Podróż morska w wierszu "Tobie ma dusza ufa" Yehudy ha-Lewiego jako rytuał przejścia (podróż mistyczna
Sea voyage in Yehuda ha-Levi’s Poem "My soul trusts in You" as a Rite of Passage (Mystical Voyage)

Summary/Abstract: The paper offers an analysis of crucial concepts included in Yehuda ha-Levi’s poem Ləḵå nap̄ši bəṭuḥå ʾo ḥăreḏå (My soul in you trusts and fears [of You]), which belongs to the poetical cycle called Šire Ṣiyyon. The narrative axis of the poem is a poetic description of the poet’s pilgrimage to Eretz Israel, both of which (the journey and its goal) acquire symbolic meanings. The article explores three possible layers of pilgrimage poems in general: (1) travel in space; (2) soul’s gradual spiritual transformation, and (3) a cosmic journey in symbolic space. The analysis focuses on two key concepts, emotionally and symbolically loaded: təhom (abyss) and ʿolå ʿăqudå (the binding offering). The symbolic context provided by midrashic literature allows us to conclude that along with the real travel in space, a mystical journey is developed – through gehinnom, the abyss and hell, to a place of expiation and offering, Mount Moriah, adjacent to Gan Eden, paradise. In addition, when we recall some fragments of the poet’s prosaic opus magnum, the Kuzari, we gain a picture of the perfect offering that reconstructs the loss of direct contact with the Deity in the diaspora. Consequently, the mystical contact with God and his world is achieved again by means of mystical voyage, as in the times of the prophets of Israel.

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