By: Chad Weisman
Produced & Edited By: Andrew Davis
In Tzfat, the
birthplace of Jewish mysticism, a Kazakhstani transplant named Shlomo Tal
teaches the Judaic tradition to American students. He identifies as an
observant Jew.
“I try to follow
all sides of Jewish Law,” he said. “But the way I practice it is an expression
of the inner side of Torah, the Kabbalah.”
 |
A Kabbalah bracelet. Western celebrities are often photographed
wearing them. Photo © Judicawebstore.com |
Interest in
Kabbalah has grown in concert with the flow of Eastern culture into the fabric
of Western life. Young Israelis, secular and observant, commonly seek spiritual
experiences in Eastern lands, however the impact of this phenomenon is yet to
be seen.
Tal describes
the “awakening of New Age [beliefs] in Israel,” as a fad. “It’s mostly people
who don’t invest in spirituality, but treat it like a trend or cool thing. His
own trip to India centered entirely on Jewish practice.
“People that go
for some type of spiritual experience are getting to know their soul and
getting closer to our tradition, too.”
Tal has not
experienced any dissonance between Jewish meditation and Eastern techniques.
Jewish Buddhist
The term ‘Jewbu’
(a portmanteau with obvious derivatives) was coined in 1994, 21 years after the
death of Israel’s first prime minister. Though David Ben-Gurion never called
himself a Buddhist, the self-proclaimed ‘Jewish Atheist’ was a noted student of
meditation techniques.
 |
A lotus, a symbol of Buddhism, peacefully sits on a pond.
Photo © National Geographic |
Jews account for
one-third of America’s non-Asian Buddhist population; yet Buddhists in Israel only
amount to 0.1 percent of total citizenship.
“You don’t see
the real interest,” said Donna Peretz of the Community of Mindfulness in Israel
(CMI). “I can’t say the Israeli mind is open to it.”
Peretz adopted
Zen in 1997 after a series of workshops conducted by Thich Nhat Hanh, a
Vietnamese monk. Mindfulness meditation has had a profound effect on her
life.
“Buddhism has
the solution and the way to help people see each other’s pain,” she said. “It’s
a real value in Buddhism, listening and loving speech.”
As a matter of doctrine,
there is no contradiction between one’s Buddhist practice and pre-existing
religious beliefs. Buddhism has power to disrupt divisions by facilitating the solidity
of Being. On the battleground of “the world’s most intractable conflict,” it is
easy to see how Eastern perspectives can become part of the conversation.
“We are
separated by names like Buddhists, like Jews, like Muslims,” said Thich Nhat
Hanh. “We hear these words and we see a kind of image; we feel alienated; we
don’t feel communication. They have set up many things for us to be separated
from each other and make each other suffer.”
As a young man, Baruch
Shalev served in an elite Special Forces unit.
“When someone
comes to kill you or someone else next to you,” he said, “you cannot talk about
love in that moment. You have a responsibility because life is precious, and it
doesn’t matter who the other person is. All life is from God, Hashem [The Name].”
Shalev was Ariel
Sharon’s advisor on alternative energy after a long career in plastics and consulting.
In retirement he is a full-time Dharma teacher.
“If you sow incitement, you will have killing,” he said. “If
you have education, coexistence and recognizing people’s well-being, then
that’s what you will receive.”
In the eyes of Ofer
Cohen, a student of Daniel Waxman’s Zazen practice in Tel Aviv, “Compassion is
what is common in Judaism and Buddhism. They are both real life beliefs; they
present to the believer the actualization of belief in daily life.”
Spiritual Differences
Buddhism and Judaism
are not in perfect alignment. In 2011, Yad L’achim (an Orthodox Jewish group) declared
the worldview to be in violation of the first three commandments. They decried
the construction of a Tibetan Buddhist center in southern Israel.
However such discrimination
is uncommon in the State of Israel. Many, including Donna Peretz, embrace an
understanding of Buddhism that helps them deal with the stress of life during
wartime.
“Every time the
[attack] alarm went off I was panicking; I had anxiety. That’s when I used my
mindfulness. I had a minute and a half to rush from my apartment to the
shelter. During that [time] I was practicing mindfulness, breathing, and calming
myself.
“When I entered
the shelter there was a young family with four children. The children didn’t
know what was going on, and they were very happy to see me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment