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| (Sarajevo Haggadah) |
Hegyon HaLev for Parshat Vaetchanan
רק השמר
לך ושמר נפשך מאד פן־תשכח את־הדברים
אשר־ראו עיניך ופן־יסורו
מלבבך כל ימי חייך והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך:
Take care and watch yourselves carefully,
so that you do not forget the
things that you saw.
Do not let this memory leave your hearts
all the days of your lives
Devarim
4:8
Rabbenu
Abraham Ibn Abi’l-Rabi , also known as R. Abraham HeHasid (d. 1223) believed
that the entire nation experienced
a kind of Khalwa during the three days of preparation before the Revelation at Sinai. Referring to the “remembrance” (dhikr) of this, he describes
two elements of the Sinai revelation: the
Halachic and the Mystical:
“The first alludes to the proximity of
Revelation and to the unveiling of the external and internal sight and their
illumination (basira qalbiyya). The second alludes to the prescription
of the Laws and ordinances. Therefore keep these two sublime principles
and forever observe them. The first is the state of vision and revelation.”
*2
The term basira qalbiyya surely infers the “opening of the heart to enlightenment and inspiration” that is the expressed goal of all Sufi texts. (I refer to this as the “Torah of the Heart”. R. Obadya ben Abraham Maimuni calls it the “Torah al haqiqiyya”, the Torah as perceived and received individually and personally)
R.
Abraham He-Hadid continues:
Recall the "preparation
and sanctification" [hakhanah we-qedushah] which I
have indicated to you, which is the path that leads to Him and the details
of which I have informed you, as well as the purifications which I have
imparted to you, so that you may be elevated to this spiritual state.
Bequeath
and teach them to your descendants so that they will be continuously
transmitted within your midst and thus the practices of this path shall
be handed down from your forebears to your descendants. If each generation
attains to the state of vision, then they will witness to the authenticity of
the Torah which they possess and how it was revealed and accepted by their
ancestors. Thus each generation shall inherit this Torah from Sinai and
its appropriate spiritual state. *2
In this
passage we read “Recall the
"preparation and sanctification" [hakhanah we-qedushah] which I have
indicated to you, which is the path that leads to Him”
*Might we take the term “Recall” literally and liberally and regard it as an invitation to make the prophetic experience of Sinai actually present (in congregational re-enactment)?
*Might the “path” be
taken as a reference to the process of Judeo-Sufic suluk/tariq
generally?
*Might R. Abraham be hinting that the path of the khalwa of Sinai is some
undisclosably secret esoteric practice or
method of prayer that he was transmitting privately to his immediate
disciples?
* Could
it be that he is referring to a form of Dhikr?
All four possibilities may be derived from this beautiful and mysterious text and each deserve our reflection during this Shabbat.
oooOooo
The two key practices of Tariqa Eliyahu are Khalwa/Hitbodedut (the practice of solitude,retreat,and contemplation); and Dhikr/Haskara (the vocal and silent “recalling/remembrance” of G-d).
One
person performing a sincere act of worship is enough to invite the Divine Presence.
But, for
all its focus on hermits, solitude, and
private devotions— Jewish-Sufism only functions at its maximum potential
in a group.
Like
them we seek a “preparation and a
sanctification”, a “hakhanah ve-qedushah”.
Just as
we did at Sinai when the entire Nation received a spirit of prophecy.
At our
weekly meeting, we perform a fifteen minute Vocal Dhikr as our hakhanah (preparation)
and a thirty minute Silent Dhikr
as our expectant period of “qedushah”: a time when
we separate our selves from our monkey-brain distractions and ‘listen-out’
for the
promptings of the voice of
inspiration. Just as at Sinai.
May we prepare
the way for our hearts to be
opened.
*
May we be granted perseverance
to wait expectantly
for G-d to speak to us.
*
May we have tireless love and devotion
in
serving Him through our attentiveness—
even if He chooses to remain silent.
SHABBAT
SHALOM
(a detailed
examination of Rabbi Abraham He-Hasid’s texts (connecting the Sinai Khalwa
with our own practice) may be found HERE.)
Nachman
Davies
August 15th
2024
References
*1 Fenton. P: Some Judaeo-Arabic Fragments by Rabbi Abraham he-Ḥasīd, the Jewish Sufi, in JSS 26 (1981),