Yoel Baal Shem (Hebrew: ר' יואל בעל שם הראשון) was an Orthodox Jewish scholar of Halacha and Kabbalah who lived in Zamość during the 17th century.
Yoel learned for 5 years in the Yeshiva of Rabbi Joel Sirkis (Hebrew: יואל סירקיש) (possibly in Liuboml) who was a Halachist and adherent of Kabbalah.
Upon a dream, Yisrael Yosef sent his son Yoel to Prague to learn kabbalah from Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem.
Reb Yoel had a son Uri who learned in the Yeshiva of Rabbi David HaLevi Segal (author of the Turei Zahav) in Ostroh (Ukrainian: Остро́г; Russian: Остро́г, Ostrog, Polish: Ostróg).
Stories and teachings of Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem (I) can be found in various kabbalistic sefarim,[2][3][4] especially in two sefarim, Mifalos Elokim[6] and Toldos Adam[7] which earned the imprimatur of his grandson, Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem (II), the son of Uri.