The Ba’al Shem Tov desired very much to go to Eretz Yisrael, saying that if he would meet the holy Rav Chaim Ben Attar, author of the famed sefer, the Ohr HaChaim, that together they could bring Moshiach. Unfortunately, in Shomayim they had other plans and the journey did not succeed. There are many stories regarding the journey that the Ba’al Shem Tov undertook together with his daughter Adel; here is one example:
On Chol HaMoed, the Ba’al Shem Tov hired a boat to take them to Eretz Yisrael from Istanbul, Turkey. The Toldos Yaakov Yosef relates how the Ba’al Shem Tov’s Rebbe and spiritual mentor, Achiya HaShiloni, appeared to him and demonstrated to the Ba’al Shem where his journey corresponded to the forty-two journeys and encampments of Bnei Yisrael in the Midbar.
While they were at sea, a great storm struck the ship, the tempest waves tossing it to and fro. According to some versions of the story, his daughter Adel was cast overboard and the ship itself was almost lost; according to other versions of the story, it was shipwrecked and smashed to smithereens, leaving only planks. Throughout all this chaos, the sailors turned to the Ba’al Shem Tov to save them.
Heaven decreed, however, that all of the Ba’al Shem’s powers would be taken away and his spiritual capabilities were reduced to naught! He could remember no tefillos, no Torah– not even the Alef-Bais! The Ba’al Shem was sorely distressed, until his Rebbe, Achiya HaShiloni, reappeared to him and showed him through which supernal worlds he was now traveling and which Divine names corresponded to his current place and journey. The Ba’al Shem Tov was comforted and Heaven began to sweeten the harsh decree.
Just then his son Rav Tzvi (others say it was Adel) turned and cried in distress that he too could remember nothing but the Alef-Bais. “Quick!” responded the Ba’al Shem Tov, “say them with me now!” Attaching his soul to the power of the Hebrew letters of the holy Alef-Bais, the Ba’al Shem Tov repeated them after his son, “Alef, Bais, Gimmel, Daled,” until slowly his powers and knowledge returned and he was able to save the travelers. The Ba’al Shem Tov never did make it to Eretz Yisrael; rather, he returned safely to Europe.
