xxx/ellauri157.html on line 204: Baal Shem (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. Baalei Shem) is a title for a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, Baalei Shem heal, enact miracles, perform exorcisms, treat various health issues, curb epidemics, protect people from disaster due to fire, robbery or the evil eye, foresee the future, decipher dreams, and bless those who sought his powers.
xxx/ellauri157.html on line 206: In Judaism, similar figures arbitrated between earthly realities and spiritual realms since before the establishment of Talmudic Judaism in the 3rd century. However, it was only in the 16th century that these figures were called Baalei Shem. It looks like a Jewish reflex of the cotemporaneous revivalist movements among the protestants. Herbal folk remedies, amulets, contemporary medical cures as well as magical and mystical solutions were used in accordance with traditional Kabbalistic teachings as well as adapted Lurianic guidelines in the Middle Ages.
xxx/ellauri157.html on line 210: Baal Shem Tov was the stage name of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, a Polish rabbi and mystical healer known as the . His teachings imbued the esoteric usage of practical Kabbalah of Baalei Shem into a spiritual movement, Hasidic Judaism. While a few other people received the title of Baal Shem among Eastern and Central European Ashkenazi Jewry, the designation is most well known in reference to the founder of Hasidic Judaism. Baal Shem Tov, born in the 17th century Kingdom of Poland, started public life as a traditional Baal Shem, but introduced new interpretations of mystical thought and practice that eventually became the core teachings of Hasidism. In his time, he was given the title of Baal Shem Tov, and later, by followers of Hasidism, referred to by the acronym BeShiT. He disavowed traditional Jewish practice and theology by encouraging mixing with non-Jews and asserting the sacredness of everyday corporal existence.
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