Adam Baal Shem

According to Hasidic legend, Adam Baal Shem of Ropczyce[1] (Hebrew: אָדָם בַּעַל שֵׁם מרוֹפְּשִׁיץ‎) was a rabbi and mystic who first introduced the movement of Hasidism. The leadership of the movement was later handed down from Rabbi Adam to Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov.[2]

The exact identity of Rabbi Adam is unknown. Since the name Adam was rare among European Jewry, Gershom Scholem considers it to be a pseudonym for Heshel Zoref (died 1700).[3] According to Aryeh Kaplan, others identify this Adam with Rabbi David Moshe Abraham (whose initials are Adam) of Troyes or with Adam Zerweiker. Kaplan also writes that it may be an anonym to protect the subject's identity.[4]

According to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, Rabbi Adam was a disciple of Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem of Zamość, who in turn was a disciple of Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem of Worms.[1]

According to the Shivhei HaBesht, Rabbi Adam found manuscripts in a cave, containing hidden secrets of the Torah. Rabbi Adam asked in a dream to whom should he hand down the manuscripts? He was answered to hand them down to Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer of the city of Okopy. Before his death, he commanded his only son, who was an eminent scholar, to search for the city with that name and hand the manuscripts to Israel ben Eliezer. After Rabbi Adam died, his son traveled until he arrived at Okopy, where he married the daughter of a wealthy man and eventually gave the manuscripts to the Baal Shem Tov.[5]

References
  1. Schneersohn, Yosef Yitzchak. לקוטי דיבורים (in Yiddish). Brooklyn, New York: Kehot Publication Society. Retrieved Nov 26, 2014.
  2. Schneersohn, Yosef Y. (2004) [First published 1960]. "From Rabbi Adam Baal Shem to Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov". Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs. 2. English Rendition by Nissan Mindel (Revised ed.). Brooklyn, New York: Kehot Publication Society. p. 5. ISBN 0-8266-0622-9. Retrieved Nov 24, 2014.
  3. Shivhei HaBesht [In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov]. Translated and edited by Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome R. Mintz. Rowman & Littlefield. 2004 [First published in English in 1970]. Notes for Pages 12-15. ISBN 1-56821-147-3.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Kaplan (1982). Meditation and Kabbalah. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser. p. 339. ISBN 0-87728-616-7. LCCN 81-70150. Retrieved Nov 24, 2014.
  5. Dov Baer ben Samuel of Linits (2004) [First published in English in 1970]. Shivhei HaBesht [In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov]. Translated and edited by Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome R. Mintz. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 13–18. ISBN 1-56821-147-3.


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