Baal Shem Tov
1698-1760     62 years

aka:  Israel ben Eliezer (original name)

בעל שם טוב Hebrew (Baal Shem Tov)
Jewish Hassid, mystic, Kabbalist, etc.

born Poland/Ukraine area

orphaned at a young age, taken care of by his
community.

married 2x; son, daughter.

records written by his followers are his heritage

Martin Buber has written a book on him

"Baal Shem" means 'master of the good name'.
"Tov" is an honorific title added to Jewish names.
Baal Shem is a name not unique to him--other
people were also called this.

his view of "God" was expanded to mean "All".
I was reading about Baal Shem, a Hasid mystic, the
founder of Hasidism. A disciple came to him one
day and said, "Master, how can I avoid temptation?
How can I avoid the devil tempting me?"

Baal Shem looked at him and said, "Wait! There is
no need for you to avoid any temptation, because
right now temptation cannot be given to you – you
are not worthy of it..."

                                              --Osho
  The Discipline of Transcendence-Vol. 3, ch. 3
                oshobob  The Living Workshop                                
                                                  People in Osho's Talks