To Behold the Naked Truth

Abstract

Abstract This article concerns a Hasidic homily describing a technique for lucid dream cultivation. The homily outlines a worldview in which fantasy and reality merge, and thoughts, both positive and negative, have real cosmic and personal consequences. To counter the allure of sexual fantasy, the homily recommends a form of Neoplatonic contemplation widely taught within early Hasidic circles. Although this contemplative technique frequently appears in early Hasidic literature, this homily is unique in explicitly describing its practice as leading to a specific revelatory dream state. Drawing on modern dream research, this study demonstrates that early Hasidism transformed anxieties about nocturnal emissions and demonic visitations into a sophisticated technique for inducing a form of lucid dream understood as a revelatory state in which the divine nature of reality can be directly perceived. In addition to explicating this homily in its Hasidic and broader Jewish—and especially Kabbalistic—contexts, the study highlights its significance as an example of the Hasidic interest in cultivating extraordinary religious experiences not only during waking life but within the realm of dreams as well.