Dr. Avram Davis

Inaugurates Brandeis Meditation Society

 

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

 

WALTHAM - Dr. Avram Davis, the co-director of Chochmat HaLev, an independent Center of Jewish Meditation in Berkeley, California, will open the inaugural event of the Brandeis Meditation Society in a talk and meditation this Sunday, April 7, at 7 p.m. at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center, 515 South St., Waltham.

 

The discussion, entitled “Compassion and Enlightenment: The Jewish Torah View,” will be sponsored by The Hillel Foundation and SCRAM (the Student Council for the Rose Art Museum), as well as MitBonenim, a branch of Chochmat HaLev which is dedicated to bringing Jewish meditation to students and the general Jewish community.

 

Dr. Davis, who holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Jewish Studies and a Ph.D. in comparative philosophy, has studied at Yeshiva Adar Torah, Yeshiva Mossas Rav Kook and Yeshiva Bratzlav. His three books, The Way of Flame, Judaic Mysticism, and Meditation From the Heart of Judaism, explore his reworkings of ancient techniques into relevant contemporary practices, through a combination of experiential, textual and musical means.

 

At the talk, says organizer Rosie Rosenzweig, who is a Brandeis Resident Scholar in Women’s Studies and author of A Jewish Mother in Shangri-la, “he will introduce the very foundations of Jewish spirirtual development in ways that will not only be accessible, but have the power to uplift the soul.”

 

“The new Meditation Chavurah at Brandeis,” she explains, “practices self-discernment, taking this quality to its practical limits. This kind of contemplation supports an inner search for tikkun, a concentration and focus on repairing the distractions that keep us from realizing our ultimate potential. The Hebrew root of MitBonenim is binah, that quality of deep understanding and discretion, the realization of distinctions between the factors that help us, and those that hinder our inner growth.”

 

While meditation is common in all traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Theravada Buddhism, Zen, Vajrayana, Hinduism, and Sufism, Rosenzweig explains that it is style, language, emphasis, methodology and focus which differentiate each approach. MitBonenim utilizes the ancient imagery and belief systems of Judaism in its practice.

 

“Mitbonennim,” she says, “seeks to use rabbinical and biblical texts to revive a long lost art, which was once present in early and later biblical times. Some of these methods have been used with children, teens, adults, and seniors, with heartening results.

 

“The Meditation Chavurah at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University joins a growing national effort to expose the university community and the communities that it touches to the benefits of meditation.”

 

The Brandeis Chavurah’s advisors include Dr. Davis as well as Nan Davis, co-director of Chochmat HaLev and author of Introduction to Meditation and Stranger in the Midst: A Memoir of Spiritual Discovery; Rabbi Allen Lehman, Tikkun Rabbi and Brandeis Jewish Chaplain; Rabbi Malka Young, LICSW, Director of Healing Partners, Jewish Family Service of Metro-West Framingham; Rabbi Meier Sendor Ph.D., Spiritual leader of Young Israel in Sharon and Adjunct Professor in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University; and Penina Adelman, LICSW, Brandeis Visiting Scholar in Women’s Studies, author of Miriam’s Well and The Torah from Aleph to Tav.

 

The Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center is adjacent to the Waltham railroad station stop. The event will be $5 for general admission, and free for students with ID. For more information, please email Jewmomrose@hotmail.com or call 781-736-8100. For directionsm, please visit http://www.brandeis.edu/overview/directions.html

 

In addition to the talk, a Shabbat celebration with Dr. Davis, which will include a catered dinner, is planned for this weekend at Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley (info: secretary@bethelsudbury.org).