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as it were," he wrote.
Meditation and mysticism are
experiencing renewed interest
among Jews, who are discover-
ing they can be avenues to a
closer, more personal relation-
ship with God, Rabbi Graboys
says.
Jewish meditation was popu-
lar in the Middle Ages, and was
described by such philosophers
as Maimonides. But the emer-
gence of the Zohar — Jewish
mysticism's primary work — in
the 1290s "eclipsed meditation
as the focus of Kabbalah," Rab-
bi Kaplan wrote.
Kabbalah study and mysti-
cism, in general, fell out of favor
in the 17th century as a reaction
to the false messiah Shabbatai
Zvi. A charismatic leader with
many followers, he "twisted the
teachings of Kabbalah," accord-
ing to Rabbi Kaplan, and later
converted to Islam under
threats from the sultan of
Turkey. Thus, his practice and
his followers were discredited.
"It was a very painful moment
in Jewish history," Rabbi
Graboys says.
The famous cautionary tale
about mystical practice, in
which four sages go into the or-
chard and only one emerges
whole, suggests to many that
they would get lost in the intri-
cacies o.ZIcabbalah.
For centuries, the prevailing
wisdom was that only married
men over the age of 40 should
study Kabbalah. But the Cha-
sidic movement has re-popular-
ized study of the Kabbalah,
asserting it should be available
to everyone for study.
Gershom Scholem, in his
groundbreaking 1941 book Ma-

jor Trends in Jewish Mysticism,

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demonstrated that mysticism is
part of mainstream Judaism,
and should not be relegated to
its outermost fringes.
"People are really reclaiming
what is part of our historical tra-
dition," says Rabbi Graboys.
Rodger Kamenetz, in his book
The Jew in the Lotus, wrote,
"What was esoteric in Judaism
is exoteric in Buddhism." This
might explain why so many
Jews are drawn to Eastern reli-
gions.
"A cynic would say it's be-
cause Judaism is impoverished
on some spiritual level," Rabbi
Graboys says. "I would say these
[mystical] traditions need to be
made available, because they
are powerful enough to meet a
lot of needs in the Jewish com-
munity."
"For me, [meditation] was an
answer to something I had been
searching for," says Bonnie Rice,
who also takes the Baltimore
JCC meditation class.
"This has gotten me in touch
with the Jewish spirituality that
I'm looking for," she says. "It
makes me feel that there's a
soulfulness in me." ❑