TARIQA
ELIYAHU HA NABI
Tariqa
Eliyahu is a global Jewish-Sufi group for religious
Jews who wish to renew and develop the contemplative
practices of the Mediaeval Egyptian Pietist Movement—a group that flourished in the 13th to the
15th centuries.
In
the mediaeval era, the Egyptian Pietist Movement’s leaders included R. Abraham He-Hasid (d.circa
1223), and several members of the
Maimonides dynasty [R.Abraham ben HaRambam (1186–1237 ), R.David
ben Abraham Maimuni (1222-
1300), R.Obadya Maimuni (1228–1265), and
R. David ben Joshua Maimuni (1335–c.1414 )].
R.David
ben Abraham Maimuni actually visited Meron and both he and R.Abraham ben
HaRambam are buried next to Maimonides in Tiverya.
With
such strong leadership, the movement
became extremely popular, and it spread
from Cairo throughout Palestine and Syria—flourishing for over three hundred years.
Though much of its literary output was in handwritten Arabic (and thus largely lost to us save in Genizah fragments) its legacy impacted the contemplative practices of those Galil hasidim who were to develop Safed’s mystical brotherhoods in the sixteenth century. The Egyptian Pietists were not focused on the cosmology and theosophy of the sefirotic kabbalah that became Safed’s most popular mystical system— but instead, they were almost totally concerned with devotional and ascetic contemplative practice.
Most remarkably, They were Jews, but they quoted Islamic texts
(including sections from the Quran and Hadith), and openly borrowed
the ritual and contemplative manuals and
poetic texts of the Islamic
sufis whose devotion they admired.
WHY
DID THEY DO THIS?
They
did it
because they believed those contemplative texts had preserved something
that was originally Jewish.
Specifically:
They did it because they believed that the ascetic
and contemplative practices of the Biblical B’nei Nevi’im
(Schools of the Prophets) had been lost to Judaism but had been preserved
in Islamic Sufism—and they sought to restore, renew, and develop those
practices in Judaism.
Their
aim was to prepare the Movement’s members to attain a personal and
intimate state of marifah/intuitive gnosis and contemplative
“nearness to G-d” that would hasten the return of prophecy to
Israel.
Those
same spiritual perspectives and aims—and that same respect for the texts and practices of Islamic Sufism— are
the core principles of our own century’s “Tariqa Eliyahu”... and
they are also essential features of our newly
formed group in Safed.
You
can read much more about the history, aims, and practices of our global Tariqa on our website HERE
THE
SAFED JEWISH SUFI GROUP
In
June 2024, Tariqa Eliyahu inaugurated a local branch in Tzfat (Safed) in
Northern Israel. This group meets
weekly in the Old City for an hour of
contemplative prayer (Silent Dhikr/Hazkara) in a Jewish-Sufi mode.
REGULAR
MEETINGS
The
main element of our meetings is the practice
of SILENT DHIKR (silent congregational contemplation). We do not offer “guided meditations”, we do
not teach or learn “meditation”. We do
not offer courses of study on religious or contemplative matters. We do not present what we do as a form of “therapy” or “self
improvement”.
Such
practices are attractive and have their place in one’s spiritual development—
but they can also distract from our simple attentiveness to
the Divine Voice. And
that receptive attentiveness to the “still small voice” is the Heart of
our Elijan Tariqa.
In classic Sufic tradition, and in reference to the musical practice of the Bnei Nevi’im—meetings begin with a very short vocal Dhikr unit (mantra recitation) and (on special occasions) a brief Sohbet lesson or discussion. At the start of the meeting this might also assist the members to transition from their busy world and interior noise to the calm and receptive mode of the silent Dhikr/Hazkara that follows. For that, we simply sit together in silent contemplation for between thirty minutes to an hour....and leave in silence. Anyone who wishes to leave before the end of the silent dhikr period may do so.
At
our meetings we do not discuss or describe our personal and individual contemplative experiences or practices with
the group—they are matters to remain
secret or shared only with one’s own spiritual director. At our meetings we simply perform the Tariqa´s specific Vocal
Dhikr together (in unison) and then maintain a
period of congregational silence.
What one does during that silence is left completely to the individual. Discretely and without causing disturbance to the others, one may sit, kneel, stand,or prostrate at will.
We wish to make our Group’s meditational process to be something that is experienced privately in the hearts of the members—an educational process whose direction and form is left entirely up to G-d who is our true Teacher and Master.
ooo0ooo
From
what you have just read, you will now appreciate that we are
not a group of “New Age” hippies, nor are we culture-based
"sufi-jews". We are religious
Jewish-Sufis of the School of Abraham
ben HaRambam. But the Safed Jewish-Sufi Group has its own distinct adab
(format and character) because attendance at our meetings is open to anyone who
receives our invitation to attend.
Though our core members are religious observant
Jews, and though the texts we use paraliturgically are Jewish (Classical Hebrew or
Judeo-Arabic)—the Safed group also welcomes participants — from
all religions and none—who
respect that core ethos even if they do
not follow it themselves.
ooo0ooo
SO WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
*Opportunities
for Torah study and meditational courses and events are
legion and readily available in Tzfat
already. Our function supplements rather than replicates them.
*For
some people who are not intellectually or academically inclined, or
who are uncomfortable with long verbal synagogue services, it may actually
provide a non-liturgical but much needed way to meet G-d in a
community setting. Being a paraliturgical event with no
formal services, it also enables the full egalitarian participation
of both men and women in one shared practice.
*Individual Khalwa (retreat)
in solitary hitbodedut at one’s home or at a secluded location
is always going to be the ideal Jewish-Sufi
practice, as is stressed especially in the Kifaya of
R.Abraham ben HaRambam and the Murshid of R.David ben
Joshua— but reclusive or calm environments are not available to many who live
in crowded areas; whose shuls are busy sociable places; or whose
domestic and business situation does not provide much space or
time in which to develop
this form of solitary prayer. Our
meeting environment and practice might provide them with
this.
*Others
who are maybe beginning the practice of contemplative prayer might
find extended retreat or lengthy contemplative silence difficult to manage—and for them
our practice might offer a gentle introduction to receptive meditative prayer
with the added support and discipline of a
contemplative community.
ooo0ooo
Our
weekly regular meetings are held each Wednesday in the late afternoon— though
some special events will be held on Sundays. If
you are visiting Tzfat and would like to attend, please
contact us using the contact-form on the sidebar.
For the summer months we have agreed to set the
following simple format for our weekly Wednesday meetings:
(some weeks: the meetings begin with ten minutes of business or explanation)
ooo0ooo
We hope
to bring together local contemplatives (and would-be contemplatives) from
all streams of Judaism and of Israeli society:
streams whose members can so often be shockingly antagonistic,dismissive,or
intolerant of one another.
In
these times of denominational,sectarian, racial, and political turmoil in
Israel (and globally) it is hoped that by keeping shared
contemplative silence, all religious, sectarian, racial,or political
differences may be shelved (however briefly) by the commonly
shared desire to be personally attentive to
the ‘Voice of G-d’ within all of us.
Let
Light dawn in the world,in our days,
for
we wait and work for Your Salvation
May
HaShem grant success to the work of our hands.
Nachman
Davies
Safed
May
29 2024 (reposting: July 28 2024)