Is Meditation Jewish?

One of my favorite moments at Congregation Kol HaNeshama services is when we pause in silence before saying the Sh’ma after we utter many words of prayer. For a few breaths we close our eyes, relax and become open to expanding our capacity to listen within and around.

I guide people to tune in with an open mind, heart, and ears to body, feelings, and stillness. We find more space within and expand awareness all around, and then, only then, when we are ready, we say the Sh’ma with intention (kavanah.) We say the Sh’ma as a prayer; to be humans who deeply listen within and around.

Mindfulness Meditation, the art and science of deep listening in the present moment, has been popularized in the West as a Buddhist teaching. It is a wonderful practice that contributes to well being and peace. Many Jewish spiritual teachers are influenced by mindfulness meditation that came to us from the Far East. It has been a rich source which has infused many Jewish practices and prayers.

Are there roots of meditation in Judaism, or is it all an adaptation from Buddhism?

The beneficial techniques and relatively new engagement with Buddhist meditation in the West have certainly enhanced our ability to meditate better. But, meditation is not new in Judaism. It has been a part of Jewish life for nearly two thousand years.

We find meditative practices in the Talmud since 200 CE. In Tractate Berachot there is a description of how the sages sit in silence and stillness for an hour before the recitation of prayers and for an hour of silent contemplation after prayer.

Later, in the medieval period during 9th-16th centuries we know from many sources that sages experimented with and practiced a variety of sophisticated and complicated meditation techniques (hitbo-nenut). These included such techniques as contemplation of symbols, Kabbalistic tree of life, divine names, Hebrew letters, breathing, textual, contemplative, and ecstatic meditations. That was a time of flourishing of mysticism in Judaism and in the world.

In the 17th-18th centuries, Hasidism, the spiritual and personal Judaism that grew out of medieval Kabbalah, flourished as a counter movement to the intellectual, analytic world around them. Hasidim focused their minds and meditations on seeing G-d everywhere. They spent time alone and in groups, to raise the energy to feel joy and intense emotions, in order to achieve emotional devotion (devekut.) They made time each day to talk to G-d as an intimate friend. This is based on a popular teaching by Reb Nachman of Breslov on time alone with G-d (hitbo-dedut.)

We find meditative prayer in all Jewish prayer books. The amidah, shiviti – (visual meditative art,) and other liturgical sections are designed to cultivate a deep intention and focus when we pray. Focus and intention (kavanah) is a central value around prayer in Jewish Law (halacha.) It turns out, meditation is not just for mystics. Cultivating a focused meditative mind is good for everyone in prayer and in life.

Is meditation Jewish? Yes! Meditation practices are part of the Jewish tradition and law for two thousand years or longer.

Try it. Pause for a few natural breaths in silence before the Sh’ma, using the guidance at the beginning of this article and notice how it feels. You can stop, breathe and relax any time during prayer, or in the midst of life.

Feel, open yourself and connect to the present moment. I bless you with many Sh’ma moments each day and I hope it supports all of us to experience more peace and calm in ourselves and in the world. KHSarasota.org