A Cup Filled with Aggadah & Meditation

" The Haftorah to Lech Lecha gives us an interesting solution to dealing with this intellectual and spiritual famine. "The Eternal God is Hashem. He gives strength to the weary and for the powerless, he gives abundant might. Youths may weary and tire and young people may constantly falter. But those who hope in HaShem will have renewed strength, they will glow like eagles; they will run and not grow tired, they will walk and not grow weary. "

Shely Esses- Strom, LMFT, RP (qualifying)

There is a great thirst in the world and we need to talk about it. This great thirst is rooted in Justice and progress in the most prolific way.

In Chagigah 14a the sages tell us about a very important duo that have a very special unifying power. The Bread and Water of life. "Bread" is a metaphor for Halacha (Jewish law), and "Water" is a metaphor for Aggadah.

Aggadah is the non-legalistic exegesis that appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly in the Mishnah, Talmud and Midrash. Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres from business, medicine, and relations.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), discusses the two-tiered, literal-allegorical mode of transmission of the Aggadah. He explains that the Oral Law, in fact, comprises two components: the legal component (חלק המצוות‎), discussing the mitzvot and halakha; and "the secret" component (חלק הסודות‎), discussing the deeper teachings. The Aggadah, along with the Kabbalah, falls under the latter.

Amos (A Judean Prophet from 775 to 750 BCE) prophesizes about the times before the coming of Moshiach: "There will be a great hunger in the world, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of god. On that day, the beautiful Young people will faint in thirst." -Amos 8:11:13

We have to ask how people can be thirsty if the hunger is not for bread or water, but rather the voice of god. The metaphor for Aggadah is water and thus, we can understand that the voice of god is hidden in the "the secret" component of the Aggadah, and those who have been involved in Aggadah will have a camelback of spiritual water.

Aggadah is the aspect of the Torah that draws people towards its teachings. It is a philosophy of the Torah. It talks about lifestyle yet it is not dogmatic or even systematic. It is open to all those willing to accept minimal axioms and does not demand that people accept it in an all-or-nothing fashion.

The Haftorah to Lech Lecha gives us an interesting solution to dealing with this intellectual and spiritual famine. "The Eternal God is Hashem. He gives strength to the weary and for the powerless, he gives abundant might. Youths may weary and tire and young people may constantly falter. But those who hope in Hashem will have renewed strength, they will glow like eagles; they will run and not grow tired, they will walk and not grow weary. "

This might seem hopeful at first glance, but something is missing. Even though I align myself with Torah & mitzvot my passion for Aggadah has been misunderstood even within the orthodox Jewish Community. The lack of the secret component and more spiritual and energy teachings of Judaism can be traced back to the Mishnahic era (c.10 to c.220 CE) when Aggadah became subservient to Halacha.

The Rabbis of the Mishnahic era made a call that they believed would preserve Judaism and keep Jewish lineage alive. Their thoughts were that Aggadah in the wrong hands would be conveyed in the wrong way. They were afraid that if the spiritual and refreshing lessons of the Aggadah were taught wrong it would lead Jewish people astray. The very reason the rabbis shunned Aggadah is the very reason today so many Jews are off learning spiritual practices outside of Judaism.

According to Aryeh Kaplan: Today many American Jews have become involved in Eastern religions. It is estimated that as many as 75 percent of the devotees in some ashrams are Jewish and large percentages follow disciplines such as transcendental Meditation.

The decision to preserve the letter of the law at the expense of the spiritual strength of Jewish life was a survival response. The reverberations of that survival response look like Jews searching for spirituality in every other space instead of their own home. Until Jews become aware of the spiritual richness of their own culture, it is understandable that they would follow the quickest way to quench their thirst. This deep desire to quench one's thirst is a very serious phenomenon. Orthodox Jews are also involved in non-Jewish forms of transcendental Meditations.

In the last 60 years, the thirst for Aggadah in its purest forms started to seep into the Jewish world. The Lubavitcher Rebbe issued a directive that Jewish forms of meditation should be explored deeper. Rabbi Nachman himself said, his torah is going to be relevant 200 years from his death. Aryeh Kaplan said the purpose of Rabbi Nachman’s stories are to arouse people from their sleep using the most powerful weapons of all: the hidden secrets of Torah . The brilliance of Rabbi Nachman has recently been bringing Jews from around the world closer to Judaism. His teachings are one of the major sources of inspiration and perception in our times. He is particularly famous for his Aggadah style story telling and hichbodeut practices.

Meditation/hichbodedut is the gateway to reviving Aggadah. The “secret” component (חלק הסודות‎), discusses the deeper teachings of life ~ torat chaim. This level of thinking requires a person to be grounded enough to decipher what is to be taken literally and what is to be understood through allegorical lessons. Meditation is the calming of the mind. Once the mind is calm the intention to connect to Hashem with clear channels becomes more of a possibility. Meditation allows us to slow down in this very fast-paced world and just be one with oneness. Aggadah can be the most refreshing experience. Water is life-sustaining and it appears Aggadah is here to sustain us.

The camelback of spiritual water is dependent on the revival of Aggadah in all of its forms! There is no halakhah without aggadah, and no aggadah without halakhah. We must neither disparage the body nor sacrifice the spirit. The body is the discipline, the pattern, and the law; the spirit is inner devotion, spontaneity, and freedom. The body without the spirit is a corpse; the spirit without the body is a ghost. -RABBI ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL