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Meditation and isolation
By Rabbi Berel Wein
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
UNLIKE many other faiths, Judaism does not emphasize
solitude, isolation and meditation practices. In fact, Judaism concentrates
strongly on the necessity of community, social interaction, national
identification and solidarity with all of its co-religionists.
A monastic life,
celibacy, vows of poverty and a renunciation of this world, its pleasures,
problems and opportunities, are all foreign to the spirit of the Torah and
Jewish existence. The current promotion of isolated meditation as being
somehow a Jewish form of "spirituality" is only another example of the
confusion of Judaism with other faiths, fads, and importations from other
cultures that so muddles the modern Jewish scene. Jewish prayer requires a
public quorum and private prayer, no matter how sincere and devotional that
it may be, does not allow for the advanced level of praise of G-d that is
the privilege of public prayer.
Throughout Jewish history, the trend towards monasticism and
meditation has been decried. The Creator Himself chastises Elijah the Prophet,
who after sojourning alone in the desert for a period of time, apparently is
reluctant to return to his task of leading and instructing the Jewish
people. The L-rd sends him forth on his mission and refuses to allow him to
wallow in pessimism and self-pity, emotions that prolonged isolation from
other humans often breeds within us.
The great Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai and
his son Elazar spent many years alone in the desert, hiding from the Roman
authorities that wished to execute them. When the danger finally passed and
the great Rabbi Shimon returned to civilization, he could not bear to see
how mundane and even profane life and society were. His years of isolation
and meditation made him into a pillar of righteous and holy fire that could
no longer abide the seeming pettiness and smallness of everyday human
existence.
Again, G-d demanded a change of attitude on the part of the great
Rabbi Shimon, lest he be forcibly returned to the isolation of the cave once
again and thereby miss the challenge and opportunity for service to Israel
that the L-rd has envisioned for him.
In later times, the great Chasidic masters often opted
for periods of isolation, retreating into the forests that were part of
their physical environment for meditation and self-renewal. Yet, this also
brought upon them criticism from their colleagues and certainly from the
masses of Israel who needed a live Rebbe present to tend to them and not an
absent spiritual figure engaged in self and meditation. The great Rebbe of
Kotzk, Menachem Mendel (Halperin) Morgenstern, spent his last decades in
isolation and lonely meditation. Many of his disciples and followers
thereupon defected and founded different Chasidic courts to serve the needs
of the thousands of Jews who they felt the Rebbe in choosing isolation, had
abandoned.
The great success of the Chasidic movement lay in the closeness
and accessibility of the holy leader with the ordinary people who relied on
him for guidance, advice, blessing and inspiration. Thus prolonged isolation
and lengthy periods of meditation were not the stuff from which great
Chasidic leaders, courts and dynasties were made of.
However, times of isolation and meditation were
recognized to be necessary for spiritual leadership to be effective. Thus,
it was customary that during the month of Elul, rabbis, Chasidic leaders and
other spiritual teachers and heads within Israel would absent themselves
from their public duties and appearances and devote themselves to isolation
and spiritual meditation and self-analysis.
The great men of the Mussar
movement practiced these methods of self-introspection daily, albeit for
only relatively short periods of daily time. But Elul was always a special
time when the barriers against prolonged isolation and personal meditation
were relaxed in order to allow one's self to prepare properly for the Days
of Awe and judgment that herald the onset of the Jewish new year.
So, as in
everything else, balance becomes the rule of the Torah. Some meditation and
isolation, in the proper time and duration, is beneficial. Unrestrained
mystical behavior and monasticism is not part of the Jewish way of life and
G-dly holiness.
JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and founder of the Destiny Foundation. He has authored over 650 tapes, books and videos which you can purchase at RabbiWein.com. Comment by clicking here or calling 1-800-499-WEIN (9346).
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