ba'al shem

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("Master of the [Divine] Name"). Title given from early medieval times to an alleged wonderworker, someone believed to "possess" the secret of the Shem ha-Meforash (Tetragrammaton) and thought capable of using it to perform miracles (see also God, Names of). Allusions to ba'alé Shem (pl.) can be traced from Hai Gaon in Babylonia to the ḥasidé Ashkenaz mystics in medieval Germany and to the leading kabbalists (such as Moses de Leon) in Spain. Those who originally bore this title tended to be rabbis and talmudists whose "magical" power consisted largely in writing Amulets bearing various holy names. At a later stage, however, particularly in Eastern Europe, the ba'al Shem title was assumed by men of a different type who combined Practical Kabbalah with faith healing, incantations, and the sale of amulets with folk-cures. Popular legends were often woven around such personalities, and some were credited with the power of exorcising evil spirits (see Demons and Demonology; Dibbuk). In many cases, claimants to the title must undoubtedly have been quacks and impostors, as well as followers of Shabbetai Tsevi. The modified designation of ba'al Shem Tov ("possessor of a good name") was current even before it was assumed in the 18th century by R. Israel ben Eliezer Ba'Al Shem Tov, the founder of ḥasidism. A contemporary of his, Samuel Jacob Ḥayyim Falk (c. 1710-1782), a Podolian adventurer and reputed Shabbatean, won fame and fortune as "the Ba'al Shem of London."

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