Jewish Meditation
People are often surprised to hear the term Jewish meditation. Otherwise knowledgeable Jews, including many Rabbis and scholars, are not aware such a thing exists. It is therefore not surprising that many current books on meditation give scant attention to Judaism.
In the introduction to his highly acclaimed (and highly recommended) book, Jewish Meditation, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan makes the following statement:
People are often surprised to hear the term Jewish meditation. Otherwise knowledgeable Jews, including many Rabbis and scholars, are not aware such a thing exists. When shown texts that describe Jewish meditation, they respond that it belongs to esoteric or occult corners of Judaism and has little to do with mainstream Judaism.
It is therefore not surprising that many current books on meditation give scant attention to Judaism. - Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation.
Observationally, his assessment is still true. Perhaps for many Westerners in general, other Eastern religions have had the market cornered on the idea of 'meditation', if even perceptually. This only increased in the 1960s as gurus spanned throughout the United States, picking up followers from far and wide.
While this is the common perception for many, it does not detract from the fact that Judaism has long maintained a tradition of meditation.
In fact, those in the know will tell you that Prayer (Tefillah) is meditation!
Meditation
If you search for a basic how-to of Jewish meditation, your search will often direct you towards what is known as "Hitbodedut". Though, in Hasidic circles, this practice has taken on a life of its own, there is much to learn from our Sages as well.
Derived from the word word 'hitboded', 'hitbodedut' (התבודדות) simply means 'self-isolation'. In the Second Temple period, meditative prayer was a daily practice of the schools of Prophets. We can see that many of the early pious Jews, particularly the Galilean Hasadim, sought isolation to pray. This was the case when Honi the Circle Drawer was asked to pray for rain, he left the Temple area to pray in private.
We also see a similar practice of Yeshua, another Galilean Hasid. For example;
“But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” - Luke 5:16
“Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.”
- Mark 1:35
“And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone...”
- Matthew 14:23
Meditation, Prophecy, and Prayer
Rambam, (aka Maimonides), tells us the Amidah prayer, which can be recited in roughly 8-9 minutes, was a 3-hour endeavor in the time of the first century! Keep in mind this would have included other prayers, including the Shema (see Mishneh Torah, Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 4).
Maimonides' son, Abraham Maimonides, even developed a method of external hitbodedut (physical isolation) and internal hitbodedut (soul isolation).
While these ideas would certainly be the chief tools of the mystics, there is a clear line of kosher meditative instruction as far back as one chooses to look.
The Basics
On this site, we will provide information on how to safely and effectively build meditation into your development. In the meantime, it is helpful to know the key differences between general eastern and Jewish meditative traditions.
Function: It is common for Eastern religions to seek detachment from the world, human desires, and even emotions. While this can be useful in moments of duress, this is not the goal of Jewish meditation.
Jewish meditation seeks to help us connect with the Creator for the purpose of bringing down insight (consciousness) to influence the world around us. Not a means of escapism but for the purpose of elevation. Additionally, as far as emotions are involved, they are to be examined and sometimes questioned as to their nature or origin. We will explore this more in a future article.
Focus:
Instead of focusing on items, objects, or images (ie: mandalas) - which can be quite common in some Eastern religions - Jewish meditation encourages the practice of closing one's eyes, focusing your thoughts on your inner world. The idea is to clear your mind entirely of thoughts. Note: If one must focus on something visually, using a Shiviti (an image containing specific Names of G_D) has been useful to begin a meditation.
Mantras:
Believe it or not, what we may know as mantras are a common tool in Jewish meditation. Instead of sounds, it is a standard idea that someone might repeat a phrase from the Psalms, or even a statement of affirmation to the glory of Hashem. A common mantra of Rebbe Nachman was "Ribono shel olam", which means 'Master of the universe'.
Intention:
In Hebrew, the word Kavanah represents a kind of holy focus, a degree of mindful awareness we can adopt in everything we do. With kavanah, we can unlock the true potential of every observance we take on, elevating it above the mundane expression of going through the motions - or simply doing what we ought - but with the will to connect to the Creator in mind, body, and Spirit.
