Who is traditionally recognized as the founder of Hasidic Judaism?

The Baal Shem Tov is traditionally recognized as the founder of Hasidic Judaism.

Baal Shem Tov, meaning “Master of the Good Name,” was the title of Israel ben Eliezer, an 18th-century Jewish religious teacher. He lived in eastern Europe and became associated with a devotional movement that emphasized joyful worship, prayer, attachment to God, and the spiritual value of ordinary religious life.

Hasidism spread through the work of the Baal Shem Tov’s disciples, especially Dov Ber of Mezeritch. It developed distinctive communal leadership around revered rabbis known as rebbes or admorim and eventually formed many dynastic courts and regional traditions.

The Baal Shem Tov should not be confused with Maimonides, the medieval philosopher and legal scholar, or Nachmanides, a 13th-century biblical commentator. Hasidism emerged centuries after both figures. Historical details about the Baal Shem Tov’s life are mixed with later legendary stories, so scholars distinguish documented evidence from hagiographic tradition.