{"id":500090,"date":"2026-08-31T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/?p=500090"},"modified":"2026-08-30T15:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T13:29:09","slug":"18-elul-the-birthday-of-two-greatest-sages-and-tzaddikim-the-baal-shem-tov-and-the-alter-rebbe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/en\/news\/18-elul-the-birthday-of-two-greatest-sages-and-tzaddikim-the-baal-shem-tov-and-the-alter-rebbe\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Elul \u2013 The Birthday of Two Greatest Sages and Tzaddikim \u2013 The Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"500090\" class=\"elementor elementor-500090 elementor-500080\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f0d5d6f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5f0d5d6f\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-142c2af6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"142c2af6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>On the 18th of Elul, the world marks the anniversary of the birth of two great tzaddikim \u2013 the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, also known as the Alter Rebbe.<br><br><\/p><p>Yisrael ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) was born at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. According to Jewish tradition, the date of his birth is beyond doubt \u2013 it is precisely known that he was born to the righteous Rabbi Eliezer and Rebbetzin Sara on Monday, the 18th of Elul 5458 (August 25, 1698) in the settlement of Okup. Despite this undisputed fact, various encyclopedias and books still claim that historians do not know the exact date and even give different years, although all agree that it was around 1700. At the beginning of his life&#8217;s journey, he was one of the &#8220;hidden tzaddikim,&#8221; and few knew of his great mission \u2013 to reveal the light of Chassidus to the people. But then he proclaimed his teaching, which stirred the entire Jewish world, giving it new momentum and energy.   <br><br><\/p><p>Every year on the 18th of Elul, the Baal Shem Tov would hold a meal in celebration of his birthday. And once, in 1744, Rabbi Boruch, a direct descendant of the famous Maharal of Prague, whose lineage traces back to the descendants of the house of King David, approached him. Ten months had passed since the wedding of Rabbi Boruch and Rebbetzin Rivka, but they still had no children. During the meal, the Baal Shem Tov said to Rabbi Boruch: &#8220;At precisely this time next year, you will be holding a son.&#8221;  <br><br><\/p><p>And exactly one year later, on the 18th of Elul 5505 (1745), a son was born to Rabbi Boruch and Rebbetzin Rivka, and he was named after his grandfather \u2013 Shneur Zalman. This took place in the town of Liozna, now in Belarus. It is said that on that day, the Baal Shem Tov in Mezhbizh, Ukraine, was exceedingly joyful and cheerful, and said to his students: &#8220;A new soul has descended into the world, which will illuminate this world with the revealed Torah and the Torah of Chassidus, and will sacrifice itself for the ways of Chassidus, and will succeed until the coming of Moshiach.&#8221;  <br><br><\/p><p>Shneur Zalman became the continuer of the Baal Shem Tov&#8217;s mission; he founded Chabad, uniting faith, intellect, and wisdom for the revelation of Divine Light.<br><br><\/p><p>The 18th of Elul became a great holiday, and it is customary to treat it with special reverence, for on this day the blessing of the tzaddikim is especially powerful. On the 18th of Elul, it is customary to visit the holy sites in Mezhbizh and Hadiach, and it has also become a good tradition to open new Jewish homes on this day \u2013 it was on the 18th of Elul that synagogues were opened in Kamianske and Kryvyi Rih in different years. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the 18th of Elul, the world marks the anniversary of the birth of two great tzaddikim \u2013 the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, also known as the Alter Rebbe. Yisrael ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) was born at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. According to Jewish <a href=\"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/en\/news\/18-elul-the-birthday-of-two-greatest-sages-and-tzaddikim-the-baal-shem-tov-and-the-alter-rebbe\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  18 Elul \u2013 The Birthday of Two Greatest Sages and Tzaddikim \u2013 The Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":500082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-500090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>18 Elul \u2013 The Birthday of Two Greatest Sages and Tzaddikim \u2013 The Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe - DJC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/en\/news\/18-elul-the-birthday-of-two-greatest-sages-and-tzaddikim-the-baal-shem-tov-and-the-alter-rebbe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"18 Elul \u2013 The Birthday of Two Greatest Sages and Tzaddikim \u2013 The Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe - DJC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the 18th of Elul, the world marks the anniversary of the birth of two great tzaddikim \u2013 the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, also known as the Alter Rebbe. Yisrael ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) was born at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. 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