Basic Information
Name: Yisroel ben Eliezer
Nickname: Rabbi Baal Shem Tov, as well as, you guessed it: the Besht
Born: Some time around 1700
Died: May 22, 1760
Nationality: N/A
Hometown: A small village near the fortress of Okopy Świętej Trójcy (try saying that one even one time fast)
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Rabbi
Education: A cheder (Jewish elementary school) in his hometown
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Eliezer and Sarah
Siblings: None
Spouse: Chana of Brody
Children: Udl and Zvi Hersh
Friends: Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Hakohen, Rabbi Dovid Halperin, Rabbi Israel of Satinov, and Rabbi Yoseph Heilperin of Slosowitz
Foes: The Frankists (another Jewish sect)
Analysis
This dude's the Besht himself: the guy Wiesel mentions at the beginning of his speech. We hate to break it to you…but there's no record of divine memory loss or desert island-living. But don't worry: as you might imagine from the founder of Hasidic Judaism, he had a pretty interesting life.
Born to very poor parents, poor Yisroel found himself an orphan in pretty short order. He did rather well in chadel and, after graduating, decided to stick around as an assistant to a chadel teacher. He took a huge shine to the role and went from village to village as a teacher's assistant. Not too long after his first wife passed away, he was introduced to Kabbalah, or the school of Jewish mystic thought.
He would popularize Kabbalah through Hasidic Judaism, the sect he founded that mixed the teachings of Kabbalah along with a community-minded sensibility. After pursuing mining and tavern-keeping to make ends meet, he would eventually begin to spread his teachings to others. It was said that he was a master of healing magic, was able to exorcise demons, and was even able to communicate with the Messiah himself.
The Besht's teachings lasted far past his death in 1760 and, though there were some tweaks and revisions, has practitioners even today. The biggest Hasidic communities today are in Jerusalem, New York, and London.