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ZIGGURAT Jewish law. This emphasizes the fact that the foundation of Judaism is essentially the product of mystical experience. There is not a single Hebrew word in the Bible that translates literally as meditation. 3 However, contemplative practices and meditative states of consciousness are replete throughout Jewish literature. The story of Moses on Mt. Sinai is one of numerous accounts of revelation in the TaNaCh (Torah—Pentateuch, Nevi’im—prophets, Ketuvim—writings, synonymous with the Hebrew Bible) that indicate the use of contemplative practices. Both biblical and postbiblical sources suggest that meditation was central to the prophetic experience, and that the experience itself was attained in the meditative state. 4 Furthermore, many religious scholars and practitioners assert that the entire Torah was written by people of prophetic insight, who were themselves masters of various meditative techniques. 5 Some of these theories are based on historical evidence, and some are presumption. The fact that Judaism has a rich contemplative tradition is a surprise to most people nowadays, including many Jews. There are numerous factors that have contributed to the virtual disappearance of Jewish mysticism. I will briefly discuss three of these reasons. First, Jewish mystical practices were always limited to relatively small groups. 6 These meditation techniques were generally considered to be unfit for the masses and even dangerous, meant only for the most advanced Torah scholars. 7 Thus, many of the works that dealt with Kabbalistic methods of meditation were never published, even in their original Hebrew. 8 Second, most scholars of the Jewish enlightenment—the Haskalah—either renounced the study of Jewish mysticism altogether, or treated it in highly derogatory and tendentious ways. 9 These European Jews wanted to portray Judaism as purely humanistic, rational, and universal, so they sought to divorce it from the mystical tradition’s “blasphemous chimeras” and “primitive inspiration.” 10 In many ways, the Haskalah reshaped Judaism and left it empty of mysticism. Third, Eastern European Hasidic Jewry was a major source and repository of the mystical knowledge, and these communities were hit extremely hard in the Holocaust. Since the 1970s, many Jews, especially in the United States, have regained an interest in mysticism and contemplative practices. Many of these spiritually thirsty individuals have searched outside Judaism. For instance, Jews represent approximately 30 percent of non-Asian Buddhists 26
27 Contemplative Judaism in the United States, although Jews are only about two percent of the United States population. 11 This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as “Jubuism,” has been a fruitful path for many people. In addition, many Jews have searched within Jewish text and tradition, and this has brought about a revival and, in many ways, a reconstruction of contemplative Judaism. In this paper, I will discuss several methods and concepts in Jewish contemplative practice. They are derived from ancient and premodern sources, yet continue to enrich the lives of many Jews today. Some of the most awesome and mysterious Jewish mystical practices involve the contemplation of ayin: the Jewish conception of nothingness. One cannot rationally or objectively contemplate ayin, however, for it is impossible to define and must be experienced subjectively. It is associated with another term in Jewish mysticism, ein sof, which means “no end,” or infinity. The concepts of ayin and ein sof may shed light on the nature of YHVH. Daniel Matt writes, “Since God’s being is incomprehensible and ineffable, the least offensive and most accurate description one can offer is, paradoxically, nothing.” 12 Conceiving of the Divine as ayin challenges the temptation to anthropomorphize God or perceive God as finite. Although one can discuss God’s behaviors and attributes, “these are all descriptions about what God does and how He acts, but not what He is.” 13 Since YHVH is the creator and source of all things, God is no-thing, yet all things are expressions of God. The sixteenth century Kabbalist, Moses Cordovero, wrote, “God is everything that exists, though everything that exists is not God. It is present in everything, and everything comes into being from it. Nothing is devoid of its divinity. Everything is within it; it is within everything and outside of everything. There is nothing but it.” 14 If the Jewish mystical conception of God seems to be wrought with paradox, this is not a problem, for God creates logic and therefore transcends logic. 15 God knows no dualism, for God is not subject to dimensions of time or space. “At the deepest levels of divinity, all opposites and distinctions vanish, overwhelmed by oneness.” 16 The size and scope of YHVH can only be called Ein Sof. YHVH can only be experienced as Ayin. Ayin has profound implications for the Jewish concept of self. Kabbalists believe that the body is not the self, for I can speak of “my body.” The same can be said about the mind and even the soul: “I have a
Page 1 and 2: Z I G G U R A T fall 2006
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 15 25 37 55 59
Page 5 and 6: THE WARMEST SUPPORTERS OF THE PROPH
Page 7 and 8: The Warmest Supporters of the Proph
Page 15 and 16: THE LION’S DEN Shira Danan He rem
Page 17 and 18: 17 The Lion’s Den he hadn’t bee
Page 19 and 20: The Lion’s Den “Is that cake Ca
Page 21 and 22: The Lion’s Den revealing a bit of
Page 23: The Lion’s Den “Oh see, you rea
Page 28 and 29: ZIGGURAT mind,” “I have a soul.
Page 30 and 31: ZIGGURAT (“hewing”) in which on
Page 32 and 33: ZIGGURAT service, known as maariv.
Page 34 and 35: ZIGGURAT addition to the few practi
Page 36 and 37: ZIGGURAT 36. Pinson 97. 37. Pinson
Page 38 and 39: ZIGGURAT Andrew: Say nothing. To no
Page 40 and 41: ZIGGURAT Pakaluk: And what do you t
Page 42 and 43: ZIGGURAT do look, with Plato’s ap
Page 44 and 45: ZIGGURAT “about to do something t
Page 46 and 47: ZIGGURAT muddy reasoning. Andrew: Y
Page 48 and 49: ZIGGURAT points in the Euthyphro (9
Page 50 and 51: ZIGGURAT but not yet falsified, etc
Page 52 and 53: ZIGGURAT Andrew: So his Christian b
Page 54 and 55: ZIGGURAT Pakaluk: And then, as you
Page 56 and 57: ZIGGURAT (and when most of us are w
Page 59 and 60: YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KN
Page 61 and 62: 61 You Don’t Need a Weatherman co
Page 63 and 64: You Don’t Need a Weatherman died
Page 65: You Don’t Need a Weatherman 10. V
Page 68 and 69: ZIGGURAT hear people before us and
Page 70 and 71: ZIGGURAT become the archbishop of C
Page 72 and 73: ZIGGURAT even if I began I would ne
Page 74 and 75: ZIGGURAT asserts itself as the cons
Page 76 and 77:
ZIGGURAT conversation can be attent
Page 78 and 79:
ZIGGURAT perspective of Latinas …
Page 80 and 81:
ZIGGURAT condition. Within it we dr
Page 82 and 83:
Zizek, Slavoj. The Puppet and the D
Page 84 and 85:
ZIGGURAT Nathan Schneider graduated
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