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.
The
main element of our weekly meetings is the practice
of SILENT DHIKR (silent congregational
contemplation). As the Safed group
expands we hope to add a monthly Sema
meeting involving live music and possibly movement.
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.
Our weekly regular meetings are currently
held each Wednesday at noon in the Artist’s Quarter of the
Old City of Tzfat. We do not make any financial charges or ask
for any donations. Visitors are most
welcome.
WHAT
HAPPENS AT OUR MEETINGS?
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). At the start of the
meeting this can 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 as a congregation in silent contemplation for about
thirty minutes. Anyone who wishes to leave before the end of the
silent dhikr period may do so.
What
one does during the silent dhikr 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.
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 and guests at our weekly meetings
— from all religions and none—who respect that core ethos even if they do not follow it themselves.
SO WHY
ARE WE DOING THIS?
*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. Their specifically Jewish-Sufi understanding of the term Hitbodedut-khalwa denotes
“concentration”or “focussed meditation” either in physical solitude or internal
solitude. Our weekly hitbodedut meetings are “congregational” as we
follow R. Abraham HeHasid’s principle that hitbodedut should also be performed congregationally as a
contemplative renactment of the
spiritual retreat that preccded the Revelation at Sinai.
*Opportunities
for Torah study and meditational courses and events are
legion and readily available in Tzfat
already. Our function as a
supportive contemplative group supplements
rather than replicates them.
*Reclusive
or calm environments are not available to many who live in crowded areas; whose
shuls are often noisy, chatty, and highly
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. With
this support they may move on to periods of physical solitude with more
confidence.
*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.
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 (updated January 2025)
