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Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight,contemplation ofdivine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas.Meditation may accompany unstructured, personalJewish prayer, may be part of structuredJewish services, or may be separate from prayer practices.Jewish mystics have viewed meditation as leading todevekut (cleaving to God). Hebrew terms for meditation includehitbodedut (orhisbodedus, literally "self-seclusion") orhitbonenut/hisbonenus ("contemplation").[1][2]
Through the centuries, meditation practices have been developed in many movements, including among Maimonideans (Moses Maimonides andAbraham Maimonides), Kabbalists (Abraham Abulafia,Isaac the Blind,Azriel of Gerona,Moses Cordovero,Yosef Karo andIsaac Luria), Hasidic rabbis (Baal Shem Tov,Schneur Zalman of Liadi andNachman of Breslov),Musar movement rabbis (Israel Salanter andSimcha Zissel Ziv),Conservative movement rabbis (Alan Lew),Reform movement rabbis (Lawrence Kushner andRami Shapiro), andReconstructionist movement rabbi (Shefa Gold).
In his bookMeditation and Kabbalah,Rav Aryeh Kaplan suggests that meditation is a practice that is meant to bringspiritual liberation through various methods that can loosen the bond of the physical, allowing the practitioner to reach the transcendental, spiritual realm and attainRuach HaKodesh (Holy spirit), which he associates withenlightenment.[1]
More recently Tomer Persico presented the lack of a proper definition of the word meditation.[3] He suggests that the word has many different meanings and uses, and that only a few attempts have been made to provide a comprehensive definition. He therefore suggests meditation should be defined as "A voluntary act aiming to generate an alteration in the individuals consciousness, which they perceive as therapeutic or redemptive".[4] Based on that definition, he further presents a five elements typology with which the various Jewish meditative traditions could be distinguishable from one another:
Aryeh Kaplan sees indications throughout theHebrew Bible that Judaism always contained a central meditative tradition, going back to the time of the patriarchs.[5] For instance, in the book of Genesis, the patriarchIsaac is described as going "lasuach" (Hebrew:לָשׂוּחַ,romanized: lāśūaḥ,lit. 'to meditate')[6] in the field (Genesis 24:63),[7] understood by many commentators to refer to some type of meditative practice.[8]
Most of the Hebrew Bible references to meditation appear in the book of psalms. It is also mentioned in the first chapter of Joshua.
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Some scholars seeMerkavah-Heichalot mysticism as using meditative methods, built around the biblical vision of Ezekiel and the creation in Genesis. According to Michael D. Swartz: "the texts do not, however, provide any instructions for meditation techniques. Nor do they betray any evidence of consciousness of an interior self, such as the soul or mind, which accomplishes the journey to heaven."[9]
Moses Maimonides, often considered the greatestJewish philosopher of his time,[10][11][12] suggests inThe Guide for the Perplexed (3.32), that intellectual meditation is a higher form of worship than either sacrifice or prayer.[13][14]
He later (3:51) teaches that those who are "perfect" in their intellectual perception of God can "enjoy the presenceof Divine Providence", but only while they "meditate on God".[15] He offers a parable that suggests that purely intellectual, private meditation is the highest form of worship.[16]
That chapter of the Guide (3:51) is dedicated to what Maimonides refers to as: "the worship peculiar to those who have apprehended the true realities". According to Maimonides, after acquiring the knowledge of the Divine, we should turn our awareness to Him, something that is usually accomplished in self-seclusion:
It has thus been shown that it must be man's aim, after having acquired the knowledge of God, to deliver himself up to Him, and to have his heart constantly filled with longing after Him. He accomplishes this generally by seclusion and retirement. Every pious man should therefore seek retirement and seclusion, and should only in case of necessity associate with others.[17]
This practice includes love and longing for God, a subject Maimonides discusses in length at the beginning of his other great book,The Mishne Torah:
What is the path [to attain] love and fear of Him? When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know [God's] great name.[18]
Abraham Maimonides, son of Moses Maimonides, also recommended private meditative practices that were designed to rid the mind of desires and allow for communion with God.[19][20] Although scholars tend to perceive it as aSufi inspired Jewish meditation,[21] Maimoni himself testify that this practice was historically used by pious Jews and the Biblical prophets before them, while impling the Sufi's were the ones to be inspired by the Jewish tradition.[22] In his book,The Guide to Serving God,the chapter on Hitbodedut provides an elaborative meditative practice based on his father's teachings:
"Inward retreat (Hitbodedut) is the complete focus of the heart.. to empty the heart and mind of all besides God and to fill and occupy them with Him. This is accomplished by totally or partially quieting the sensitive soul, detaching the appetitive (i.e. desiring) soul from the rest of one's worldly occupations and reorienting it toward God; filling the rational soul with God; and using the imaginative soul to assist the intelligence in its contemplation of Gods magnificent creations, which testify to their Creator: the majesty and awe of the sea, with its wondrous creatures, the rotation of the great celestial sphere, the nature of the stars, and such."[22]
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Kabbalists of different schools have been concerned with a range of esoteric encounters with divinity mediated by differentmeditative practices, ranging from ecstaticmysticalcleaving to God, orprophetic visual and auditory disclosing of the divine, totheurgic manipulation oftheosophical divine emanations. Practices included meditation on thenames of God in Judaism, combinations ofHebrew letters, andkavanot (esoteric "intentions").
The main concern of the Theosophical Kabbalah such as theZohar andIsaac Luria was on theurgic harmonisation of thesephirot (Divine attributes), though recentphenomenological scholarship has uncovered the prophetic visualisation of the sephirot as aDivine Anthropos in the imagination of the medieval theosophical practitioners.[23] In contrast, the main concern of the medievalEcstatic Kabbalah, exemplified most fully inAbraham Abulafia's "Prophetic Kabbalah", was onunio mystica and drawing down the influx of prophecy upon the practitioner. Abulafia opposed interpreting the sephirot as theosophical-theurgicalhypostases, seeing them in Maimonideannegative theology psychological terms, while viewing his meditation mysticism as a superior Kabbalah. The ethic of meditationmysticism in Abulafia and other Ecstatic Kabbalists was a minority tradition to the Theosophical Kabbalah mainstream, but later aspects of it became incorporated in the 16th century Theosophical compendiums of Cordovero and Vital, such as drawing down divine influx, and subsequently influenced the psychologisation of Kabbalah inHasidic self-absorption in God. Ecstatic traditions were at a disadvantage for normative Judaism, as they made classic meditation their central preoccupation; as withMoses Maimonides themitzvot (Jewish observances) were a means to the end purpose of mystical or philosophical cleaving to God (or theActive intellect). In contrast, Theosophical traditions centred around the theurgic power and cosmic centrality importance of normative Jewish worship andHalakha observance, especially when carried out with elite Kavanot (mystical intentions).
Pinchas Giller questions the usage of the term "meditation" for Theosophical (mainstream) Kabbalah's theurgic kavanot (intentions), wheredeveikut (cleaving to God) was secondary, preferring the term more accurately for Ecstatic Kabbalah's unio mystica methods and goal. He sees generalising the term in reference to all Kabbalistic intentions as a reflection of the contemporary zeitgeist, promoted byAryeh Kaplan and others. He recommendsEcstatic Kabbalah, the JewishSufism ofAbraham Maimonides, orChabad Hasidic prayer contemplation as paths more suited to develop a future ethic of Jewish meditation (unio mystica). However, as mitzvot are the primary centre of traditional Judaism, Giller seesJewish prayer, rather than classic meditation akin to Eastern Religions, as the true central expression of Judaism. Theosophical Kabbalists and later Hasidism were deeply concerned to develop mystical approaches to prayer, whether theurgic in the case of Kabbalah, ordevotional and self-nullifying in the case of Hasidism.[24]
In contrast to rationalistJewish philosophy's progressivelyanti-metaphysical interpretation of Jewish observance, Theosophical Kabbalists reinterpreted Judaism's prayer and mitzvot as cosmicmetaphysical processes, especially when carried out in particular ways that could channel the mystical flow between the Divine sephirot on high and from the divine realm to this world. They reinterpreted standardJewish liturgy by reading it as esoteric mystical meditations and the ascent of the soul for elite practitioners. Through this, the border between supplicatory prayer and theurgic practice blurs if prayer becomes viewed as a magical process rather than Divine response to petitions. However, Kabbalists censored directly magicalPractical Kabbalah willed control of angels for only the most holy, and justified their theurgic prayer as optimising the divine channels through which their prayerful supplication to God ascends. Kabbalists declare one prayers only "to Him (God'sessence, "male" here solely in Hebrew's gendered grammar), not to His attributes (sephirot)".[citation needed] To pray to a Divine attribute introduces the cardinal idolatrous sin of division and plurality among the sephirot, separating them from their dependence and nullification in the AbsoluteEin Sof Unity. Instead, Kabbalist prayer, following the liturgy, is only to God ("Blessed are You, Lord our God" - the Divine Essence expressed though differentNames of God in Judaism). However, each traditional Name of God corresponds in Kabbalah to a different manifestation of the sephirot.Moses Cordovero, who systemised Kabbalah, explains that the sephirot names (Keter,Chokmah,Binah, etc.) are the vessels of each attribute; to pray to the vessel is idolatry. The corresponding Names of God (Eheye,Yah,Havayah, etc) relate to the inner Divine Unity dimension of each sephira, expressing the forms the unifiedInfinite light takes as it illuminates within each vessel; prayer to traditional liturgy Divine Names is prayer to God's Essence, expressed through particular sephirot supernal channels on high. Corresponding with the traditional words of prayer, the Kabbalist intentionally contemplates each Divine Name sephirot channel with theurgic Kavanot meditations to open the Divine flow so prayer supplication to God's hidden innermostWill (concealed within the innermost dimensions of the first sephirahKeter, where it merges into theEin Sof) is optimised, as the traditional prayer relates, "May it be Your Will that... your Kindness overrides Judgment" etc.
Aryeh Kaplan described what he termed "meditative kabbalah", shared across academic divisions between Theosophical and Ecstatic Kabbalists,[25] as a midpoint on the spectrum between "practical kabbalah" and "theoretical kabbalah".[26]
Abraham Abulafia (1240–1291), a leading medieval figure in the history of Meditative Kabbalah and the founder of the school of Prophetic/Ecstatic Kabbalah, wrote meditation manuals using meditation on Hebrew letters and words to achieveecstatic states.[27]
His teachings embody the non-Zoharic stream in Spanish Kabbalism, which he viewed as alternative and superior to the theosophical Kabbalah which he criticised.[citation needed] Abulafia's work was surrounded in controversy because of the edict against him byShlomo ben Aderet, a contemporary leading scholar. However, according toAryeh Kaplan, the Abulafian system of meditations forms an important part of the work ofHayim Vital, and in turn his masterIsaac Luria.[28]
Aryeh Kaplan's pioneering translations and scholarship on Meditative Kabbalah trace Abulafia's publications to the extant concealed transmission of the esoteric meditative methods of theHebrew prophets.[29]
While Abulafia remained a marginal figure in the direct development of Theosophical Kabbalah, recent academic scholarship on Abulafia byMoshe Idel reveals his wider influence across the later development of Jewish mysticism.[30]
In the 16th centuryJudah Albotini continued Abulafian methods in Jerusalem.[31][32]
Isaac ben Samuel of Acre (1250–1340) also wrote about meditative techniques. One of Isaac's most important teachings involves developinghishtavut, which Aryeh Kaplan describes as equanimity, stoicism, and a total indifference to outside influences. Rabbi Isaac seeshishtavut as a prerequisite for meditation:
You should constantly keep the letters of the Unique Name in your mind as if they were in front of you, written in a book withTorah(Ashurit) script. Each letter should appear infinitely large.
When you depict the letters of theUnique Name (י-ה-ו-ה) in this manner, your mind's eye should gaze on them, and at the same time, your heart should be directed toward the Infinite Being(Ain Sof). Your gazing and thought should be as one.
This is the mystery of true attachment, regarding which the Torah says, "To Him you shall attach yourself" (Deuteronomy 10:20).[33]
Joseph Tzayach (1505–1573), influenced by Abulafia, taught his own system of meditation. Tzayach was probably the last Kabbalist to advocate use of the prophetic position, where one places his head between his knees. This position was used by Elijah on Mount Carmel, and in earlyMerkabah mysticism. Speaking of individuals who meditate (hitboded), he says:
They bend themselves like reeds, placing their heads between their knees until all their faculties are nullified. As a result of this lack of sensation, they see the Supernal Light, with true vision and not with allegory.[34]
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Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522–1570) taught that when meditating, one does not focus on theSefirot (divine emanations) per se, but rather on the light from the Infinite (Atzmus-essence of God) contained within the emanations. Keeping in mind that all reaches up to the Infinite, his prayer is "to Him, not to His attributes." Proper meditation focuses upon how theGodhead acts through specific sefirot. In meditation on the essentialHebrew name of God, represented by the four letterTetragrammaton, this corresponds to meditating on theHebrew vowels which are seen as reflecting the light from the Infinite-Atzmus.
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Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the father of modern Kabbalah, systemisedLurianic Kabbalistic theory as a dynamic mythological scheme. While the Zohar is outwardly solely a theosophical work, for which reason medieval Meditative Kabbalists followed alternative traditions, Luria's systemisation of doctrine enabled him to draw new detailed meditative practices, calledYichudim, from the Zohar, based on the dynamic interaction of the Lurianicpartzufim. This meditative method, as with Luria's theosophical exegesis, dominated later Kabbalistic activity. Luria prescribedYichudim asKavanot for the prayer liturgy, later practiced communally byShalom Sharabi and theBeit El circle, for Jewish observances, and for secluded attainment ofRuach Hakodesh. One favoured activity of theSafed mystics was meditation while prostrated on the graves of saints, in order to commune with their souls.
Haim Vital (c. 1543–1620), major disciple ofIsaac Luria, and responsible for publication of most of his works. InEtz Hayim and the Eight Gates he describes the theosophical and meditative teachings of Luria. However, his own writings cover wider meditative methods, drawn from earlier sources. HisShaarei Kedusha (Gates of Holiness) was the only guidebook to Meditative Kabbalah traditionally printed, though its most esoteric fourth part remained unpublished until recently. In the following account Vital presents the method of R.Yosef Karo in receiving his HeavenlyMagid teacher, which he regarded as the soul of theMishna (recorded by Karo in Magid Mesharim):
Meditate alone in a house, wrapped in a prayer shawl. Sit and shut your eyes, and transcend the physical as if your soul has left your body and is ascending to heaven. After this divestment/ascension, recite oneMishna, any Mishna you wish, many times consecutively, as quickly as you can, with clear pronunciation, without skipping one word. Intend to bind your soul with the soul of the sage who taught this Mishna." Your soul will become a chariot. .."
Do this by intending that your mouth is a mere vessel/conduit to bring forth the letters of the words of this Mishna, and that the voice that emerges through the vessel of your mouth is [filled with] the sparks of your inner soul which are emerging and reciting this Mishna. In this way, your soul will become a chariot within which the soul of the sage who is the master of that Mishna can manifest. His soul will then clothe itself within your soul.
At a certain point in the process of reciting the words of the Mishna, you may feel overcome by exhaustion. If you are worthy, the soul of this sage may then come to reside in your mouth. This will happen in the midst of your reciting the Mishna. As you recite, he will begin to speak with your mouth and wish you Shalom. He will then answer every question that comes into your thoughts to ask him. He will do this with and through your mouth. Your ears will hear his words, for you will not be speaking from yourself. Rather, he will be speaking through you. This is the mystery of the verse, "The spirit of God spoke to me, and His word was on my lips". (Samuel II 23:2)[35]
TheBaal Shem Tov, founder ofHasidic Judaism, took theTalmudic phrase that "God desires the heart" and made it central to his love of the sincerity of the common folk. Advocating joy in the omnipresentdivine immanence, he encouraged emotionaldevekut (fervour), especially through attachment to the Hasidic figure of theTzaddik. He also encouraged his close disciples to finddevekut through seclusion (hisbodedus) from others and by meditating on select kabbalistic unifications (yichudim) ofYitzchak Luria.[36] As Hasidism developed and became a popular revival movement, use of esotericKabbalisticKavanot (intentions) on Divine names was seen as an impediment to direct emotional Devekut (cleaving to God), and was dropped in favour of new meditative and contemplative practices of Divine consciousness.[37] This downplaying of thetheurgic role of Theosophical Kabbalah, the psychologisation of Kabbalistic symbolism, and emphasis onDivine Omnipresence, began with the Baal Shem Tov. In a parable he related that knowing each of the detailed Kabbalistic Kavanot in prayer unlocked individual gates in Heaven, but tears break through all barriers to reach the King Himself.
Dovber Schneuri, the second leader of theChabad Dynasty, wrote several works explaining the Chabad approach. In his works, he explains that theHebrew word for meditation ishisbonenus (alternatively transliterated ashitbonenut). The wordhisbonenut derives from the Hebrew wordBinah (lit. understanding) and refers to the process of understanding through analytical study. While the wordhisbonenus can be applied to analytical study of any topic, it is generally used to refer to study of theTorah, and particularly in this context, the explanations of Kabbalah in ChabadHasidic philosophy, in order to achieve a greater understanding and appreciation of God.
In the Chabad presentation, every intellectual process must incorporate three faculties:Chochma,Binah, andDaat.Chochma (lit. wisdom) is the mind's ability to come up with a new insight into a concept that one did not know before.Binah (lit. understanding) is the mind's ability to take a new insight (fromChochma), analyze all of its implications and simplify the concept so it is understood well.Daat (lit. knowledge), the third stage, is the mind's ability to focus and hold its attention on theChochma and theBinah.
The termhisbonenus represents an important point of the Chabad method: Chabad Hasidic philosophy rejects the notion that any new insight can come from mere concentration. Chabad philosophy explains that whileDaat is a necessary component of cognition, it is like an empty vessel without the learning and analysis and study that comes through the faculty ofBinah. Just as a scientist's new insight or discovery (Chochma) always results from prior in-depth study and analysis of his topic (Binah), likewise, to gain any insight in godliness can only come through in-depth study of the explanations of Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy.[38] In this view, enlightenment is commensurate with one's understanding of the Torah and specifically the explanations of Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy. Prolonged concentration devoid of intellectual content, or hallucinations of the imagination, should not be mistaken for spiritual enlightenment.
Chabad accepts and endorses the writings of Kabbalists such as Moses Cordovero and Haim Vital and their works are quoted at length in the Hasidic texts. However, the Chabad masters say that their methods are easily misunderstood without a proper foundation in Hasidic philosophy.
RebbeNachman of Breslov used the termhisbodedus (alternatively transliterated ashitbodedut, from the root "boded" meaning "self-seclusion") to refer to an unstructured, spontaneous and individualized form of prayer and meditation. It may involve speaking to God in one's own words, although Rebbe Nachman teaches that if one does not know what to say, one should repeat the words "Ribbono Shel Olam," which will create a heightened state of awareness.[39] The goals ofhitbodedut may include establishing a close, personal relationship with God and a clearer understanding of one's personal motives and goals or (as in Likutey Moharan I, Lesson 52) the transformative realization of God as the "Imperative Existent," or Essence of Reality.
The Musar (ethics) movement, founded by RabbiIsrael Salanter in the middle of the 19th century, encouraged meditative practices of introspection and visualization that could help to improve moral character. Focusing on the truthful psychological self-evaluation of one's spiritual worship, the Musar movement institutionalized the classicmusar literature tradition as a spiritual movement within theLithuanianYeshiva academies. Many meditation techniques were described in the writings of Salanter's closest disciple, RabbiSimcha Zissel Ziv.[40]
According toGeoffrey Claussen ofElon University, some forms of Musar meditation are visualization techniques which "seek to make impressions upon one's character—often a matter of taking insights of which we are conscious and bringing them into our unconscious." Other forms of Musar meditation are introspective, "considering one's character and exploring its tendencies—often a matter of taking what is unconscious and bringing it to consciousness." A number of contemporary rabbis have advocated such practices, including "taking time each day to sit in silence and simply noticing the way that one's mind wanders."[41]Alan Morinis, the founder of the Mussar Institute, recommends morning meditation practices that can be as short as four minutes.[42] One of the meditations especially recommended by Morinis is the practice of focusing on a single word: the Hebrew wordSh'ma, meaning "listen."[42]: 270
RecentOrthodox Judaism teachers of Jewish mystical meditation methods includeAryeh Kaplan andYitzchak Ginsburgh. Kaplan especially, published scholarly and popular books that reinterpreted and revived historic Jewish mystical contemplation techniques in terms of the late 20th centuryzeitgeist formeditation.
Conservative RabbiAlan Lew has been credited with teaching Jewish meditation to thousands of people.[43] His synagogue Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, California, includes a meditation center, the first meditation center connected to a Conservative synagogue.[44][45] By 1997, Lew noted that almost all of the largest Conservative synagogues in northern California had regular meditation groups.[46] Conservative rabbiGeoffrey Claussen has encouraged Conservative Judaism to adopt meditation practices from theMusar movement.[41] Conservative synagogues that promote meditation practices in the 21st century sometimes describe these practices as helping people to create space in their lives to be present.[47]
Reconstructionist rabbis such asSheila Peltz Weinberg[48] andShefa Gold[49] have been noted for their Jewish meditation teachings.[50]
Meditation activities have become increasingly common at Reform synagogues in the twenty-first century.[51] RabbisLawrence Kushner andRami Shapiro are among the Reform rabbis who encourage Jewish meditation practices.[52]
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