By Ben de Toledo
Growing up at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute and its affiliate Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, the Judaism that shaped my identity was defined by creativity, pluralism, artistic expression, and spirituality. In the years since I graduated highschool and left that unique Jewish community, I have constantly found myself seeking out creative Jewish spiritual expression in an effort to reconnect to the Judaism that originally lit a flame in my soul. Given this yearning, I was excited to hear that the last day of the Nachshon Project’s Tzfat Shabbaton focused on Kedusha/ holiness would include a Jewish Meditation experience at the Or HaLev Center for Jewish Spirituality and Meditation located at Kibbutz Hanaton in the northern Jezreel Valley.
Fresh off a rigorous weekend of Kedusha exploration that included visits to the Ari Mikvah, Kesher T’fillin Making with Rabbi Noach Greenberg, Kabbalah lectures, Hasidic music with Simply Tzfat and the holy experience of eating at the original Hummus Eliyahu in Yokneam, the cohort was very pleased to be greeted by tea and coffee at the educational center of the tranquil Kibbutz Hanaton. Or Halev’s soft spoken founder Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels invited us to take a few minutes to relax before we began. Originally founded by Rabbi James, a lifelong devotee of mindfulness practice and Hasidic teachings, today Or HaLev has six full time staff members and holds Jewish meditation retreats all over Israel, Europe, and North America. According to its mission statement, Or HaLev aspires to “teach concrete Jewish techniques for deepening our lives and to provide opportunities for intensive contemplative Jewish practice.” Parsing this intricate objective into concrete ideas, Rabbi James began our session by explaining in his own words that his goal was quite simply to transform Judaism into a tradition that is kinder, more empathetic, more vibrant, more honest, more aware of the Divine, and, most importantly, less associated with hatred and fear. Explicating further on the importance of his mission, Rabbi James explained that in his view “It’s not enough to just think about all this, or to read texts about it, or to pray,” and therefore one should use meditation because it “is a core tool toward opening ourselves up emotionally.”
Throughout the course of our hour and a half session with Rabbi James, we learned short teachings that explained the origins of the Jewish meditation tradition within Hasidic thought. These teachings were interspersed with ten to fifteen minute silent and partially guided meditations. Central to Rabbi James' teachings were the concepts of “mindfulness,” emotional awareness, song, and prayer.
Contrary to popular meditation practices that emphasize concentration on a “mantra,” Rabbi James explained that Or HaLev’s techniques are more focused on cultivating Divine awareness and grounded in an almost completely lost Jewish tradition originally inspired by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (better known as the Piaseczner Rebbe) who taught in Warsaw in the early 20th century. The Piaseczner Rebbe and most of his disciples were murdered by the Nazi’s during World War II. Therefore, it appears that for Rabbi James, his goal is simply to pick up where the Piaseczner Rebbe left off and spread the technique of meaningful contemplative Judaism to his followers.
Serious engagement with meditative traditions and spiritual practices are nothing new in Israel or to Israelis. Following the completion of their army service, young Israelis are notorious for embarking on long treks to India, Asia, and other Eastern spiritual epicenters. Yet Or HaLev sees itself as much more than just another spiritual escape for post army Israelis. Or HaLev seeks to dream bigger, seeing its work as a pioneering effort to reimagine a twenty-first century Judaism that can offer renewed engagement with the Jewish tradition and spiritual practice to Israeli and Diaspora Jews alike. Through this work and the process of making the Jewish mystical tradition accessible to more people, Rabbi James believes he can re-inspire alienated Jews by showing them that rather then traveling half way across the world to find meaningful spiritual expression they can simply look inside themselves.
Lack of connection, boredom, and irrelevancy amongst non-engaged Jews are amongst the most challenging threats to both Israeli and Diasporic Judaism today. For a cohort of future Jewish leaders committed to innovating within the Jewish world, the experience of listening and engaging with the teachings of Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels at Or HaLev proved a singularly unique way to end a transformational weekend.
