Random Image for baalish
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Possible definitions for baalish
-->baal shem
In Judaism, a title bestowed on men who worked wonders and cures through secret knowledge of the names of God. The practice dates to the 11th cent. AD, long before the term was applied to certain rabbis and Kabbalists. They were numerous in 17th- and 18th-cent. E. Europe, where they exorcised demons, inscribed amulets, and performed cures using herbs, folk remedies, and the Tetragrammaton. Because they combined faith healing with use of the Kabbala, they clashed with physicians, rabbis, and followers of the Haskala. See also Baal Shem Tov.
ballista
Ancient missile launcher designed to hurl long arrows or heavy balls. The Greek version was basically a huge crossbow fastened to a mount. The Roman ballista was powered by torsion derived from two thick skeins of twisted cords through which were thrust two separate arms joined at their ends by the cord that propelled the missile. The largest could accurately hurl 60-lb (27-kg) weights up to about 500 yards (450 m).
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