Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye—Toldot Yaakov Yosef רבי יעקב יוסף מפולנאה — «תולדות יעקב יוסף»
the Baal Shem Tov's disciple who wrote his teaching down first; author of the first printed Chassidic book
Where and when he was born no one knows—the sources set down a dash. It is known that he was rabbi of Shargorod, a scholar of the rabbinic mould, and that around 1741 he met the Baal Shem Tov; after which the Shargorod community expelled him. He was rabbi of Rashkov, then Nemirov, and from 1770 of Polnoye, where he died.
His weight lies in the books. Toldot Yaakov Yosef (Koretz, 1780) is the first Chassidic book ever printed: a commentary on the Torah into which "I heard from my teacher" is set hundreds of times. Most of the Baal Shem Tov's sayings still quoted today are taken from here. The book speaks sharply of rabbis cut off from the people—and the opponents of Chassidism burned it in public. Ben Porat Yosef and Tzafnat Paneach followed.
He died on 24 Tishrei—on that all agree; the year the sources give as 1781 or 1783. He left no disciples who would head courts: his legacy is what he wrote.
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Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Toldot Yaakov Yosef (Koretz, 1780) — the first printed Chassidic book; the Baal Shem Tov's words in his record
Scholarship
- Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Jacob Joseph ben Zevi ha-Kohen Katz of Polonnoye” — birth unknown; Shargorod, Rashkov, Nemirov, Polnoye; death c. 1782
- The standard reference works and encyclopedias — the year of death is disputed: 5542 by the Chabad calendar, 5544 by Chassidic lists; the yahrzeit 24 Tishrei in all
Basis: documents and evidence.