Jacob Joseph of Polnoye
Jacob Joseph (Ya‘akov Yosef) of Polnoye, whose birthplace is unknown, embraced strict forms of Hasidism after 1741 and became a disciple of the Ba‘al Shem Tov (Besht). Subsequently, he preached in Shargorod and other places in Podolia, facing persecution from Misnagdim (opponents of Hasidism). From 1770 until his death, he lived in Polnoye. Jacob Joseph transcribed and disseminated the Besht’s ideas, and wrote Toldot Ya‘akov Yosef, homilies on the Pentateuch. After the Besht died in 1760, Jacob Joseph and Dov Ber, the Magid of Mezritsh, set a pattern for subsequent developments within Hasidism, though no dynasty was established for the Besht.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Toldot Ya‘akov Yosef (The Offshoots of Jacob Joseph)
Related Guide
Rabbinic Scholarship, 1750–1880
Despite the challenges of the early modern period, rabbinic scholarship flourished in Central and Eastern Europe in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century.