(ISRAEL BA’AL SHEM TOV). Kether Shem Tov ["Crown of a Good Name.”] Edited by Aaron ben Tzvi Hirsch HaKohen of Apta

CHASSIDISM).

Yehuda Leib Meyerhoffer & Mordechai Rabinstein

Zolkiew

1794 and 1795

FIRST EDITION. Two parts bound in one. Two separate title-pages

Vinograd, Zolkiew 467 and 481; Mehlman, 1146 (first part only); Friedberg Chof-775 (calling for ff. 61)

THE FIRST ANTHOLOGY OF THE TEACHINGS OF THE BA'AL SHEM TOV. The first work to present the teachings of the Ba’al Shem Tov into one cohesive volume. The founder of the Chassidic Movement did not himself leave behind any of his own writings for publication. Most of his teachings are found in the works of his disciples, especially R. Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye, in his Toldoth Ya’akov Yoseph, Ben Porath Yoseph and Tzophnath Pane’ach. These works presented the philosophy of the Ba'al Shem Tov within the context of profound and lengthy discourses. The editor of Kether Shem Tov shortened these discourses, culling only those that were directly in the name of the Ba'al Shem Tov and thus overall created a work that presented the thought of the Ba'al Shem Tov in a way that was far more palatable for the average Jew. The Kether Shem Tov commences with the celebrated letter sent by the Baal Shem Tov to to his brother-in-law R. Gerson Kitover in Eretz Israel, in which the Besh"t recounts his ascension to Heaven and his pivotal query: "Eimathai Ka’athi Mar?" (When will the Master Come?) - The Messiah famously responding: "Kesheyaphutzu Ma'ayanothecha Chutza" (“When the Wellsprings of your Torah are Universally Disseminated).”