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INVITATION
A Book Signing & Talk with
JOYCE WEISS
"Corporate Energizer,'" and author of
Full Speed Ahead: Become Driven By Change
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1996, 7:00 p.m.
Join us for a fun and power packed evening!
If you have already purchased Full Speed Ahead,
bring your copy for an autograph. Family and friends
are welcome, we'd love to meet them!
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Wake-Up Call
Like the High Holidays, Jewish meditation
offers opportunities for self-discovery and
closeness to God.
CHRISTINE STUTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
AWAKE, 0 YOU SLEEPERS ... EXAMINE
YOUR DEEDS AND TURN TO GOD IN RE-
PENTANCE... YOU WHO ARE WASTING
YOUR YEARS IN VAIN PURSUITS THAT NEI-
THER PROFIT NOR SAVE LOOK CLOSELY
AT YOURSELVES.• IMPROVE YOUR WAYS
AND DEEDS.
—Maimonides, Helikhot Teshuvah
uring the High Holiday
season, Jews are in-
structed to turn inward
and examine their souls,
while listening to what God is
requesting of them. But for prac-
titioners of Jewish meditation,
such exercises in self-contem-
plation are a regular and ongo-
ing process throughout the year.
"The practice of meditation
actually forces you to confront
yourself," says Rabbi Angela
Graboys, a Reform rabbi who
over the past year has taught
several Jewish meditation class-
es for the Jewish Community
Center of Greater Baltimore.
The Jewish meditation move-
ment has attracted many fol-
lowers in recent years — as have
Eastern religions such as Bud-
dhism and Hinduism — because
they offer the possibility of ex-
periencing the divine on an in-
tensely personal level.
The mainstream practice of
Western religions has stressed
an external God, not an internal
God. "The appeal in Buddhism
and Kabbalistic [mystical] Ju-
daism is not to see God as this
external force but as an in-
dwelling presence in all cre-
ation," Rabbi Graboys said.
The High Holiday process
known as teshuva, or repen-
tance, is very similar to the act
of meditation, Rabbi Graboys
says. It's a turning inward, to
enhance one's ability to reach
outward to one's fellow man —
and upward, to the Almighty.
The Selichot service, which
precedes Rosh Hashanah and
the Ten Days of Repentance,
parallels the act of meditation
as preparation for prayer, Rabbi
Graboys says.
In Jewish mysticism, it is
taught that divine sparks exist
in each person as evidence of hu-
manity's oneness with God. It is
one's duty to seek out the spark,
the goodness, in others and in
oneself, says Rabbi Graboys, and
haalat ha-nitzotzot, or elevate
it.
"The ultimate goal of medita-
tion is to make people more
aware so they can improve the
world," she says. "We ask our-
selves, 'What can I do to heal
D
the world and to fan the flames
of the holy spark in others?' "
During the High Holidays,
atonement also can be construed
as at one ment, she says, a focus-
ing on the unity of creation.
"You're aware that all sentient
beings have the same process of
breath," she says.
Jewish meditation and Bud-
dhist meditation are similar in
that both employ a relaxed up-
right posture, a focus on con-
trolled, deep breathing, and the
repetition of mantras. In Jew-
ish meditation, she says, that
mantra might be a portion of the
Sh'ma prayer, some Hebrew let-
ters, or a phrase such as, "The
soul you have given me is pure,"
said in English or Hebrew.
In Buddhism, there is no
thought of a deity, however.
"Jewish meditation centers
around an idea of devekut, which
is to cling to God," Rabbi
Graboys said. "The goal in Jew-
ish meditation is a closeness to
God."
In meditation, as in Judaism,
silence and sound have great
significance. In the Book of
Psalms, it is written, "To God,
silence is praise." And in Pirkei
Avot, or the Ethics of the Fa-
thers, there are many indica-
tions that the sages understood
the importance of silence, Rab-
bi Graboys says. Silence allows
introspection, which gives rise
to alertness, a heightened
awareness of oneself and of God,
she says.
The blowing of the shofar is
"a perfect metaphor for waking
up," Rabbi Graboys says. Some
Buddhists sound a bell of aware-
ness as a call to meditate. Ti-
betan monks blow a conch shell
to call people to prayer.
The Sh'ma prayer commands
Jews to wake up and listen:
"Take heed to yourselves, lest
your heart be deceived and ye
turn aside, and serve other gods,
and worship them ... "
"In Jewish prayer, we're ei-
ther asking God for something
or thanking him for giving us
something," Rabbi Graboys
says. "In meditation, you're just
being mindful."
Meditation can be frighten-
ing, she says, because the silence
is awkward. People new to med-
itation can be fearful of what
thoughts might pop into their
heads.
"You have to confront your
real issues when you h2.--e that
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WAKE-UP page 133