go out by one door and at once enter by another

Eternal life and resurrectionInferred from their doctrine

The Baal Shem Tov left no written teaching on death; what is known comes through his letter and through tradition. In the letter to his brother-in-law he describes how, in his ascents of the soul, he saw souls of the living and the dead rising from world to world, and how he himself interceded for them: the life of the soul continues and can be helped. Hasidic tales, gathered in In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov, speak of souls returning in another body to repair what they left undone, according to the kabbalistic doctrine of transmigration. The same book narrates his death at Shavuot in 1760: he is said to have declared that he did not fear for himself, because he knew he would go out by one door and at once enter by another.

How is liberation or salvation attained?

Cleaving to God with joy in every act, the bodily included

Through devotion and surrenderStated explicitly

The teachings his disciples attribute to the Baal Shem Tov place at the centre cleaving to God (devekut), not as a state reserved for ascetics but as a constant orientation of the heart. It is reached through prayer made with joy, which is more acceptable than prayer made with weeping, through equanimity before praise and contempt, and through serving God in bodily things: eating, working, conversing with the intention of raising the divine sparks present in everything. The Besht discouraged excessive fasting and mortification, common in the pious circles of his time. Personal and collective redemption are linked: in his letter, the Messiah answers him that he will come when his teaching is spread abroad and his springs overflow outward.

Is a teacher necessary?

The righteous man raises his generation; the people reach God through him

IndispensableInferred from their doctrine

The Baal Shem Tov was master of a circle of disciples who ascribed singular authority to him, and later Hasidism made the righteous man (tsaddik) the centre of religious life. The teachings transmitted by Jacob Joseph of Polonne describe the relationship between «men of form», the sages who cleave to God, and «men of matter», the simple people, who are raised through them; the righteous man is responsible for his generation. According to the tradition recorded in Hasidic tales, the Besht himself had a heavenly master, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite. His letter shows him interceding for entire communities. For the simple people, the way to God passed through closeness to a righteous man.

Is the world real?

No place is empty of God: divine sparks in all things

Manifestation of the divineStated explicitly

The teachings transmitted by the Baal Shem Tov's disciples make the world the stage of divine presence: the whole earth is full of His glory, and no place is empty of Him. From Lurianic Kabbalah they take the idea that at creation sparks of holiness were scattered in things, and that man raises them when he uses the world with intention: when eating, trading, working or conversing. Hence the service of God in bodily things that marked nascent Hasidism. In his letter the Besht himself states that in every letter there are worlds, souls and divinity. The world is neither illusion nor obstacle but a garment of the divine: what conceals is the same as what reveals, for one who knows how to look.

What is love?

To love God with joy and one's fellow without thinking oneself above him

Love of God and neighbourInferred from their doctrine

In the transmitted teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, love of God takes the form of joyful cleaving (devekut): serving Him with joy, in prayer and in every act. That love does not set the devout apart from others. The Testament of Rabbi Israel warns that whoever serves with devotion should not say in his heart that he is greater than his fellow, for he is one more creature, made for service. Hasidic tales present the Besht as someone who sought out the simple, the unlettered and sinners, and who valued the prayer of the unlearned man above learning without heart. Love for every Jew, which Hasidism made one of its marks, goes back in tradition to his figure.

Are we free, or is everything determined?

Nothing happens by chance: what one encounters is a task for him

Destiny and responsibilityInferred from their doctrine

The teachings attributed to the Baal Shem Tov extend divine providence to everything: nothing a man sees or hears reaches him by chance, but so that he may learn something with which to serve God. That providence does not cancel choice: every encounter, every place one comes to and every object one touches contains sparks that only he can raise, and whether he does so depends on his intention. The Testament of Rabbi Israel teaches equanimity: to accept praise and contempt alike, because everything comes from God. Freedom does not consist in escaping destiny but in responding well to what it brings. Later tradition developed this idea as individual providence reaching even the leaf the wind stirs.

Why meditate or pray?

Praying with joy, with the whole body, cleaving to every letter

Friendship with GodStated explicitly

Prayer is at the centre of the teachings the disciples attribute to the Baal Shem Tov. It must be done with joy, which makes it more acceptable than prayer with weeping, and with the whole body and all one's strength, so that the one who prays cleaves to God in every word. The Testament of Rabbi Israel describes it with a bold image taken from Kabbalah: prayer is union with the divine Presence (Shekhinah). The strange thoughts that assail the one praying are not simply rejected but raised to their root. In his letter the Besht himself advises his brother-in-law to concentrate his intention on the letters of each word, because in every letter there are worlds, souls and divinity.

Can reason know the ultimate?

The simple man's sincere prayer outweighs learning without fear of God

The ultimate lies beyond the mindInferred from their doctrine

The Baal Shem Tov was not a first-rank Talmudic scholar nor did he claim to be, and the teachings his disciples transmit shift the centre of religious life from study to cleaving to God. Jacob Joseph of Polonne, in the books where he quotes his master, harshly criticises scholars who study out of pride or profession, without fear of God, and Hasidic tales present the Besht valuing the prayer of the simple man above casuistry. Torah study keeps its value, but it must be done with devotion, attending to the light of the letters more than to sharpness of reasoning. What unites with God is not the intellect that argues but the soul that cleaves.

Withdraw from the world or transform it?

Serving God in bodily things: eating, trading and speaking with intention

Contemplation in actionStated explicitly

The Baal Shem Tov lived in the world: he was a healer, a writer of amulets and a religious specialist in the community of Międzybóż, and his life was spent among people, not in isolation. The teachings his disciples attribute to him make that presence a doctrine: God is served also in bodily things, in food, trade, conversation and work, because in everything there are divine sparks to raise. That is why he discouraged the excessive fasting and mortification common among the pious of his time. His letter also shows him occupied with his people's troubles, interceding in epidemics and against blood-libel accusations. Cleaving to God does not require leaving the world but inhabiting it with another intention.