The Affordances of Mind: Contemplation, Ecology, and Jewish Thought

Abstract

The present essay outlines some possible frameworks for developing and articulating a Jewish contemplative ecology.The resources for this work within Jewish literary and theological activity are many and vast, stretching from the Hebrew Bible to rabbinic literature and into medieval and modern Jewish thought and philosophy; here I pay special attention to the writings of Jewish mystics, to the works the Kabbalists and Hasidic thinkers who have guided so much of my own intellectual and spiritual journey.In drawing upon their writings, I explore a series of interlocking themes.First, I consider contemplative teachings that grapple with the meaning of communal and individual life in the face of devastation, fracture, and cataclysm.Second, I explore texts and practices that speak to the cultivation of an awareness that the world shimmers with divinity, including a vision of the animals around us as teachers, mentors, and friends.Here I argue that a strong Jewish contemplative ecology hinges upon the serious, reflective consideration of our spiritual, physical, and moral entanglements with the physical world.Finally, I turn to Jewish contemplative traditions and techniques that train our eyes upon local specificity, allowing us to develop a strong sense of place that is manifest in both aesthetic and spiritual commitments as well as ethical obligations.For Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, of blessed memory-scholar, teacher, activist, and friend