איגרת הקודש לבעש"ט: נוסח הטקסט ותמונת העולם: משיחיות, התגלות, אקסטזה ושבתאות

This article discusses Iggeret Hakodesh, also known as the Epistle of the Ascension of the Soul of the Baal Shem Tov (Besht). This epistle has been central to much of the discussion on messianism in early Hasidism. The article consists of two parts: a critique of the authoritative textual versions of the epistle, and a contextualization of the epistle in light of the general world-picture of the Besht. There are three known versions of the Epistle: the longer Koretz version (1781); the shorter version published by David Frankel (1923); and a version published by Yehoshua Mondshein (1980) based on a 1776 manuscript from Vilna. In 1972 Bauminger affirmed the antiquity of the paper used in Frankel's version. Two episodes appear in the Koretz version but not in the Frankel one, and one episode that appears in the Frankel version is lacking in the Koretz version. The Vilna version is independent, but closer to the Koretz version. However it lacks the epistolary formulations, and contains a section that parallels in spirit the episode that is unique to the Frankel version. It is argued that the Frankel version is an adaptation based on both the Koretz edition and the Vilna version. It utilized the Koretz printed edition, removing an episode deemed no longer useful concerning a conversation between the Besht and the Messiah, and revising an episode found only in the Vilna version — the Besht's conversation with Samael. The second part of the article reconciles the longer version with the Besht's world-picture, focusing on the 'naive discourse' of the Besht, which provides remarkable evidence of the two dimensions of ecstasy and messianism. It is demonstrated that these two texts, both in their framing story and in their content, reflect the extreme experience of trance — i.e. the Besht's world as an ecstatic baal shem (magician). The attitude to the Messiah is apocalyptic in nature and characteristic of a generation in transition from Sabbateanism to Hasidism. It lacks all of the messianic features of later Hasidism, but reveals traces of discourse with Sabbatean messianism. This accords with the position of the Besht, who was on the border between old and new. In Sabbateanism, extroverted ecstatic revelation was intimately linked with the message of messianism, and continued the structures of experience that had developed since the Expulsion from Spain. For the Besht, ecstatic extroverted revelation during prayer supported his public mission and his capacity to redeem souls. Since, in certain ways, the Besht maintained structural continuity with the former experiences of revelation and messianism through his language and practice (extroverted ecstasy with a communicative oral and visual message before a large public), the fact that within the framework of the ecstatic vision (a tool for the messianic experience in Sabbateanism), the Besht took exception to the link between the two was highly significant.