Discovering Jewish Meditation: A Beginner's Guide to an Ancient Spiritual Practice

Gefen, cofounder of Tikkun magazine and codirector of Chochmat HaLev, a Jewish meditation center in Berkeley, Calif., declares that although we may think that meditation belongs to the Buddhists, it is authentically Jewish. Indeed, Gefen finds references to meditation in Genesis (when Jacob spent time alone before his reconciliation with Esau, for example) and the Psalms. By the Middle Ages, Jewish mediation had ""gone underground,"" though it was practiced by some Kabbalists and later claimed by the Hasidim. But readers don't need to become black-hatted mystics to take advantage of the tradition: this book encourages Jews of all persuasions to give meditation a shot. Gefen maintains a strict view of what is, and is not, meditation. In prayer, the goal is to communicate directly with God, whereas meditation attempts ""to move into a spiritually open state, and then we experience whatever is there. This may include directly sensing God's presence. Or, it may not."" Gefen teaches 13 basic meditations, from the Hineni meditation to a thankfulness meditation. This book is a worthwhile addition to the Jewish library, but it will never replace Aryeh Kaplan's Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide (reprinted in 1995) as the essential reading on the subject. (Dec.)