But the belief in Faith Cure is not merely a literary antique of Israel. In its zigzagging course, Judaism gave birth to a movement which was the historical expression of Jewish Science. Two centuries before Christian Science appeared, the Jews of Russia, Poland and Galicia initiated the Chasidic movement, which antedated and anticipated Christian Science, Theosophy, New Thought and similar cults. Chasidism which began in the Eighteenth Century spread like wildfire through central Europe, and the wonder-rabbi, Baal Shem Tob, or Besht became to the Chasidim what Mary Baker Eddy is to the Christian Scientists. This remarkable and unique Jewish sect will be carefully treated in Chapter II, entitled The Chasidic Movement. It is important to note that this movement still exists in Russia and Poland, and that Jewish Science is a living reality to millions of Jews in those countries.