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Jewish Meditation
Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight, contemplation of Names of God in Judaism, divine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas. Meditation may accompany unstructured, personal Jewish prayer, may be part of structured Jewish services, or may be separate from prayer practices. Jewish mysticism, Jewish mystics have viewed meditation as leading to ''devekut'' (cleaving to God). Hebrew terms for meditation include ''hitbodedut'' (or ''hisbodedus,'' literally "self-seclusion") or ''hitbonenut/hisbonenus'' ("contemplation"). Through the centuries, meditation practices have been developed in many movements, including among Maimonideans (Maimonides, Moses Maimonides and Abraham Maimonides), Kabbalists (Abraham Abulafia, Isaac the Blind, Azriel of Gerona, Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Moses Cordovero, Yosef Karo and Isaac Luria), Hasidic rabbis (Baal Shem Tov, Schneur Zalman of Liadi and Nachman o ...
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Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue, Shiviti
Ari may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ari (name), a name in various languages, including a list of people and fictional characters * Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), Jewish rabbinical scholar and mystic known also as Ari * Ari (footballer, born 1980), Brazilian footballer * Ari (footballer, born 1985), Brazilian-born naturalized Russian striker * Ari (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian goalkeeper Places * Ari, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Ari, Abruzzo, a ''comune'' in Italy * Ari, Indiana, an unincorporated town * Ari Atoll, Maldives * Ari BTS station, a skytrain station in Bangkok, Thailand * Ari (Jammu and Kashmir), a village in Poonch district, India * Mount Alfred (New Zealand), a hill in New Zealand also known by the native name of Ari Languages * Ari language (New Guinea), a Papuan language of the Trans–New Guinea family * Ari language (Ethiopia), an Omotic language of Ethiopia * ''ari'', ISO 639-3 code for the Arikara language, spoke ...
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Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which means "Master of the Good Name," a term for a magician who wields the secret name of God. The little biographical information about the Besht comes from oral traditions handed down by his students ( Jacob Joseph of Polonne and others) and from the legendary tales about his life and behavior collected in ''Shivḥei ha-Besht'' (''In Praise of the Ba'al Shem Tov''; Kapust and Berdychiv, 1814–15). A central tenet in the Baal Shem Tov's teaching is the direct connection with the divine, "dvekut", which is infused in every human activity and every waking hour. Prayer is of supreme importance, along with the mystical significance of Hebrew letters and words. His innovation lies in "encouraging worshippers to follow their distracting thoug ...
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Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan ( he, אריה משה אליהו קפלן; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator, best known for his Living Torah edition of the Torah. He became well known as a prolific writer and was lauded as an original thinker. His wide-ranging literary output, inclusive of introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and philosophy written at the request of NCSY, is often regarded as a significant factor in the growth of the ''baal teshuva'' movement. Early life Aryeh Kaplan was born in the Bronx, New York City to Samuel and Fannie (Lackman) Kaplan of the Sefardi Recanati family from Salonika, Greece. His mother, Fannie Kaplan, died on December 31, 1947, when he was 13, and his two younger sisters, Sandra and Barbara, were sent to a foster home. Kaplan was expelled from public school after acting out, leading him to grow up as a "street kid" in the Bronx. Kaplan did not grow up religious and was known as " ...
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Shefa Gold
Shefa Gold (born 1954 or 1955) is an American rabbi, scholar, and director of C-DEEP, The Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Gold is a teacher of chant, Jewish mysticism, Jewish prayer and spirituality who Rabbi Mike Comins described in 2010 as "a pioneer in the ecstatic practice of Jewish chant." Her chants have been used in synagogues, minyanim, and street protests, perhaps her most well-known being "Ozi V'zimrat Yah". Combining traditional Jewish liturgical music with Hebrew chant, she has worked to cultivate Jewish gratitude practice. Her "Flavors of Gratefulness" mobile app has 79 different chants for the morning prayer Modeh Ani (feminine "Modah Ani") as of December 31, 2020. Prior to becoming a rabbi, Gold was a musician. She said in a 2013 interview "what I was really trying to do with my music was create sacred space. I felt how powerful music is in opening hearts." During rabbinical school she took time off to study Zen me ...
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Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement that views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization rather than a religion, based on concepts developed by Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983). The movement originated as a semi-organized stream within Conservative Judaism and developed from the late 1920s to 1940s, before it seceded in 1955 and established a rabbinical college in 1967. Reconstructionist Judaism is recognized by some scholars as one of the five streams of Judaism alongside Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Humanistic. There is substantial theological diversity within the movement. ''Halakha'' (Jewish law) is not considered normative and binding, but is instead seen as the basis for the ongoing evolution of meaningful Jewish practice. In contrast with the Reform movement's stance during the time Kaplan was writing, he believed that "Jewish life smeaningless without Jewish law" and one of the planks he wrote for the proto-Reconstructionist Society for the Jewi ...
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Lawrence Kushner
Lawrence Kushner (born 1943) is a Reform rabbi and the scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, California. Biography Born in Detroit in 1943, Kushner graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Cincinnati and went on to receive his rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He served for 28 years at Congregation Beth-El in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and currently serves as the Emanu-El Scholar-in-Residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. In addition, he is an adjunct member of the faculty of the Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and he has taught spirituality and mysticism, and has mentored rabbinic students as a visiting professor at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. Kushner and his wife have three adult children. His daughter, Noa, is the founding rabbi at The Kitchen, an independent congregation in San Francisco. Books Rabbi Kushner has authored and co-authored numerous artic ...
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Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous search for truth and knowledge, which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by lessened stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding ''halakha'' (Jewish law) as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and great openness to external influences and progressive values. The origins of Reform Judaism lie in 19th-century Germany, where Rabbi Abraham Geiger and his associates formulated its early principles. Since the 1970s, the movement has adopted a policy of inclusiveness and acceptance, inviting as many as possible to partake in its communities rather than adhering to strict theoretical clarity. It is strongly identifie ...
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Alan Lew
Alan Lew (1943–2009) was a Conservative rabbi best known for establishing the world's first Jewish meditation center and for his work bridging Jewish and Buddhist traditions. Lew was often described as "the Zen rabbi," a phrase that he himself used in the title of his book ''One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi.'' Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lew grew up in a secular Jewish household. In the 1960s, he experimented with Asian spiritual practices and eventually discovered Zen Buddhism. When preparing for ordination as a Zen Buddhist priest, he had an epiphany regarding his Jewish identity which set him on a path to exploring Judaism. Lew went on to become a Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ... rabbi, leading Congregation Beth Shol ...
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Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generations moreso than from any divine revelation. It therefore views ''halakha'' as both binding and subject to historical development. The Conservative rabbinate employs modern historical-critical research, rather than only traditional methods and sources, and lends great weight to its constituency when determining its stance on matters of practice. The movement considers its approach as the authentic and most appropriate continuation of ''halakhic'' discourse, maintaining both fealty to received forms and flexibility in their interpretation. It also eschews strict theological definitions, lacking a consensus in matters of faith and allowing great pluralism. While regarding itself as the heir of Rabbi Zecharias Frankel's 19th-century Positive ...
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Simcha Zissel Ziv
Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida ( he, שמחה זיסל זיו; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or the ''Alter of Kelm'' (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar movement. He is best known as the founder and director of the Kelm Talmud Torah. Early life Simcha Zissel Ziv was born as Simcha Mordechai Ziskind Broida in 1824 in Kelmė. His father, Yisroel, belonged to the well-known Lithuanian Braude family. His mother, Chaya, was a descendant of Zvi Ashkenazi, "the Chacham Tzvi". Chaya's family name was Ziv, and her son took on his mother's family name when he moved to Grobin in 1880. Ziv married Sara Leah, the daughter of Mordechai of Vidzh, a small town near Kelm. Following his marriage he travelled to Kovno, where he studied under his foremost mentor, Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Musar movement, at the Nevyozer Kloiz. Among the other outstanding students were Yitzchak Blazer, and Naf ...
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Israel Salanter
Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. The epithet ''Salanter'' was added to his name since most of his schooling took place in Salant (now the Lithuanian town of Salantai), where he came under the influence of Rabbi Yosef Zundel of Salant. He was the father of mathematician Yom Tov Lipman Lipkin. Biography Yisroel Lipkin was born in Zagare, Lithuania on November 3, 1809, the son of Zev Wolf, the rabbi of that town and later Av Beth Din of Goldingen and Telz, and his wife Leah. As a boy, he studied with Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Braude of Salant. After his 1823 marriage to Esther Fega Eisenstein, daughter of Yenta and Yaakov HaLevi Eisenstein (died August 1871, Vilnius), Lipkin settled with her in Salant. There he continued his studies under Hirsch Broda and Zundel, himself a di ...
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