ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and analyses what people consider as Jewish pilgrimage and Jewish pilgrimage research. Contemporary research on Jewish pilgrimage has undoubtedly been influenced by the major trends in international pilgrimage studies. The chapter discusses the main characteristics and sites of Jewish pilgrimage in the premodern periods, thet is, the Temple and the growth of a more nuanced and complex Jewish hagiographic map. The chapter considers the dramatic changes in Jewish pilgrimage during the modern period, particularly as part of the emergence of Jewish society within the State of Israel. It explores the national impacts of religious behaviour and how the two have altered the nature, volume and destinations of Jewish pilgrimage in contemporary Israel. The last part of the chapter expands on the different trends and main types of studies to be found in the vibrant and ever-changing field of Jewish pilgrimage research. It concludes with a discussion which draws out the chapter's main insights.
