Classic Hassidic Tales

"Marvelous tales of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem and of his grandson, Rabbi Nachman, taken from Hebrew, Yiddish and German sources and retold by a master storyteller. For generations of Jewish readers, the legend of the Baal Shem Tov has been like The Arabian Nights. Jewish folk tales have a particular genius for the creation of myth, and these fables weave the fabric of a substantive world. Drawing on the Hassidic values of piety, ardor, fervor and ecstasy, the stories hold many meanings, both hidden and clear. Levin has gathered here the scattered legends of the Baal Shem Tov to form the legendary life story of Rabbi Israel (born in 1700 in Okup; died in 1760 in Medzibuz). Considered the finest translation of forty authentic Hassidic tales by such authorities as Elie Wiesel, the book includes these famous stories: The bride in her grave: a true story of how the Baal Shem Tov brought back a bride from the other world; The burning of the Torah: here is the Tale of the terrific struggle between the Baal Shem Tov and the Enemy, who by foul trickery sought to have the Torah taken away from the Jews; The bull and the ram, who ended the reign of the tyrant king; The water spirit: the revengeful lake that was angry because of the hideous sin that had been thrown into it, and how Rabbi Israel saved the sinner's son."--Dust jacket.