The Missing Thread to Tie Israeli Society Together – The Times of Israel


Let’s face it, we’re really different.
When I walk down the street in my mainly religious neighborhood in Beit Shemesh, the scene is quite typical. Men with hats and jackets, beards and peyos. The women with long skirt, head coverings and baby filled strollers. The advertisements in general are minimal, and when they do appear, they are for sales on chicken, kosher phones and minivans.
But when you walk down the street of a predominantly secular city, the whole vibe is different. The stores give off a totally different vibe. The billboards are loud and racy. The people are dressed entirely differently and the whole energy of the culture is distinct.
But we are in this together. Somehow, we have to unite these seemingly divergent groups into one working, breathing element of Am Yisrael. How is that going to happen?
Are we going to get together at a soccer match or a Beis Midrash? Will we speak about politics and science or Talmud and Hashkafa? What might be the missing ingredient that could help Jewish society not only be tolerant of each other, but actually closer together, filled with understanding, peace and unity?
One word: Meditation.
Meditation is the tool used to quiet the nervous system and conscious mind and allow one to feel grounded, connected and affect change of the subconscious.
I use it all of the time with my clients struggling with sleep issues and anxiety and for myself to affect change in my own subconscious negative thought patterns that we all fall into.
And meditation is no stranger to Jewish tradition. Figures like Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan and Rabbi Doniel Katz have tried to bring to the forefront the fact that meditation is a very Jewish concept and has a rich history in our tradition dating back from our patriarchs all the way to the Kabbalists and Chassidic masters.
It’s been brought to light though followers of Breslov Chassidus and the recent Kavana app, founded by Beit Shemesh resident Nechemia Bochner has attempted to break down barriers and connect 1000’s of users around the world to thought leaders in this field. There is even a breathwork group in my neighborhood that get’s together every month and has powerful 3 hour sessions together.
It has the ability to help us remain calm, destress and regulate a number of mental and physical health issues. It has the ability to help us connect to our emotions, our inner world, our imagination and our very soul. It has the ability to raise up our attachment with Mitzvos, Torah, Middos and achieve Deveikus with Hashem.
What would it look like if Jews from all backgrounds got together for a meditation retreat here in the Holy Land? Now granted, this is not for everyone. I’m sure eyes will roll when you mention the concept of meditation to both religious and secular circles. 
But I believe there is enough of a core group on both sides of the equation that would really appreciate such an experience. 
No dogma. No dress code. No agenda.
Just a deeper inner journey of transcendence, inner peace and self awareness that would allow us to tap in that Kol D’mama Daka, the still soft voice that lies buried within our own subconscious.
Could shaved heads and tattoos meet streaming peyos and tzitzis for a common language where they could connect on the deepest level, together?
Rav Kook discusses this idea in his famous piece in Orot, Seeds, Souls of Chaos:

The souls of chaos (Neshamot de-Tohu) are higher than those of rectification (Tikkun).
They are very great.
They demand much from existence—more than their vessels can contain.
They seek a light so great that anything limited, measured, or defined is unbearable to them.

They descended from their exalted state at the beginning of the world’s formation.
They flared upward like a flame—and were extinguished.
Their infinite yearning never ends.
They take on various vessels, seeking more and more beyond all bounds—they reach, and they fall.

When they see that they are imprisoned by laws, confined by fixed conditions that do not allow for limitless expansion or soaring to the utmost heights—they fall into sorrow, despair, rage, and from their fury: into evil, malice, lowliness, ugliness, repulsion, destruction, and all manner of wickedness.

Their living ferment does not subside.
They appear as the brazen ones of the generation—the heretics with principles, the rebellious sinners who transgress not out of desire, but to provoke.
Their souls are very high—they are the lights of chaos.

The souls of chaos (Neshamot de-Tohu) are higher than those of rectification (Tikkun).
They are very great.
They demand much from existence—more than their vessels can contain.
They seek a light so great that anything limited, measured, or defined is unbearable to them.
They descended from their exalted state at the beginning of the world’s formation.
They flared upward like a flame—and were extinguished.
Their infinite yearning never ends.
They take on various vessels, seeking more and more beyond all bounds—they reach, and they fall.
When they see that they are imprisoned by laws, confined by fixed conditions that do not allow for limitless expansion or soaring to the utmost heights—they fall into sorrow, despair, rage, and from their fury: into evil, malice, lowliness, ugliness, repulsion, destruction, and all manner of wickedness.
Their living ferment does not subside.
They appear as the brazen ones of the generation—the heretics with principles, the rebellious sinners who transgress not out of desire, but to provoke.
Their souls are very high—they are the lights of chaos.
I think it is time to give these elevated, lofty souls a place to connect in unity on the deepest level. 
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Jesse
https://playwithchatgtp.com