The Baal Shem Tov— “Master of the Good Name”—was the title given to Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer of Mezbizk, founder of Hassidic Judaism. Rather than providing a set of teachings, the Baal Shem Tov communicated his lessons through a certain attitude, a spirit of joy, an instinct for the holiness of existence, that would inspire a following far beyond the Hasidim, or “pious ones,” as his followers came to be called. He was born in a small town in the Ukraine…. click the link above for more reading…