מסעו של הבעש"ט לארץ ישראל

This paper deals with the Baal Shem Tov's journey to the Land of Israel around 1740.‪ This journey is first mentioned briefly, and somewhat enigmatically, by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoy.‪ Afterwards, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, stories are told about this journey and a crisis that took place in Turkey, which prevented its completion.‪ Most of these tales represent its failure positively as a blessing in disguise.‪ Due to the lack of contemporary documentation, it is not possible to examine this episode as a 'real' historical event.‪ The focus here is, rather, on the development of narratives surrounding the Baal Shem Tov's journey.‪ Analysis of the tales is informed by recourse to the methodology of cultural poetics, seeking to identify different discourses that are present, through the story of the journey.‪ Thus, the 'real' voyage, itself, remains vague.‪ Yet, certain real historical moments in the religious life of Hasidim can be clarified and new insights proposed concerning fundamental issues in the study of Hasidism, such as the question of messianism, or the innovative religious approach of the Baal Shem Tov