Baal Shem Tov

The Baal Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name) was an eighteenth-century Jewish mystic who founded Hasidism, a movement emphasising joy and direct connection to God.

Each print strips away explanatory context to leave only the uncanny, bizarre essence—rabbis zipping across impossible distances, a wooden spoon suddenly crackling with divine significance, the boundary between material and divine worlds going delightfully porous. This print series honour how Hassidic tales cheerfully defy rational explanation, operating according to their own peculiar logic where the mysterious and absurd aren't obstacles to truth but rather the most direct route to it.

Stories drawn from When the Baal Shem Tov was Born, Hell Was Burnt, An Anthology of Hasidic Tales edited by Binyamin Shvilii.

Exhibition shots from group exhibition - The Mad Birds Wing - Hanina Gallery, Tel Aviv, June 2015