Later compilation · Essential works
Keter Shem Tov (Crown of the Good Name)
כתר שם טוב
It is the first anthology devoted explicitly to the Besht's teachings. In two parts, it gathers comments on biblical verses and sayings on prayer, humility, the divine presence in all things and the relation between the righteous man and the people. Some of the most quoted maxims come from here, such as that a man is wholly where his thought is. The Kehot edition (*Keter Shem Tov ha-Shalem*), prepared by J. I. Schochet, corrects the text and adds sources and commentary.
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Authorship note
Anthology gathered by Aharon ha-Kohen of Apta and printed in Zolkiew in 1794–1795. It draws most of its material from the books of Jacob Joseph of Polonne and other compilations; many paragraphs carry the mark "from the Besht", but they are always second-hand quotations.
Editions and translations
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English
Baal Shem Tov
Keser Shem Tov: Mystical Teachings on the Torah
The Conscious LibraryKeser Shem Tov: Mystical Teachings on the Torah
BST Publishing, 2008
Translation: Yehoshua Starrett
ISBN 9780985356231
Traducción con comentario.
Hebreo
Baal Shem Tov
Keter Shem Tov
The Conscious LibraryKeter Shem Tov
Zolkiew, 1794
Primera impresión, en dos partes (1794–1795).
Keter Shem Tov
Kehot, 1987
ISBN 9780826654588
Reimpresión de Kehot (Brooklyn).
Other works by Baal Shem Tov
- Igeret ha-Kodesh (Letter to Abraham Gershon of Kuty) · 1750
- Tsava'at ha-Rivash (The Testament of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem) · 1793
- Shivhei ha-Besht (In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov) · 1815
- Toledot Ya'akov Yosef · 1780
- Ben Porat Yosef · 1781
- Tsafnat Pa'neah · 1782
- Ketonet Passim · 1866
- Likkutim Yekarim (Precious Gleanings) · 1792
- Degel Mahaneh Efrayim · 1810
- Sefer Baal Shem Tov (The Book of the Baal Shem Tov) · 1938
- Kabbalistic commentary on Psalm 107 (attributed) · 1804
- Letters of the "Kherson genizah" (spurious) · 1918
- Founder of Hasidism (Moshe Rosman) · 1996
- The Besht: Magician, Mystic, and Leader (Immanuel Etkes) · 2000
- The Circle of the Baal Shem Tov (Abraham J. Heschel) · 1985
Sources
- Keter Shem Tov, compilado por Aharon ha-Kohen de Apta, Zolkiew, 1794–1795; texto hebreo en Sefaria.
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