Hasidism

i finished The Zookeeper's Wife a couple of days ago. this passage (below) on Hasidism, a metaphysical philosophy of Orthodox Judaism, was fascinating because, simply, it reminded me of some Buddhist philosophy that I've read. I was startled to learn about this "dancing religion that teaches love, joy, and celebration," (156) having no idea that some Jewish rabbis even practiced stuff like this. Way cool!

I thought Courtney might be interested in hearing about this, since she's been practicing mindfulness in her daily life. Also, those coming from a full or partially Jewish ancestry like my mom and auntie, e, and evan, may be surprised to know this kind of philosophy exists in Judaism. I was.

First a little background:
Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Warsaw Ghetto's Hasidic rabbi during World War II, stayed in the Ghetto when others escaped because he believed it was his duty to help heal the suffering of the Ghetto community--obviously a huge task, one might say impossible, given the circumstances.

quoted from The ZooKeeper's Wife, page 157:
Shapira's Hasidism included transcendent meditation, training the imagination and channeling the emotions to achieve mystical visions. The ideal way, Shapira taught, was to "witness one's thoughts to correct negative habits and character traits." A thought observed will start to weaken, especially negative thoughts, which he advised students not to enter into but examine dispassionately. If they sat on the bank watching their stream of thoughts flow by, without being swept away by them, they might achieve a form of mediation called hashkatah: silencing the conscious mind. He also preached "Sensitization to Holiness," a process of discovering the holiness within oneself. The Hasidic tradition included mindfully attending to everyday life, as eighteenth-century teacher Alexander Susskind taught: 'When you eat and drink, you experience enjoyment and pleasure from the food and drink. Arouse yourself every moment to ask in wonder, 'What is this enjoyment and pleasure? What is it that I am tasting?'