A Fire in the Forest: The Life and Legacy of the Ba'al Shem Tov
Jul 26, 2012 | IMDB 0
58 min Watch NowDocumentary
Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760), known as the Ba'al Shem Tov ("Master of the Good Name"), is one of the most beloved and celebrated, yet elusive, figures in Jewish history. Today, Jews worldwide – and even non-Jews – revere him as the founder of the Hasidic movement, a 18th-century offshoot of Judaism that promotes a mystical interpretation of the Bible, and as a model of piety and spirituality. The documentary A FIRE IN THE FOREST explores the life and legacy of the Ba'al Shem Tov through interviews with religious leaders and scholars, and on-location footage. The title derives from a tale about rabbis finding a hidden fire in the forest where they could appeal to God for help and have their prayers answered.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Living from the Heart: Universalist Sufism In America
Treasure Under the Bridge: Pilgrimage to the Hasidic Masters of Ukraine
The Way of the Heart
Padre Pio
The Tribe
A Portrait of William Blake
Power of Chi
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America
City of Joel
Going to Hell
Rumi: Poet of the Heart
King of the Jews
The Object
Saint Death
Mostashregh
The Secret Glory
Finding Mashiach
Aside From That
Adios Amor
Sanctuary
SIMILAR MOVIES
Living from the Heart: Universalist Sufism In America
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2018
Living from the Heart: Universalist Sufism in America, directed by Chuck Davis and Netanel Miles-Yépez, offers an introduction to the mystical path of Sufism as expressed in the universalist Sufi teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan by contemporary Sufi teachers in America. The film contextualizes Sufism as a spiritual path of the heart, addressing the distinction between Islamic Sufism and Universalist Sufism, and introduces viewers to Sufi teachings on Love, Beauty, Music, God, and the Sufi practices of Zikr (remembrance) and Pilgrimage.Treasure Under the Bridge: Pilgrimage to the Hasidic Masters of Ukraine
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2015
Conservative Rabbi Marc Soloway invites us on his personal journey to modern day Ukraine to visit the graves of the Hasidic Masters as he tries to establish a connection with the famous names that have so long occupied a place in his imagination.The Way of the Heart
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2010
The Way of the Heart is the story of a spiritual master who brought the wisdom of Sufism to the West in 1910. Today the message of love, harmony, and beauty that Hazrat Inayat Khan gave to a troubled world is more urgently needed than ever. Award-winning filmmaker Mischa Scorer weaves a tapestry of music, sound, and compelling images together with the testimony of many contemporary Western Sufis to evoke the magical atmosphere of a consummate mystic.Padre Pio
IMDB 0 | Nov , 1968
BBC TV movie about the life of the late Francesco Forgione, widely known as Padre Pio.The Tribe
IMDB 5 | Sep , 2005
An unorthodox, unauthorized history of the Jewish people and the Barbie doll.A Portrait of William Blake
IMDB 5 | Feb , 2025
A short documentary by Sonny Garrett about the life, work and philosophy of William Blake featuring an interview with Author John Higgs.Power of Chi
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2022
The mysterious chi is presented as a force that can be produced by the master and defies all explanation.A Life Apart: Hasidism in America
IMDB 4.5 | Aug , 1998
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, is the first in-depth documentary about a distinctive, traditional Eastern European religious community. In an historic migration after World War II, Hasidism found it's most vital center in America. Both challenging and embracing American values, Hasidim seek those things which many Americans find most precious: family, community, and a close relationship to God. Integrating critical and analytical scholarship with a portrait of the daily life, beliefs, and history of contemporary Hasidic Jews in New York City, the film focuses on the conflicts, burdens, and rewards of the Hasidic way of life.City of Joel
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2018
"City of Joel" is documentary - with unprecedented access - to a 1.1 square mile shtetl in the suburbs that is home to 22,000 members of an one of the most insular and orthodox Hasidic sects. We follow the battles they are waging to survive. Just 50 miles north of New York City, the Satmar sect has built Kiryas Joel as a religious haven where they can be fruitful, multiply and follow the 613 rules of the Talmud. But with some of the highest rates of marriage, birth and religious observance in the country, they have been almost too successful. Developers have come up with a plan to double the size of the village to keep up with this growth, but their neighbors fight back because they believe it will harm the environment and tilt the balance of political power.Going to Hell
IMDB 6 | Jan , 2019
A documentary film exposing the truth about psychics and fortune-tellers. All the ins and outs of magical TV shows and services of the most famous psychics with evidence, names and prices.Rumi: Poet of the Heart
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1998
In 1244, Jelaluddin Rumi, a Sufi scholar in Konya, Turkey, met an itinerant dervish, Shams of Tabriz. A powerful friendship ensued. When Shams died, the grieving Rumi gripped a pole in his garden, and turning round it, began reciting imagistic poetry about inner life and love of God. After Rumi's death, his son founded the Mevlevi Sufi order, the whirling dervishes. Lovers of Rumi's poems comment on their power and meaning, including religious historian Huston Smith, writer Simone Fattal, poet Robery Bly, and Coleman Barks, who reworks literal translations of Rumi into poetic English. Musicians accompany Barks and Bly as they recite their versions of several of Rumi's ecstatic poems.King of the Jews
IMDB 6 | Mar , 2000
King of the Jews is a film about anti-Semitism and transcendence. Utilizing Hollywood movies, 1950's educational films, personal home movies and religious films, the filmmaker depicts his childhood fear of Jesus Christ. These childhood recollections are a point of departure for larger issues such as the roots of Christian anti-Semitism.The Object
IMDB 10 | Jan , 2007
Documentary about three men from Kentucky who claim to have discovered an Old Testament relic for 69-cents at a Madison, Tennessee Goodwill superstore. The men believe that they have found the mysterious Urim and Thummim in the form of a stone cup that allows its users to communicate with God and see visions.Saint Death
IMDB 6.1 | Jun , 2007
In Mexico there is a cult that is rapidly growing- the cult of Saint Death. This female grim reaper, considered a saint by followers but Satanic by the Catholic Church, is worshiped by people whose lives are filled with danger and/or violence- criminals, gang members, transsexuals, sick people, drug addicts, and families living in rough neighborhoods. "La Santa Muerte" examines the origins of the cult and takes us on a tour of the altars, jails, and neighborhoods in Mexico where the saint's most devoted followers can be found.Mostashregh
IMDB 7 | Nov , 2019
The Secret Glory
IMDB 5.9 | Sep , 2001
A British-produced documentary about the bizarre life of Nazi SS officer Otto Rahn, focused on his search for the mystical Holy Grail of Christ.Finding Mashiach
IMDB 0 | Jul , 2024
Jewish people have waited for the arrival of the Messiah for thousands of years. Join Berel Solomon on an action-packed new movie called Finding Mashiach. An adventure to the land of Israel and beyond to find the Moshiach. Amid the war in Israel and Gaza, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the Presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, global unrest has made the world appear darker than ever. Some might think we're heading toward Armageddon, rapture, the end of days, apocalypse, the Day of Judgment, or the resurrection of the dead. What is really going on? How does Judaism differ from Christianity, Islam, and other major religions on the subject of the Messiah? The whole world seems to be shaking, and all the major Jewish rabbis and theologians agree: the time is now. There is only one thing that can save us. Join this journey to enhance your spirituality, based completely on the Torah, the Talmud, Kabbalah, and authentic Hebrew Bible sources.Aside From That
IMDB 8 | Oct , 2025
How do we live, knowing we are going to die? In search of answers, we probed the minds of atheists, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, physicians, philosophers, authors, academics, a legendary stand-up comic, and scores of random pedestrians.Adios Amor
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2022
In Adios Amor, the discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot—Maria Moreno, a migrant mother driven to speak out by her twelve children’s hunger. Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched the United Farm Workers, Maria picked up the only weapon she had—her voice—and became an outspoken leader in an era when women were relegated to the background. The first farm worker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer, Maria’s story was silenced and her legacy buried—until now.Sanctuary
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2024
Sanctuary explores queer spirituality and utopian sexualities through the figure of Purusha Androgyne Larkin (1934–1988), a monk, pioneering gay filmmaker, and self-proclaimed cosmic-erotic mystic. Larkin’s 1981 book, 'The Divine Androgyne According to Purusha', challenged repression with a spiritual vision rooted in eroticism and presented a radical path to cosmic-erotic consciousness through ‘extreme’ forms of sexual pleasure. Sanctuary explores Larkin's attempt to form a utopian, pleasure-based spiritual community, and considers the complex legacies of his ideas in queer culture. Shot on 16mm, the film weaves together the voices of Larkin’s friends and followers, creating a portrait in absentia of a figure ahead of his time.