THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
12 Friday, December 28, 1979
Israelis to Use Meditation to Revive Ethics of Esseim
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TEL AVIV — In Israel
there are groups who prac-
tice transcendental medita-
tion. They are mostly young
men and women, who are
far away from the Jewish
religion. But lately some
religious groups are follow-
ing this meditation and
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The initiator of these
religious groups is 75-
year-old Dr. Shlomo Zanwil
Cahane, a son of the late
Rabbi David Cahane, who
was a member of the Rab-
binical Court in Warsaw
and later Chief Rabbi of the
Old City in Jerusalem, be-
fore it was captured by the
Arab Legion in 1948.
Dr. Shlomo Cahane was
for years the director gen-
eral of the Israeli Ministry
for Religious Affairs. He
cared very much to keep up
and cherish the holy places
in Israel and published
books with legends about
the old Jewish sages and
their connection to places in
the country. He was ap-
pointed chairman or Cie
Union for the Holy Plac•s.
Dr. Cahane was lately
active in the Institute for
Kabala Research. He
came to the conviction
that what is good for the
Hindus and their parti-
sans in the world could
be good for the religious
Jews. But when he ques-
tioned rabbis about tran-
scendental meditation,
they rejected it as total
blasphemy.
Dr. Cahane did not give
up. He admits that tran-
scendental meditation is
strange for religious Jews,
but there are certain posit-
ive elements. The right way
would be to add to the Hindu
system a high Jewish char-
acter.
In order to study tran-
scendental meditation, Dr.
Cahane organized in the
religious village Nir-Etzion
a meeting of spiritual per-
sonalities of the country and
partisans of the Hindu
meditation system. The
personalities of the country
and partisans of the Hindu
meditation system. The
participants came to the
conclusion that it was
possible to establish a circle,
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which could dedicate itself
to transcendental medita-
tion on the basis of Jewish
tradition.
Dr. Cahane told us, "The
transcendental meditation
is a technique, adopted and
developed in Hindustan
through thousands of years.
It is simple, does not require
physical damage or separa-
tion from the world. There-
fore, it enables everyone to
learn and practice it and to
concentrate on one's own
thoughts."
Dr. Cahane declared
that there are more than
100,000 Jews all over the
world who "meditate on
the past," according to
the Guru system. There is
no reason, therefore, why
Jews should be partisans
of a foreign Guru, when
they could find roots and
basis for their meditation
in the Jewish past.
Dr. Cahane maintains
that the movement of the
Esseim, whose members
separated themselves from
the world in the time of the
Second Temple and went to
the Juddean Desert, were in
fact the first partisans who
dealt with meditation on
Jewish mysticism. The Es-
seim sat one hour each day
to meditate over prayers;
that is similar to the medi-
tation of the Hindustani
sect.
Dr. Cahane says that un-
fortunately there is a ten-
dency in Israel to ignore the
Esseim, whereas they are
valued in the Christian
world from an historical
point of view. The Esseim
were rabbinical Jews, a
movement of Hasidim
Project Renewal
Will Continue
on Schedule
JERUSALEM tJTA) —
Project Renewal will con-
tinue as planned, Premier
Menahem Begin assured
Jewish Agency Executive
chairman Leon Dulzin last
week.
Begin's assurance was
contained in a telegram to
Dulzin in reaction to reports
that the project to rehabili-
tate poverty neighborhoods
throughout the country
might suffer from proposed
cuts in public spending.
Project Renewal is a joint
enterprise of the govern-
ment and the Jewish
Agency and world Jewry.
Dulzin had asked for
clarification about the fu-
ture of Project Renewal in
view of measures being
taken by Finance Minister
Yigal Hurwitz to tighten
the economy. Begin said he
has taken appropriate ac-
tion to ensure the continued
work on the project.
"The project was not sus-
pended and we shall stand
on our guard to make sure
that it will not be sus-
pended," the premier said in
his message to Dulzin. He
asked the Jewish Agency
chairman to inform world
Jewish leaders of his prom-
ise.
Education should begin
in the cradle.
which fought the Prushim
— Sages in Jerusalem. They
were, according to the Tal-
mud, the first Hasidim.
They had deep roots in
Judaism and high spiritual
values. •
In order to follow the roots
of meditation, practiced by
the Esseim, Dr. Cahane de-
cided to go to Kalia on the
Dead Sea, where the Esseim
lived. Near the Kumran
caves he revived the system
of the Esseim. The govern-
ment and the Jewish
Agency have agreed to es-
tablish an agricultural-
spiritual center in Kalia.
According to the plan,
young Jews from all over
the ,world should come
here, to study Kabala, to
adopt certain ethical sys-
tems and strengthen the
spirit of men. They will
work like the Esseim to
develop the land. They
will plant and grow flow-
ers and spices and turn
the desert into a bloom-
ing landscape.
Dr. Cahane plans to es-
tablish a similar center in
Galilee, to draw young Jews
from all over the world and
connect them with the his-
toric roots of Judaism.
"It is very important to
realize these plans as
quickly as possible," Dr.
Cahane told us." The
Jewish youths in the Dias-
pora and Israel have been
left without any ideals.
Fifty years ago this youth
was filled with Zionist spirit
and socialism. These ideals
have faded and there re-
mains a vacuum. Only a re-
turn to the sources and et-
ernal values of Judaism can
bring this youth onto the
right road."
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