What is meditation?
Meditation is a process of quieting the mind, through concentrated focus, or elimination of thoughts. The benefits include more peacefulness, more patience, more awareness of one's self and the world, and a greater openness to the presence of the Holy in the world.
What is Jewish meditation?
Jewish meditation has been practiced about 2000 years, and perhaps even longer. In the early centuries of the Common Era, Chariot and Palace meditations were taught with the intention of achieving ecstasy. In the Middle Ages, small groups of scholars practiced meditations based on the Kabbalah, which developed at that time. From the mid-18th century to the present, the Hasidic form of Jewish mysticism prevailed where Jews meditated.
During the Holocaust as many as 90% of Jewish meditation masters and teachers were murdered. Today, at the beginning of a new century, Jews are reclaiming an ancient practice, going back to original texts to reconstruct what our ancestors did, and adding elements learned from other spiritual traditions. |
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Chochmat Halev
Jewish meditation center in Berkeley, CA.
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