The Roads of Baal Shem Tov: Reimagining the Carpathians as a Jewish space in the 20th Century

This article examines the Jewish imagination of the Carpathians in 20th-century literature. Non-Jewish observers who discovered the Carpathians at this time typically saw the Jews as an alien symbol of urban civilization that disturbed the authenticity of mountain life. The article analyzes essays from various Jewish intellectuals, whose aim was to rediscover the Carpathians as a Jewish space through the figure of the Hasidic leader Baal Shem Tov, who lived in the area during the 18th century. By connecting his life with the mountain landscape, they created a Jewish figure embedded in nature and not alienated from it.