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Important collection of tales and stories of the marvelous deeds of the Ba’al Shem Tov, as well as his recorded sayings, assembled from the works of his talmidim. Keter Shem Tov was prepared by R. Aharon ben Zevi ha-Kohen of Apta. The title page notes that much of the contents are from the books of R. Jacob Joseph ben Zevi Ha-Kohen Katz Of Polonnoye (d.c. 1782), the Ba’al Shem Tov’s leading disciple. Those works are Toledot Ya’akov Yosef, Ben Porat Yosef, and Zafenat Pa’ne’ah. Keter Shem Tov was brought to press by R. Zevi Hirsch ben Moses Lindenbaum, who writes that although Keter Shem Tov has often been printed many of the printers of the early editions of this holy work omitted material. This edition, in contrast, is complete.
Keter Shem Tov is in two parts, each with its own title page. The first part has an approbation from R. Menahem Mendel of Liska, R. Solomon of Karlin, and R. Abraham Moses of Prosvarsk. Below is the testament of the Ba’al Shem Tov. The text follows in two columns in rabbinic type, excepting headers and initial words. The title page and arrangement of the text of part two are like that of part one. |
