Jewish Spiritual Practices

B"H Excellent book!! Really gives insight and helps further trust in HaShem. I would recommend this book to all. I would recommend this author to all as well.

This highly uplifting tome is pragmatically oriented spirituality, primarily derived from Hasidic sources. IMHO its emphasis is on d'vekut--cleaving to God: pp. 6-10: "All your actions, speech, & thoughts be directed by God, who is within you. The person who has attained to this high level will have continuous God consciousness at all times...God-consciousness is the purpose of the main mitzvah of the Torah, when they are performed with complete intentionality...If you want to do something & see that this action will increase your God-consciousness & love of God, then know that this is a mitzvah & God's will...The goal of Hasidim d'vekut is continual God-consciousness." The author advises the reader to p. 51: "Choose a practice that fits your mood & spiritual level", To this end, many techniques are given & described including: frequent repetition of holy phrases & words (pp. 36 & 444), equanimity (p. 474), forgiveness (p. 543), spiritual sex (p. 589), nonattachment (pp. 590 & 675), spiritual seclusion/hitbodedut (pp. 614 & 632), selflessness (p. 675), generosity/tzedaka (pp. 458-9), gratitude (p. 457), overcoming anger (p. 634), accepting the bad with the good (p. 517), and meditation. pp. 379-80: "Hasidic spirituality is ideally one continuous meditation on God by diverse means...Sefer Haredim quotes the Ari as saying that a meditation for achieving d'vekut is `seventy times more valuable for the soul than Torah study'...Certainly Torah study & doing mitzvot involve d'vekut but it is less than that d'vekut directly achieved by meditation." Examples include: p. 109--Breathing Meditation, p. 436: blessings (as short meditations), p. 451: visualization of God's name & concentration on the mind of God, pp. 378 & 466: understanding your thoughts as coming from God, everything coming from God (p. 672), and meditating on the skies (pp. 321, 498-502, & 678). The plethora of techniques allows one to pick & choose those activities appropriate to one's nature & life situation at a moment in time. There are a great many wonderful quotes (I added pages of them to my collection); my favorites include some advocating role reversals: pp. 458-9: R. Aaron of Apt--When a poor person accepts Tzedaka...if the poor person receives it with this kavvanah..."If I have to take, I am going to do so to give merit to the rich person who gives me the tzedaka,' then he is doing a mitzvah. This is what our Sages of blessed memory said: `More than what the householder does for the poor person, the poor person does for the householder.' (Leviticus Rabbah 34:10) p. 675: R. Yitzhak of Vorki--No one ever stole anything from me for each day I give up all my possessions, abandoning my claim to their ownership. So whatever anyone stole--it was from what was already without an owner. This is a fabulous book for anyone wishing to understand Hasidism but even more for someone wishing to add to his or her spiritual repertoire or activities/tech

I teach Kabbalah classes and lead a Jewish Renewal women's havurah. (For more information about Jewish Renewal, the newest denomination in Judaism, go to www.aleph.org). I recommend Yitzhak Buxbaum's "Jewish Spiritual Practices" to all of my classes and have put it on their reading lists. For years I searched for a practical book that would offer a comprehensive overview of simple techniques to enhance a person's practice of Jewish mysticism and enable them to deepen their connection with God. Many Kabbalah books I consulted were exasperatingly esoteric, were not Jewish-oriented, were too simplistic, had too many techniques from other religions, etc. Then I found "Jewish Spiritual Practices" in a bookstore, and was overjoyed. It has over 2,000 simple Jewish spiritual practices from the classic Hasidic tradition, all clearly explained. I have read the book twice. It is one of the most valuable books in my Jewish spirituality library. I plan on rereading the book (God willing) several more times in my lifetime. It immeasurably deepened my personal spiritual practice. Don't be put off by the price of the book. I would have gladly paid twice as much.

Yitzhak Buxbaum has made a tremendous contribution to the world of Jewish Learning with this book. He collects Hasidic hanagot ( customary practices) and considers the way they can enrich one's spiritual life and practice. He teaches in the work how the religious Jew can in every detail of his life, in every experience transform the ordinary into the sacred. He teaches how the Jew can transform his consciousness to greater ' devekut ' clinging to God. This book has been one of the most important in my own life. Time and again it has given me new insight into Jewish practice and thought. It is written in a most clear and understandable way. It too , it seems to me, without advertising itself as such provides a framework for Jewish thought and belief as strong as any other work I know. If I had to recommend one book to be in each Jewish home ( aside of course from the canon of Sifrei Kodesh ) it would be this one. What a great great great book.

Yitzhak Buxbaum has done a great service in compiling these Jewish spiritual practices from a variety of sources, many of them Chassidic. The book is so helpful and informative in its tone, that it is easy to overlook the amount of research, scholarship, and organization which underlies it. For the Jew wondering how to enhance kavannah, how to make another part of daily life more kodesh, and how to benefit from the particular religious genius of our forebearers, this book will be a welcome, and oft-perused addition to the family library. Synagogues would do well to make this book available to their membership as well.