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feated the Philistines in their attempt to conquer Jerusalem
from the Israelites (II Sam. 5:20 and I Chron. 14:11, where the
name is explained etiologically; called Mount Perazim in Isa.
28:21, where the same victory is referred to). Proposals for the
identification of the site include the mountain of Sharafāt, the
mountain of Ramat Raḥel, and Deir Abu Tor; the latter two
are supported by the mention of the valley of Rephaim in the
same context.
Bibliography: EM, S.V.; Noth, Hist Isr, 187–8; Abel, Geog,
2 (1938), 259.
[Michael Avi-Yo\nah]
BA’AL SHEM (Heb. םֵׁ ש לעַ ַ ּב, “Master of the Divine Name”;
lit. “Possessor of the Name”), title given in popular usage and
in Jewish literature, especially kabbalistic and ḥasidic works,
from the Middle Ages onward, to one who possessed the secret
knowledge of the Tetragrammaton and the other “Holy
Names,” and who knew how to work miracles by the power
of these names. The designation ba’al shem did not originate
with the kabbalists, for it was already known to the last Babylonian
geonim. In a responsum, Hai Gaon stated: “They testified
that they saw a certain man, one of the well-known ba’alei
shem, on the eve of the Sabbath in one place, and that at the
same time he was seen in another place, several days’ journey
distant.” It was in this sense that Judah *Halevi criticized the
activities of the ba’alei shem (Kuzari, 3:53). In medieval German
ḥasidic tradition this title was accorded to several liturgical
poets, e.g., Shephatiah and his son Amittai of southern
Italy (in *Abraham b. Azriel, Arugat ha-Bosem, 2 (1947), 181).
The Spanish kabbalists used the expression ba’alei shemot from
the middle of the 13th century onward. Some even said that
there were different methods used by the ba’alei sefirot, the
theoretical kabbalists, and the ba’alei shemot, the magicians,
in their kabbalistic teachings. Isaac b. Jacob *ha-Kohen, Todros
ha-Levi Abulafia, and *Moses de Leon all mentioned this
tendency among the kabbalists without disapproval, whereas
Abraham *Abulafia wrote disparagingly of the ba’alei shem.
From the end of the 13th century, the term ba’al shem was
also used for writers of amulets based on Holy Names (Oẓar
Neḥmad, vol. 2, p. 133). There were large numbers of ba’alei
shem, particularly in Germany and Poland, from the 16th
century onward. Some were important rabbis and talmudic
scholars, such as Elijah *Loans of Frankfurt and Worms, Elijah
Ba’al Shem of Chelm, and Sekel Isaac Loeb *Wormser (the
ba’al shem of Michelstadt). Others were scholars who devoted
themselves entirely to the study of Kabbalah, such as Joel Ba’al
Shem of Zamosc and Elhanan “Ba’al ha-Kabbalah” of Vienna
(both 17th century), Benjamin Beinisch ha-Kohen of Krotoszyn
(beginning of the 18th century), and Samuel Essingen.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the number of ba’alei shem who
were not at all talmudic scholars increased. But they attracted
a following by their real or imaginary powers of healing the
sick. Such a ba’al shem was often a combination of practical
kabbalist, who performed his cures by means of prayers, amulets,
and incantations, and a popular healer familiar with
baal worship
segullot (“remedies”) concocted from animal, vegetable, and
mineral matter. The literature of that period teems with stories
and testimonies about ba’alei shem of this kind, some of
which, however, were written in criticism of their characters
and deeds. It was generally thought that the ba’alei shem were
at their most efficacious in the treatment of mental disorders
and in the exorcism of evil spirits (see *Dibbuk). There is a
variation to the title ba’al shem, known as “ba’al shem tov.” The
founder of modern *Ḥasidism, *Israel b. Eliezer Ba’al Shem
Tov, usually referred to by the initials “BeShT,” is the most
famous and practically unique bearer of this title. The title
“ba’al shem tov” existed before the Ḥasid, but it did not designate
a special quality or a distinction between bearers of this
title and ba’alei shem. For example, Elhanan Ba’al Shem Tov,
who died in 1651; Benjamin Krotoschin, who so styled himself
in his book Shem Tov Katan (Sulzbach, 1706); and Joel
Ba’al Shem I, who actually signed himself “BeShT,” in common
with the founder of Ḥasidism. In the 18th century, Samuel
Jacob Ḥayyim *Falk, the “ba’al shem of London,” achieved
considerable prominence. He was called “Doctor Falk” by
Christians. The theory propounded by several scholars that
these wandering ba’alei shem were responsible for spreading
Shabbateanism has not been proved. Several books by these
ba’alei shem have been published concerning practical Kabbalah,
segullot (“remedies”), and refu’ot (“healing”). These include:
Toledot Adam (1720) and Mifalot Elohim (1727), edited
by Joel Ba’al Shem and based on the works of his grandfather
Joel Ba’al Shem I, Shem Tov Katan (1706) and Amtaḥat Binyamin
(1716). The deeds of the ba’alei shem became legendary.
Fictitious characters of the same type were sometimes invented,
such as Adam Ba’al Shem of Binger, the hero of a series
of miraculous stories in Yiddish which were printed as early
as the 17th century. Ḥasidic legend subsequently created an
imaginary connection between this character and Israel Ba’al
Shem Tov. The leaders of the Haskalah generally regarded the
ba’alei shem as charlatans and adventurers.
Bibliography: N. Prilutski, Zamelbikher far Yidischen Folklor,
2 (1917), 40–42; J. Guenzig, Die “Wundermaenner” im juedischen
Volke (1921); B. Segel, in: Globus, 62 (1892); Adler, in: JHSET, 5 (1908),
148–73; G. Scholem, in: Zion, 20 (1955), 80. Add. Bibliography:
G. Nigal, in: Sinai, vol. 118 (1996), 88–95; M. Oron, Samuel Falk, The
Ba‘al Shem of London (Heb., 2002).
[Gershom Scholem]
BAAL WORSHIP
Name and Etymology
The word baʿl, common Semitic for “owner, master, husband,”
became the usual designation of the great weather-god of the
Western Semites. In spite of the fact that the word is used as
the theophorous element in personal names, such as Eshbaal,
Merib-Baal, Jerub Baal, it was long believed that the term remained
an appellation and did not become a proper name,
except in the case of the Mesopotamian Bel and in late theological
speculation. The basis for this view was the fact that
in biblical usage the plural of the term, with the article, “the
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 9