What is Jewish Meditation

By: Rabbi Mechael Chaim Siegelbaum, MD

There is a story told by the Sefat Emet of a certain elderly Rabbi, who was walking with his young student on a cold winter's night. On their way, they came to an icey hill. The student struggled to get a foothold on the ice but kept slipping. He watched in amazement as the frail Rabbi seemed to glide right up the hill. "How do you do it?" he asked awestruck. "Be sure," his Rebbe answered, "to tie and suspend yourself from the root of your inner being and you will never fall."
Jewish Meditation encourages one to be "grounded" by discovering how our physical being is suspended from the Divine Infinite. The mystical Jewish tradition describes the soul as the bridge between the physical and spiritual. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in The Way of G-d, [Note 3:6], explains how, according to the Zohar, the soul is actually threefold: "the Nefesh is bound to the Ruach, the Ruach to the Neshamah, and the Neshamah to the Blessed Holy One." The three thus form a sort of chain, linking man to G-d. The idea of these three parts is best explained on the basis of the verse (Genesis 2:7) "G-d formed man out of the dust of the earth, and He blew into his nostrils a breath of life." This is likened to the process of blowing glass, which begins with the breath (Neshima) of the glass blower, flows as wind (Ruach) through the glassblowing pipe, and finally comes to rest (Nefesh) in the vessel that is being formed.
Based on the verse in Devarim (30:20), ";For He is your life...," Rav Shteinholtz writes, "The intention here is not that He is the giver of life, but that He Himself is our life. When I search for the I in the body, I find the I of the soul; when I search for the I of the soul, I find the I of the Divine." More than just a technique, Jewish Meditation, relies upon the teachings of our sages to provide a map of inner reality. Discovering the spiritual dimensions of one's own identity, while in the trance state, inspires the learning of Torah, prayer, and mitzvot with new relevance. In this way, one develops a true relationship with the Blessed Holy One.