Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 453-4. According to the Shivhei HaBesht, one of the occupations the Besht followed before he became renowned was that of shohet. A legend tells of how the Besht, grieving over the fowl he was obliged to slaughter, would whet his knife not with…