"An important and absorbing book - eminently worthy of a place in the library of layman and scholar alike." -Rabbi Herbert Weiner "One of the most important sources for the early history of the movement and the patterns of early Hasidic life." -Rabbi Louis Jacobs "This volume is sure to entice with its beautifully printed parables, anecdotes, and tales relating to the Master of the Good Name." -National Jewish Monthly

In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov is the first complete English translation of the tales surrounding the Besht, a rabbi and kabbalistic practitioner whose teachings bolstered the growing Hasidic movement in the eighteenth century. An important source on the life, philosophy, and mystical works of the Besht, In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov also reveals the daily life and concerns of eastern European Hasidic Jews in the late 1700s. Though portions of the book have been in print since its original publication in 1814, this edition avoids the common practice of reshaping Hasidic tales according contemporary expectations. With this commitment to accuracy and authenticity, In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov offers readers an unsullied look at the Besht through the eyes of his contemporaries.