Meditation from the Heart of Judaism

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY SEP 1, 1997

As Davis points out in his introduction to this volume, the practice of meditation has always been an important component of Jewish spirituality. However, Davis notes, for centuries the practice "was reserved for an elite group rather than being a tool designed for ordinary people and used by ordinary people." The authors who celebrate the value of Jewish meditation come from a range of backgrounds and perspectives: among them are Sylvia Boorstein, an observant Jew who teaches Buddhism and mindfulness meditation; Rabbi David Cooper, the director of the Heart of Stillness Retreat Center near Boulder, Colo.; and Nan Fink, a convert to Judaism who teaches Jewish meditation. These various teachers reveal not only techniques for performing meditation but also present some of the obstacles they have encountered in their own attempts to meditate. Each writer focuses on an aspect of meditative practice that is meaningful to him or her, but all agree that meditation practice brings about true chochmat, or wisdom, and that this is the first step toward realizing mochin gadlut, or deep mind. Because the various authors tell their own stories of practicing meditation, this collection is at once engaging and informative, offering a wonderful introduction to the practice of Jewish meditation.