Hitbodedut

Hitbodedut or hisbodedus (הִתְבּוֹדְדוּת, lit. "seclusion, solitariness, solitude"; Tiberian: hīṯbōḏăḏūṯ hiθboːðaˈðuːuθ, Ashkenazi: hīsboydedēs/hīsboydedūs or hīsbōdedūs, Sephardi: hitbōdedūt) refers to practices of self-secluded Jewish meditation. The term was popularized by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810) to refer to an unstructured, spontaneous, and individualized form of prayer and meditation through which one would establish a close, personal relationship with God and ultimately see the Divinity inherent in all being. Secluded meditation practices were encouraged by many medieval rabbis, such as Abraham Maimonides, Abraham Abulafia, Joseph Gikatilla, Moses de Leon, Moses Cordovero, Isaac Luria, and Chaim Vital. The founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, encouraged his close disciples to find deveikus through hitbodedut and by meditating on the kabbalistic unifications (yichudim) of Isaac Luria. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov also wrote extensively about these practices and claimed that they were practiced by the forefathers of Judaism—Abraham/Avraham, Isaac/Yitzchak, Jacob/Yaakov, Moses/Moshe, David, the prophets, and their students—as well as the Torah leaders of each generation. The method involves talking to God in an intimate, informal manner while secluded in a private setting such as a closed room or a private outdoor setting. The Rebbe Nachman of Breslov used to teach that one should spend a lot of time in solitude every day: during these moments, which would later turn into semi-prophetic or ecstatic experiences for the knowledge of God and the truth of the Torah, the devout Jew has more opportunities for Teshuvah, due to innovations in the knowledge of the Torah itself, in addition to being a specific meditative modality for personal prayers and being able to trust God as you would with a friend. Rebbe Nachman taught that the best place for hitbodedut is in the forests or fields. "When a person meditates in the fields, all the grasses join in his prayer and increase its effectiveness and power," he wrote.