In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov is the first complete English translation of the tales surrounding the Besht, a rabbi and kabbalistic practitioner whose teachings bolstered the growing Hasidic movement in the eighteenth century. An important source on the life, philosophy, and mystical works of the Besht, In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov also reveals the daily life and concerns of eastern European Hasidic Jews in the late 1700s.

In this insightful and engaging lecture, Moshe Rosman explores the career of Shivhei Ha-Besht. Considered one of the best known and widely read Jewish folklore collections of the past two hundred years, In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov covers such themes as Besht’s miraculous birth and childhood, his initiation into mystical secrets, his dreams, his travels, and most of all the miracles that he performed. Rosman examines the historical and cultural significance of these stories.

A Heart Afire is an intimate, guided tour of many of the lesser-known and previously unpublished stories and teachings of the first three generations of Hasidism, especially those of the Ba'al Shem Tov, his heirs (male and female) and the students of his successor, the Maggid of Mezritch.