Jewish Teachings: Prayer Is Copulation with the Divine?

In the minds of most, prayer is what defines religion. This is due to the fact that it encapsulates all that is associated with a religious life: a sense of submission and humility, accompanied by various bodily ritual actions as a way to humble and submit oneself before one’s Creator. It is an acknowledgement of God’s absolute and all-encompassing power, as well as an acceptance of one’s own limitations as a created, limited, mortal, dependant being that relies on Him utterly.

In contrast, in light of its rationalist triumphalism and rampant individualism, the secular mind does not possess the capacity for genuine introspection, much less modesty (with the rare few who make the slightest attempts at exploring it ending up either as nihilists or existentialists).

Readers therefore may be surprised to learn that, in Judaism, prayer has been morphed into something carnal, even sexual, in nature.

Of course, a form of erotic union with God has always been tacitly professed, primarily through a book of the Bible—the Song of Songs attributed to Solomon (peace be upon him), known in Hebrew as Shir Hashirim. Readers may peruse the following article in order to get a better understanding of what exactly it is that I’m referring to: “The Song of Songs: When the Bible Is Sexually Explicit.”

Through the later developments of Judaism, including its mysticism or Kabbalah, these ideas were expanded further and acquired greater importance.

In the main text of Kabbalah, i.e., the Zohar, we find various indications towards such an erotic union. Within Hasidism, which can be considered a popularization of Kabbalah for the masses, however, this takes on an entirely new meaning (you may refer to an earlier article to acquaint yourself with Hasidism).

RELATED: Jewish Embrace of Polytheism: Expect Confusion

For instance, in the words of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, who passed away in 1760, we read the following (as quoted in Louis Jacobs, Hasidic Prayer, p.60):

This is from the Baal Shem Tov, may his memory be for a blessing: “From my own flesh, I behold God” (Job 19:26). Just as no child can be born as a result of physical copulation, unless this is performed with a vitalized organ and with joy and desire, so is it with spiritual copulation, that is the study of the Torah and prayer. When it is performed with a (spiritual) vitalized organ and with joy and delight then does it give birth.

We also read (on the same page):

Prayer is copulation with the Shekhinah. Just as there is swaying when copulation begins, so too, a man must sway at first, and then he can remain immobile and attached to the Shekhinah with great attachment. As a result of his swaying, man is able to attain a powerful stage of arousal. For he will ask himself: “Why do I sway my body? Presumably it is because the Shekhinah stands over against me.” And as a result he will attain a level of great enthusiasm.

Bear in mind that “Shekhinah” refers to a feminized version of the “Divine Presence.” For more on this, you may consult an excellent Muslim Skeptic article by Dr. Tumadir, where this is discussed at some length: “The Polytheism in Judaism (Expect the Unexpected).”

So now, whenever you observe traditional Jews “shuckling,” that is, their usual way of praying by swaying back and forth or side to side, you should have some idea regarding what their minds conceive of the “Divine presence” while engaging in such actions.

Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that most Jews (besides, perhaps, those who have secularized completely) are influenced by Hasidism, whether it is directly or indirectly.

Now, the rare handful of Jews who did criticize Hasidism have also criticized this particular idea of “prayer as copulation,” and they didn’t mince their words. The most active opponents of the Hasidim were the Misnagdim, who evolved into what are referred to today as the Litvaks, and they were virtually all concentrated in what is modern-day Lithuania.

RELATED: What Do Jewish Scriptures Say About Women? A Brief Look

Even though they remained a fringe element, they did have some influential rabbis, most famously the Gaon of Vilna. Their criticism was centered not so much around the essence of their teachings (since the Misnagdim too were Kabbalists) but, rather, on the fact that the Hasidim had “popularized” these teachings outside of an elite circle and that they had injected too much sentimentalism into public piety.

Among the anti-Hasidic authors, we have David of Makow, “who may have flirted with Hasidism in his youth,” as we read in Hasidism: A New History (p.94), a mammoth book published a few years ago by Princeton University Press and already considered a classic due to it having gathered together all of the best contemporary specialists in Hasidism.

Then, David of Makow is himself quoted as follows:

The Hasidim repeatedly commit the sin of involuntary ejaculation during their prayer, for they deliberately give themselves erections during prayer according to the commandment of Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem, who said to them that just as one who engages in intercourse with an impotent organ cannot give birth, so one should be potent at the time of prayer and, in prayer, it is necessary to unite [sexually] with the shekhinah. It is therefore necessary to move back and forth as in the act of intercourse.

The book then dedicates some comments on this quote from David of Makow:

In the view of this enemy of Hasidism, prayer for the new populist mystics was not merely analogous to an act of intercourse, as it had been for many earlier Kabbalists; it had scandalously become a surrogate for sex. The characteristic swaying of the Hasid at prayer was imagined to be intercourse with the female emanation of the divine itself and so great was the arousal that it might culminate in ejaculation.

Honestly, after everything else we’ve come to know thus far, I can’t really say that I’m at all surprised.

RELATED: The Polytheism in Judaism (Expect the Unexpected)