Jewish Meditation/Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah
(For new insights into the Tales of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah, follow this link https://sites.google.com/site/rabbahbarbarhannah )
For new writings on Jewish Meditation, follow this link:
http://rabbinathanglick.blogspot.com/2011/02/primer-for-jewish-meditation-or-shiviti.html
For the first time anywhere! Authentic Jewish Meditation Music!
A truly revolutionary yet completely traditional approach!
http://firetreemusic.webs.com/jewishmeditationmusic.htm
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The full reply of the Mashiah as recorded in the letter is as follows: "By this shall you know (the time of my arrival). At the time when your teachings become publicized and revealed in the world and your wellsprings spread outward which I have taught you and which you have comprehended. Then everyone will be able to do Unifications (i.e. meditations) and Elevations as you do. Then will all externalities pass away and it will be a time of redemption."
The Baal Shem Tov continued: "I was greatly distressed over the length of time this would require when this could actually come to pass? Yet there I learned three special concepts and three Holy Names which are easy to learn and explain. My mind was settled since I thought that through these things, my contemporaries, like me, could come to these spiritual levels. But for my entire life I have never been permitted to reveal them. I have been sworn about this and so I remain."
Nevertheless, the Baal Shem Tov continued to explain in a very brief way, those practices which could be taught and expounded. These words of the Baal Shem Tov have been elaborated and explained by subsequent generations of Chassidic Masters. The resulting concepts and practices form the basis of Jewish Meditation as taught at Or Hahechal. As predicted by the Baal Shem Tov's letter, there is now a renewed yearning for the kind of illumination that is the result of Jewish Meditation practice.
Jewish Meditation is about living in the world, interacting with others and worshipping G-d according to the Torah. It adds the dimensions of depth, width and height to all aspects of life. It seeks to develop the personality, enrich the family, elevate the soul and fill the heart with positive attributes. Adepts at Jewish Meditation live joyfully, work meaningfully, and are in harmony with others and with the Divine Light.
Courses and Workshops
Several times a year, Rabbi Glick teaches Courses and Workshps on diverse topics.
Among the teachings offered are:
"Understanding Midrash"
"Talmudic Spirituality"
"Mimonidean Rationalism as a Spiritual Path for Today"
"Getting Intimate with the Text of the Zohar"
"Rabbi Nahman's Teaching and Tales"
"Forms of Jewish Meditation"
"Kabbalistic Intentions and Healing"
To recieve a a list of upcoming courses, please use the form on the "Contact Us" page
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The following site presents Rebecca Rose Glueck's ground breaking research on the Fantastic Tales of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah.
https://sites.google.com/site/rabbahbarbarhannah
The Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 73 a-b) recounts the tales of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah, (3rd century Amora who lived in Babylon and the Land of Israel). The enigmatic tales tell of incredible voyages and immense creatures. The tales of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah are remarkable for their extreme hyperbole, and are often categorized as folktales or allegories. Based upon a gaonic tradition, Rebecca Rose Glueck proposes that the first ten tales of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah are records of visionary and dream-like experiences, in which Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah confronts the mystery of Nature. Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah's vision quest may conflict with the prevalent Torah-centered viewpoint of the sages, which holds that Nature is just a reflection of Torah. Glueck believe that Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah’s tales present a myth-like view of Nature in which all beings share a sense of unity, and experience becomes an undifferentiated flow like the ocean's currents. Nature gives rise to symbols expressing concepts of the self, of social organization and of world-views. Glueck also argues that the first few tales are actually from Rabbah Bar Hannah, who was Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah's father. Glueck farther proposes that the Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah's tales present a vision of a society of individuated selves, living with Nature, in harmony with an evolutionary process, and not locked into a single world view. Rabbah Bar Hannah and Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah may have been deeply troubled by the rift between Jewry in the Land of Israel and in Babylon, which developed at the outset of the Amoraic age. The desire to heal this rift finds expression in the tales. Rebecca Rose Glueck is inspired by Freud's associative method of dream interpretation and employs a Freudian orientation in the interpretation of these tales.
