Kabbalah · 1698–1760
the Baal Shem Tov
Hasidism · folk mysticism · Tzava'at HaRivash · the testament (oral tradition)
The one who carried high Kabbalah out of the scholars' books to the simple heart: serve God with joy.
The essence of the teaching: The Infinite fills all without remainder – which means it can be served in any task, not in study alone. What matters is not knowledge but the heart's ardor. Sadness draws you away from the light; joy draws you near.
Transmission
The Besht, as he was called, was no scholar of the study-hall – he wandered, he healed, he told parables, and through him Kabbalah became alive for everyone. There is no place empty of God, he said, and so there is holiness in chopping wood and in the simple prayer of a shepherd. God wants the heart. A simple person who prays with love is closer to heaven than a learned man without fire. Serve in joy – for sadness closes the channels of light, while rejoicing opens them. And when you raise up another's soul, or your own heart out of gloom, you lift a spark, just as Luria taught – only you do it with love, not with learning.
The full transmission — for members of the School. Here is its essence and its taste.
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