Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 311-12. In his famous letter to his brother-in-law—Gershom of Kutov (printed at the end of Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye’s Ben Porat Yosef)—the Besht describes a meeting he had with the Messiah during an ascent of soul. On the Besht’s requesting the Messiah to…