Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter One: Magic and Miracle Workers in the Days of the Baal Shem Tov -- Chapter Two: Israel Baal Shem -- Chapter Three: A Leader of the Jewish People -- Chapter Four: The Besht as Mystic and Pioneer in Divine Worship -- Chapter Five: The Besht and his Circle -- Chapter Six: The Historicity of Shivhei Habesht -- Conclusion: The Besht and the Founding of Hasidism -- Appendix I: Magic and Miracle Workers in the Literature of the Haskalah -- Appendix II: The Besht's Epistle -- Appendix III: The Versions of the Besht's Epistle -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.