Aerial View: Baal Shem Tov's Shul - Medzhybizh (Mezibush)

Description

The Baal Shem Tov Synagogue is a small shul in the western Ukrainian town of Medzhybizh (Mezibush) where Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (1698-1760), the founder of Chassidism, would daven. The Baal Shem Tov, as he was known, settled in the town in his later years, though even then he continued to make many journeys to spread his Kabbalistic teachings that touched the entire Jewish nation, scholarly and unlearned alike. As his fame grew, many came to Mezibush to hear his teachings and to be inspired, and many more came to receive his blessings and advice, noted the scholar Rabbi J. Immanuel Schochet. Those seeking his help were not only Jews, but also gentiles who heard about this miracle-working saint. In recently discovered civil archives and tax records of Mezhibush, the Baal Shem Tov is mentioned in records dating back to 1742, identified as "Baal Shem Doktor," living in a tax-exempt house of the community, Rabbi Schochet noted. The exterior of the shul and Beis Medrash was pictured in 1915. The original shul no longer exists, having been destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War. An exact replica was rebuilt in its location by Rabbi Yisroel Meir Gabbai and his organization Agudas Ohalei Tzadikim. Its original details have been painstakingly restored. Yosef Shidler and Mendel Mish of CJ Studios recently traveled to Ukraine to filmed the holy Jewish sites. In part 4 presented on COLlive.com, they show the Baal Shem Tov's restored Shul.