The Baal Shem Tov's Birth and Mission

The Baal Shem Tov was born miraculously to an elderly, childless couple on the 18th of Elul, 5458 (1698). He was named Yisroel (Israel), the collective name of the Jewish people. A name is a soul-connection; call out to the slumberer and they awake. In the Baal Shem Tov’s day, the Jewish people were in a deep state of spiritual sleep, and it became his mission to rouse Yisroel and restore their vibrancy and purpose.

Young Yisroel was orphaned by both parents at the age of five. Just before he passed, his father, Eliezer, told him: “Love every Jew and fear nothing but G-d.” Years later, these ideas formed the bedrock of the Baal Shem Tov’s new Chassidic movement.