In
his commentary on Parshat Vayishlach, Rabbenu Abraham ben HaRambam (1186-1237) makes a clear connection between
the practice of seclusion and
the attainment of a prophetic
encounter. He writes:
“Yaakov isolated himself physically, leaving all his attendants and belongings behind him. Because of this, he ascended from mere physical seclusion to the interior seclusion of contemplation.
As a result of this
practice, he received a prophetic encounter.”
Khalwa, the
Arabic word he used for such seclusion,
denoted hitbodedut—which, in his pre-Breslov
era signified: (i) ascetic physical retreat in total isolation; and (ii) deep
concentration in silent contemplative prayer.
For the Hasidim of his Jewish
Sufi group in Egypt, as well as for the
Islamic Sufis they imitated, the
practice of khalwa was also a
formal and often initiatory
procedure involving an extended period of confinement. These formal retreats took place in the “night” created in the darkened khalwa-cell.
Like his
father Moshe ben Maimon, Rabbenu Abraham viewed prophecy to be an experience that was
(and is) received at various levels of
perception: ranging from the uniquely
clear vision of Moses our Prophet; through the special experiences
of the Biblical Prophets; down to the partial experiences of spiritual seekers like the bnei
nevi’im and the Jewish-Sufi salikun
(seekers) of our day.
Conjectural
commentaries on the identity of the
being with whom Yaakov was wrestling are legion—but it is significant that R.Abraham chooses to see Yaakov’s
prophetic encounter as a work of Divine Inspiration
experienced during a dream or, perhaps, a
“waking dream” trance. Both are described at length in the Islamic-Sufi
tradition.
But what marks his commentary out as a specifically Jewish-Sufi one, is his insistence that the attainment of prophetic experience is in some way consequent upon preparation by (i) the renunciation of social activity and material possessions/obsessions; and (ii) by a special practice of solitary reclusion that leads to contemplative awareness. This is the idée fixe of his entire Kifaya and it is presented therein as a goal for each and every Jewish Sufi Hasid.
Celibacy and Asceticism were not demanded of all Rabbenu Abraham’s Hasidim, and many Jews are often vociferously opposed to them — but both he and R. Obadya (his son) saw a solitary and celibate state as goals for those most committed to the Jewish-Sufi path of devekut.
For all the Hasidim of his circle, the experience of prophetic gnosis
was their clearly expressed goal and they were unanimous in holding that
both physical and interior khalwa
and the
asceticism of equanimity were the
path one must walk to arrive
there.
For all of us in Tariqa Eliyahu HaNabi—at whatever level of ascetic practice towards prophetic gnosis we might have : this is also our own path. Each and every one of us.
Our Tariqa was founded to renew and develop the Jewish-Path laid down by the Egyptian Hasidim. It makes the same insistent claim that prophecy will return to Bnei Israel only if we make the effort to develop the contemplative skills needed to make us capable of receiving it.
Whether it is performed during formal seclusion, in the privacy of one's home, or in a congregational setting — Khalwa — silent contemplative prayer is not a luxury activity in self development or spiritual therapy: It is compulsory activity for every Jew if we are ever to be granted the return of prophecy.
Nachman Davies
Safed
December 12 2024