Adam Baal Shem

According to Hasidic legend, Rabbi Adam Baal Shem of Ropczyce[1] (Hebrew: אָדָם נחום בַּעַל שֵׁם מרוֹפְּשִׁיץ; 1680 – 1734) was a Rabbi and Mystic who lead a group of Hidden Tzaddikim called Machane Yisroel,[2][3][4] started by Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem of Loans. The leadership of the movement was later handed down to Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem, who in turn handed it down to Rabbi Adam Baal Shem, who in turn handed it down to Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov.[5][6]

According to the Chernobyler chassidic tradition, he was the grandfather of Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twerski of Chernobyl. whose full name was Rabbi Adam nochum Shustak. The exact identity of Rabbi Adam is unknown. Since the name Adam was rare among European Jewry, According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, others identify this Adam with Rabbi David Moshe Abraham (whose initials are Adam) of Troyes[7] or with Adam Zerweiker. Kaplan also writes that it may be an anonym to protect the subject's identity.[8]

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.[9]

## References

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1. ^ Schneersohn, Yosef Yitzchak. לקוטי דיבורים (in Yiddish). Brooklyn, New York: Kehot Publication Society. Retrieved Nov 26, 2014.
2. ^ "מחנה הנסתרים – חב"דפדיה". chabadpedia.co.il. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
3. ^ "What Does 'Baal Shem Tov' Mean?". Archived from the original on 2017-09-06.
4. ^ "Discussed in the memoirs of the 6th Lubavitcher rebbe". Archived from the original on 2021-07-27.
5. ^ Schneersohn, Yosef Y. (2004) [First published 1960]. "From Rabbi Adam Baal Shem to Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov". Lubavitcher Rabbi's Memoirs. Vol. 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.
6. ^ "Writings of R.Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson". Archived from the original on 2016-07-20.
7. ^ "The Mekhilta of Rabbi Adam".
8. ^ Kaplan (1982). Meditation and Kabbalah. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser. p. 339. ISBN 0-87728-616-7. LCCN 81-70150. Retrieved Nov 24, 2014.
9. ^ 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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