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Mirror Neurons, Healing Modalities & Jewish

Meditative Tradition
1. Table of Contents
2. How to Practice RLH
3. Body-Mind Healing & Meditation: Siegal,
Salzberg, Dossey
4. Mirror Neurons
5. Empathy Neurons, Cells That Read
Minds
6. The Mirror Neuron Debate: Ramachandran
vs. Gopnik
7. Healing Love Meditations
8. Radiating Love to others as a basic daily mitzvah
9. Using Meditation to Cultivate Compassionate Love
10. Mood Contagion - Limbic Resonance

)‫יג‬,‫ אֵל נָא ְרפָא נָא לָּה (במדבר יב‬,‫ַוּי ִ ְצעַק מ ֹׁשֶה אֶל ה' לֵאמ ֹר‬
.‫ ְרפָ אֵ ִני ה' וְ אֵ ָרפֵ א הו ִֹׁשיעֵ נִי וְ ִאּוָ ֵׁשעָ ה ּכִ י ְת ִהּל ִָתי אָ ָּתה‬:‫יד‬,‫ירמיהו י"ז‬

Rabbi Dr. Natan Ophir

Jerusalem, February 2012
All Rights Reserved
Natan@JewishMeditation.org.il
www.JewishMeditation.org.il

1
How to Practice RLH "Radiating Love for Healing"
1) RLH Defined
RLH is based on the mind-body-soul interactions and how "mirror
neurons" may serve to reflect emotions/feelings of another.
"Radiating" connotes sending some form of healing energy. Using the
analogy of electromagnetic radiation, the "love" directed is connected to
radiance.
Love" here includes empathy, concern, and kindness, wishing goodness,
forgiveness, and comfort. Similarly, mettā in the Theravada Buddhist
meditative tradition of Southeast Asia, implies friendship, good will, and
love. In Kabbalistic sefirot perspective we refer here to the perpetual
Divine flow of Hesed. The purpose is to create a circuit for Divine Influx to
flow uninhibited to elevate and perfect, to sooth and ameliorate.
"Healing" implies the softening of pain in therapeutic transfer of curative
care.

2) Practicing RLH
Focus your thought, emotion and desire in a meditative practice for
wellness, goodness and love. It is kind of like a "ball of energy", soothing,
comforting and alleviating pain.

3) How RLH Works

RLH can be used in conjunction with care-giving and quasi medical
procedures, such as those involving touch and affectionate attention.
Besides placebo effects, the principle involved is similar to communicating
affectionate warmth in the parental care of many creatures towards their
young. The effects are based on empathy and compassionate love. This can
be enhanced with tangible contact as in a hug. Practitioners of "quantum
healing", massage therapy, reiki etc. often may be utilizing principles of
RLH.

4) What is this Love that we are radiating?

It is based on "good" in the purist form that we can try and envision, not
necessarily what we think is needed. It can also imply linking up to a
Divine and/or Universal Cosmic love, and then forwarding that to the other
person
5) To whom can RLH be directed?
2
Radiating Love for Healing is best practiced in direct personal contact, in
tandem with mutual expression. Most effectively, it is used with a person
with whom you can resonate, have mutual concern, and deeply wish for
their well being. However, it is possible to radiate love to soften dislike or
hurt.

6) Can RLH be used for self healing?

RLH as a self healing meditation is based on a body-mind-soul interconnection that
enables the harnessing of "energy" within our Central Nervous System and
consciously directs the flow. An interesting illustration in Israel was the "Circles of
Joy" message of cancer patient Dosi Rabinowitz . We will practice the technique of
healing our "inner child" through visualizing ourselves at a young age and
transmitting love and joy to heal.

3
 Molecules of Emotion – Candace Pert
Candace Pert (born 1946) is a psycho-pharmacologist who held a
research professorship in physiology and biophysics at Georgetown
University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. She published
over 250 scientific articles on peptides and their receptors.

Pert discovered that even tiny immune cells have receptors for
neuropeptides, which she calls the “molecules of emotion.”
Neuropeptides are molecular messengers that connect all systems of
the body. Every emotional state involves the release of
neuropeptides and other biochemical messengers thus connecting to
our physiology. Her message is that the "bodymind functions as a
psychosomatic network of information molecules to control health
and physiology".

Her books include Molecules of Emotion: the Science Behind

Mindbody Medicine, 1999 and a CD Psychosomatic Wellness:
Healing Your Bodymind. Her appearance in the film "What the Bleep
Do We Know?!" popularized her theories on consciousness,
neuropeptides and reality. Pert's book Everything You Need to Know
to Feel Go(o)d (2006) is "a journey into how mind, body, and spirit
are inseparable".

4
 Metta Loving Kindness Meditations
The idea of using meditation to "radiate love" for healing is often
associated with Buddhist traditions and mindfulness (Vipassana)
techniques. The Pali language has many words covering varying
shades of meaning for love. The word chosen by the Buddha for this
teaching is metta from mitta, a friend, or to be more exact, "the true
friend in need". In the Buddha's teachings the four kinds of
contemplation in fostering a sound pacific relationship to other living
beings are regarded as four sublime states ("noble abodes" or
"brahma viharas") that can and should be cultivated. The four
attitudinal qualities form the foundation of the Buddhist ethical
system and include: metta loving-kindness, karuna compassion,
mudita "gladness at others' success," and upekkha, "onlooking
equanimity." Another important practice is tonglen giving-and-taking
practice (Hofmann).

5
 Body-Mind Healing & Meditation
Dr. Bernie S. Siegel practiced general medicine and pediatric
surgery. In 1978, he started Exceptional Cancer Patients, ECaP, individual
and group therapy utilizing patients' dreams, drawings and images based on
"carefrontation," a loving, safe, therapeutic confrontation, which facilitates
personal change and healing. He explained how a positive attitude and an
ability to give and receive love can influence health, healing, and the
quality of life. Love, Medicine and Miracles : Lessons Learned about Self-
Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients , 1986. Peace,
Love and Healing : Bodymind Communication & the Path to Self-Healing: An
Exploration, New York, 1989.

6
Sharon Salzberg, Loving-Kindness Meditation
Sharon Salzberg, a meditation teacher and the founder of the Insight
Meditation Society in Massachusetts, focuses on a Buddhist practice that
emphasizes love, happiness, and compassion. Metta, "lovingkindness"
meditation, involves four phrases: "May I be free from danger"; "May I
have mental happiness"; "May I have physical happiness"; "May I have
ease of well-being." Sharon Salzberg teachs a 6 stage meditation drawn
from the Vipassana tradition to awaken compassion, even for those who
have hurt you, and free yourself from needless suffering. Her guided
meditation can be heard online at
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/32/story_3248_1.html Among her CD-
books: The Force of Kindness: Change Your Life with Love & Compassion,
2005. Among her books: Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of
Happiness, Shambhala, revised edition, 2002.

7
 Dr. Larry Dossey
http://www.dosseydossey.com/larry/articles.html Larry
Dossey is a Texas physician who has become an influential
advocate of the role of the mind in health and the role of
spirituality in healthcare. He is the former Executive Editor
of the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in
Health and Medicine. Before his book Healing Words was
published in 1993, only three U.S. medical schools had courses devoted to
exploring the role of religious practice and prayer in health; currently,
nearly 80 medical schools have instituted such courses. His 1989 book
Recovering the Soul introduced a concept of "nonlocal mind" -- mind
unconfined to the brain and body, spread infinitely throughout space and
time. The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things (2006); Healing
Beyond the Body (2001); Reinventing Medicine (1999); Be Careful What You
Pray For (1997); Prayer is Good Medicine (1996); Healing Words (1993);
Meaning & Medicine (1991); Recovering the Soul (1989); Beyond Illness
(1984); Space, Time and Medicine (1982). Historically, illness and health
have been viewed as "physical" issues: disease is due to malfunctioning
atoms, molecules, cells, and tissues; health is due to their proper
functioning. The mind and the body are seen as fundamentally separate.
Dr. Dossey shows that diseases cannot be understood without taking into
account the patient's mental state, emotions, thoughts, attitudes, and
perceived meanings.

8
 Mirror Neurons
Mirror neuron refers to a neuron which fires both when performing an action and when
observing the same action performed by another creature. Mirror neurons are active
when the monkeys perform certain tasks, but they also fire when the monkeys watch
someone else perform the same specific task. There is evidence that a similar
observation/action matching system exists in humans, and mirror neurons play an
explanatory role in understanding of imitation, empathy and language learning.
Is this mirror system a precursor of a simulation heuristic that might underlie
mindreading?

1) Recent Research
Marco Iacoboni and John C. Mazziotta 1, "Mirror neuron system: basic
findings and clinical applications," Annals of Neurology, 62, 3 (2007), pp.
213-218 – edited from the abstract:
Mirror neurons provide a simple neural mechanism for
understanding the actions of others. In humans, posterior inferior
frontal and rostral inferior parietal areas have mirror properties which
are relevant to imitative learning and social behavior. Strategies
inspired by mirror neuron research
recently have been used in the
treatment of autism and in motor
rehabilitation after stroke.

2) Where might mirror

neurons be located?
Inferior frontal lobe = lower part of the
blue area
Superior parietal lobe = upper part of the yellow area.

1
These researchers are at the school of medicine at the University of California,
Los Angeles. Iacoboni in the department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
and Mazziotta in the department of Neurology, Pharmacology, and Radiological
Sciences.
9
It is not normally possible to study single neurons in the human brain, so
scientists can not be certain that humans have mirror neurons. However, it
is hypothesized that these brain regions contain mirror neurons because
experiments using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), show
that these areas are active not only when a person performs an action
himself, but also when he sees another individual performing an action.

3) Monkey See, Monkey Do

Infant rhesus monkeys from 3 days old begin to reproduce human tongue
protrusion and lip smacking. By day 7, the monkeys tended to decrease lip
smacking when humans performed the gesture, and by 2 weeks, imitative
behavior stopped. The imitation period in humans and chimps is longer.
Below, a newborn macaque imitates tongue protrusion. Evolution of Neonatal
Imitation. Gross L, PLoS Biology vol. 4/9/2006, e311 , published Sep 5, 2006.
To see the file on real player copy/paste the link or click
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0040311

10
Empathy Neurons, Cells Read Minds?
1) Empathy Neurons
Mirror neurons have been linked to empathy, because these brain regions
are active not only when a person himself experiences an emotion (disgust,
happiness, pain, etc.) but also when viewing another person experiencing
an emotion. Interestingly, one study reports stronger MEG 2 responses
related to the mirror neuron system in women compared to men 3.

2) "Cells That Read Minds" by Sandra Blakeslee, The New York

Times Science section, January 10, 2006. For Internet versions see
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/science; query.nytimes.com/gst For a PDF version see
http://ilabs.washington.edu/news/NY_Times_Jan_06_Cells.pdf
a) Mirror neurons reveal how children learn, why people respond to
certain types of sports, dance, music and
art, why watching media violence may be
harmful and why many men like
pornography.

b) Dr. Andrew Meltzoff at the University of

Washington has published studies showing
that infants a few minutes old will stick
out their tongues at adults doing the same
thing. Human children are hard-wired for
imitation - their mirror neurons are involved in observing what others
do and practicing doing the same things.

c) Do therapists use their mirror neuron system to understand a client

and empathize? Is there a mirror neuron explanation for transference,
where clients ''transfer'' feelings from people in their lives onto a
therapist, and countertransference, where the therapist's reactions are
shaped by his own relationships.

d) Professional athletes and coaches, who use mental practice and

imagery, have exploited the brain's mirror properties perhaps without
knowing the biological basis because observation improves muscle
performance via mirror neurons. Fans of TV sports are hooked by mirror
neuron activation. Even in someone who has never played the

2
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an imaging technique used to measure the
magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain.
3
Y.W. Cheng, O.J.L. Tzeng, J. Decety, T. Imada, J. C. Hsieh, "Gender differences
in the human mirror system: A Magnetoencephalography Study," Neuroreport, July,
31;17 (11), 2006, pp.1115-1119.
11
particular sport, mirror neurons involved in running or swinging the arms
can be activated.

e) Is Autism related to broken mirror neurons? A study published in the

Jan. 6 issue of Nature Neuroscience by Mirella Dapretto, a neuroscientist
at U.C.L.A., found that while many people with autism can identify an
emotional expression, like sadness, on another person's face, or imitate
sad looks with their own faces, they do not feel the emotional
significance of the imitated emotion. From
observing other people, they do not know
what it feels like to be sad, angry, disgusted
or surprised.

3) Acquiring Language Skills

In humans, mirror neurons have been found in
the inferior frontal cortex, close to Broca's
area, a language region. This has led to
suggestions that human language evolved
from a gesture performance/understanding
system implemented in mirror neurons.

4) Christian Keysers and Luciano Fadiga, "The Mirror Neuron System: New
Frontiers," Social Neuroscience, vol. 3, issues 3-4, 2008, pp. 193-198. The
discovery of mirror neurons is one of the most exciting recent
breakthroughs in neuroscience, and opens a window into the neural
clockwork that allows us to understand other individuals and feel what
they are feeling. Not only does the sight of an action activate regions
involved in motor execution, but the sight of touch also activates
somatosensory regions and the perception of other people's emotions such
as pain, happiness and disgust activates regions involved in experiencing
similar emotions.

12
Mirror Neuron Debate: Ramachandran vs. Gopnik
1) Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, "Mirror Neurons and imitation learning
as the driving force behind 'the great leap forward' in human evolution,"
Edge, no. 69, May 29, 20004. Ramachandran is professor of psychology and
neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego and director, Center for
Brain and Cognition.
"I predict that mirror neurons will do for psychology what DNA did for
biology: they will provide a unifying framework and help explain a host
of mental abilities that have hitherto remained
mysterious and inaccessible to experiments".

The emergence of a sophisticated mirror neuron system

in early hominids set the stage for uniquely human
abilities such as proto-language, empathy, theory
of other minds, and the ability to adopt another's
point of view. The discovery of mirror neurons and
their relevance to human brain evolution "is the single
most important 'unreported' story of the decade".

2. V.S. Ramachandran, MIRROR NEURONS AND THE BRAIN IN THE

VAT, Jan. 12, 2006
a. Iaccomo Rizzolati and Vittorio Gallasse found that neurons in the ventral
premotor area of macaque monkeys will fire anytime a monkey performs a
complex action such as reaching for a peanut, pulling a lever, and pushing
a door. A subset will fire even when the monkey watches another monkey
perform the same action. The ventral premotor area may be a homologue
of the "Broca's area" — a brain center associated with the expressive and
syntactic aspects of language in humans.

b. Researchers at UCLA5 found that cells in the human anterior cingulate,

which normally fire when you poke the patient with a needle ("pain
neurons"), will also fire when the patient watches another patient
being poked. Mirror neurons seem to dissolve the barrier between self
and others. They can be called "empathy neurons" or "Dalai Llama
neurons". One wonders how mirror neurons of a masochist or sadist
respond.

c. Autism might be explained as a problem of mirror neurons, an inability

to understand or empathize with other people emotionally6.
4
See http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran/ramachandran_p1.html
5
M. Jacoboni, I. Molnar-Szakacs, V. Gallese, G. Buccino, J.C. Mazziotta, et al., "Grasping
the Intentions of Others with One's Own Mirror Neuron System", PLoS Biol 3, 3, 2005, e79.
6
Ramachandran: "Intriguingly, in 2000, Eric Altschuller, Jamie Pineda and I were able to
show (using EEG recordings) that autistic children lack the mirror neuron system and we
13
3. Gopnik, critical review
Alison Gopnik, "What the myth of mirror neurons gets wrong about the
human brain", posted April 26, 2007, Cells That Read Minds? For the Magazine
Slate's special issue on mind science and the state of neuro-culture, see
http://www.slate.com/id/2165001. For Gopnik's article see http://www.slate.com/id/2165123. Gopnik
is a professor of psychology at the University California at Berkeley, co-author of The
Scientist in the Crib, and author of the forthcoming How Children Change the World.

Gopnik is critical of the possibility "that we

can generalize directly from other animals to
people". She notes that "evidence for
individual mirror neurons comes entirely
from studies of macaque monkeys" who
"don't have language, they don't have
culture, and they don't understand other
animals' minds". Gopnik disputes the claim
that brain-imaging studies reveal human
mirror neurons - "Despite all the enthusiastic
press coverage, no one knows for sure if
humans even have mirror neurons. FMRI machines can't provide any
definite answers, because imaging studies don't measure the electrical
activity of individual neurons. They tell us about the oxygen use of sections
of the brain with many hundreds of thousands of individual neurons".

pointed out that this deficit may help explain the very symptoms that are unique to autism:
lack of empathy, theory of other minds, language skills, and imitation".
14
 A Healing Love Meditation7
1. Relax. Gradually relax your body. Breathe slowly through your
nose, using your diaphragm. Become ready to receive and send
Love, to be a channel for Infinite Love and Goodness.

2. Quiet your sub-vocal linguistic chatter. Open yourself to God's

Love. Ask His Guidance. Think of the person you wish to send
healing and love. Smile. Be here and now. Just Be. Shut out the
noisy world. Let go.

3. Be Ready to let Love flow from God's Boundless Unlimited

Treasure of Healing. Prepare to become a channel, a metaphorical
pipeline for Divine Healing. This intent can be expressed in a very
concise prayer such as the briefest prayer in the Bible – a 5 word,
11 syllable request of Moses for his sister Miriam, ‫אֵל נָא ְרפָא נָא לָּה‬,
"Please God, please heal her".
4. Let Empathy flow via mirror neurons. Don't think about the
particular danger or pain. Just intend for Love to flow as a stream
of Goodness. Visualize health and wholeness. Silently observe the
good that follows from a spontaneous flowing of Compassionate
Kindness.

5. Thanksgiving. Conclude with gratitude for life, breath, and

awareness.

7
Compare the meditative directives of Jim Marconnet, Love Energy Healing 101,
Jim-Marconnet@worldnet.att.net. See
www.experiencefestival.com/a/EnergyHealing.

15
 Shannon Peck, Love Heals
Shannon and Scott Peck co-founders of
TheLoveCenter, an educational organization
dedicated to "bringing all humanity into the heart of
Love", offer workshops on spiritual healing, love
skills, relationships and Love consciousness - "Our
vision is to raise universal love awareness &
awaken everyone to the joy of living as a Love
Master". They offer workshops on spiritual healing,
love skills, relationships and Love consciousness. See
www.thelovecenter.com
How to Heal Everything with Love, Solana Beach, California, 2003
Chapter Headings: Love Heals, Love is Universal & All-Inclusive, Your
Highest Self, Connecting with Love through Intuition; The Sacred
Space of Meditation; Prayer that Heals; Moving from False Beliefs to
Spiritual Wisdom; Healing Fear with Love’s Comfort; Love’s Reality;
Love’s Powerful Healing Energies; Tidal Wave Affirmations & Denials;
Empowering Healing Laws; Toxic Relationships & Healing; Your Life
Purpose & Abundance; Nothing is Impossible to Heal

Edited Excerpt from Chapter One, Love Heals Everything

From thousands of cases healed in my Love practice for
over 20 years, I have seen the successful application of the
tools offered in this book bring healing to incurable
diseases, including cancer in an advanced stage. I have
seen Love heal a young man in his thirties who was dying
of a hemorrhaging liver. I have seen the many hundreds of
times people have suffered from congestions, heart
problems, infections, injuries, pains, aches, inflammations,
swellings, as well as diseases. Love heals all that our hearts
are breaking from, including old hurts and wounds from
ways we were treated, abuse, regrets, fears, dreads, burdens, guilt, anger,
shame, grief, and so many other afflictions we suffer from. I have seen
people in desperate situations from financial crises, family relationship
crises, and health crises (acute and chronic) all healed.

16
Radiating Love to Others - Daily Mitzvah
Love to Others - Preface to the Daily Service
Under the influence of Safed Kabbalists, the mitzvah "to love one's fellow
man as oneself" was incorporated as a preface to the Daily Morning service
as recorded in Halakhic commentaries of the Shulkhan Arukh. R. Moshe
Cordevero ((1522-1570 and R. Hayim Vital (1542-1620) pictured this
mitzvah as a prerequisite to communal prayer to unite all souls together in a
communal love and concern, thus enabling prayer to properly move up
towards Heaven. In modern meditative practice this can become a daily
focus of mind and emotion towards wishing Good for the other, creating a
circle for Divine Influx to flow uninhibited to elevate and perfect, to sooth
and ameliorate.
R. Hayyim Vital, Gate of Kavvanot, 1b: Before one organizes his prayer in
the synagogue, he needs to accept upon himself the mitzvah of "loving your
fellow person as yourself", and he should intend to love each one of Israel
as he loves his own soul.
R. Avraham Halevi Gombiner (1637-1683), Magen Avraham, Shulhan
Arukh, Orach Hayyim, Hilchot Berakhot, 46: Before the morning prayer,
one should accept upon oneself the positive mitzvah of loving one's fellow
as oneself (source – Kavvanot of R. Hayyim Vital).

R. Shmuel Neta Halevi of Kolin, Mahatsit ha-shekel, comments on the

Magen Avraham: If God forbid, there is a divisiveness of hearts, then the
souls of Israel are not united above. But when each person accepts the
positive mitzvah of loving one's fellow, through their mutual love they are
physically in harmony below and bring spiritual unity in the Supernal
Universes. This idea is repeated by R. Shlomo Ganzfried (1804-1886) in
the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (12,2) who adds that by unifying the prayer in
love and harmony, it becomes accepted before God.

17
 8
Rebbe Elimelech - Prayer to See Good in the Other
‫ָאדם עַ ל לִ ֵּב נּו וְ ל ֹא ִק ְנָאתֵ נּו עַ ל אֲ חֵ ִרים‬
ָ ‫ וְ ֹלא ַי ֲעלֶה ִקנְַאת‬,‫וְ תַ ִּצ ילֵנּו ִמ ִּקנְ ַאת ִאיׁש מֵ ֵרעֵ הּו‬
.‫ ֵּת ן ּבְ לִ ּבֵ נּו ֶשּנִ ְראֶ ה ּכָ ל אֶ חָ ד מַ ֲעלַת חֲ בֵ ֵרינּו וְ ל ֹא חֶ ְסר ֹונָם‬,‫אַ ְּד ַרּבָ ה‬

Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717–1787):

Protect and shield us from jealousy between a person and his/her friend.
Let not jealousy enter our hearts and may others not be jealous of us.
On the contrary, place in our hearts the ability to see only the good in our
friends, and not their shortcomings!
May we instruct each other in the just and desirable way before You.
And may there be no hate between friends God forbid.

8
See "Mipeninei Noam Elimelech", translated and compiled by Tal Moshe
Zwecker Targum Press, 2008 http://www.targum.com/files/zweckerprayer.pdf .

18
 ‫‪9‬‬
‫האהבה צריכה להיטיב מבחינה רוחנית וחומרית לכל הבריות‬
‫אהבת הבריות צריכה להיות חיה בלב ובנשמה‪ ,‬אהבת כל האדם בייחוד ואהבת כל העמים כולם ‪,‬‬
‫‪10‬‬

‫חפץ עילוים ותקומתם הרוחנית והחומרית‪ ,‬והשנאה צריכה להיות רק על הרשעה והזוהמא‬
‫שבעולם‪ . 11‬אי אפשר כלל לבוא לידי רום הרוח של הֹודּו לַה' קִ ְראּו בִׁשְמו הֹודִ יעּו ָבעַּמִים ֲעלִילֹותָ יו‬
‫(תהילים ק"ה‪,‬א) בלא אהבה פנימית ממעמקי לב ונפש להיטיב לעמים כולם‪ ,‬לשפר את קנייניהם‪,‬‬
‫לאשר את חייהם‪.‬‬
‫‪Shemonah Kevatzim, I, 807, pg. 223 = Midot HaRayah, Love, pg. 94‬‬
‫‪The love of human beings must be alive in the heart and the soul, the love‬‬
‫‪of every person specifically, and the love of all the nations, the desire for‬‬
‫‪their elevation and spiritual and material welfare; hatred must be directed‬‬
‫‪only toward wickedness and filth in the world. It is totally impossible to‬‬
‫‪attain the lofty spiritedness of “Praise God, call upon His Name, proclaim‬‬
‫‪among the nations His wonders” [Ps. 105:1], without an inner love, from the‬‬
‫‪depths of heart and soul, to benefit all nations, to improve their estate, to‬‬
‫‪ameliorate their lives.‬‬
‫‪Compare trans. in Benjamin Ish Shalom and Shalom Rosenberg, The World of Rav‬‬
‫‪Kook’s Thought, translators Shalom Carmy and Bernard Moses Casper, Jerusalem,‬‬
‫‪1991, pg. 57.‬‬
‫הראי"ה קוק‪" ,‬שמונה קבצים"‪ ,‬קובץ ב‪ ,‬סעיף צט‪ ,‬עמ' רפ = "ערפלי טוהר"‪ ,‬עמ' לט‬
‫הרעיון של הצדקת הדור נוטל מקום בלב לסבול לפעמים ייסורים הממרקים עוון כדי לזכות‬
‫את הדור‪ ....‬וכשמצד אחד מתרבים עוונות שמורידים את הנשמות למחשכים‪,‬‬
‫מתגברים הצדיקים לצחצח את רוחם לשאיפות נשגבות מאד‪ ,‬בהפלגה גדולה‪.‬‬
‫‪ ...‬וחפצים הם בכל לב שבתפילתם יוכללו כל פושעים‪...‬‬
‫וחפץ זה פועל הוא ברוב חילו‪ ,‬ומעדן הוא בלא ידיעה מצד המקבלים נפשות רבות‪,‬‬
‫ומפרנס אותן בדרך מופלא‪ ,‬למעלה מהסדר הרגיל‪ ,‬כי אם בכוחם של צדיקים יסודי עולם‪,‬‬
‫הַמְ מַ ְּלטִים‪ 12‬אִי נָקִי ְּבב ֹר כפיהם‪.13‬‬
‫על כן הצדיקים הטהורים אינם קובלים על הרשעה‪ ,‬אלא מוסיפים צדק‪,‬‬
‫אינם קובלים על הכפירה‪ ,‬אלא מוסיפים אמונה‪,‬‬
‫אינם קובלים על הבערות‪ ,‬אלא מוסיפים חכמה‪.‬‬

‫‪" 9‬שמונה קבצים"‪ ,‬א‪,‬תתז‪ ,‬עמ' רכג (= "מידות הראיה"‪ ,‬אהבה‪ ,‬סעיף ה‪ ,‬עמ' צד)‪.‬‬
‫‪ 10‬השוו ר' חיים ויטאל‪" ,‬שערי קדושה"‪ ,‬חלק א‪ ,‬שער ה‪ ,‬בביאור מדרגת החסיד‪" ,‬ויאהב את כל הבריות‬
‫אפילו גויים"‪.‬‬
‫‪ 11‬על שנאת הרשעה לפי הראי"ה ראו "שמונה קבצים"‪ ,‬קובץ ח‪ ,‬סעיף רכח‪ ,‬עמ' תעג‪.‬‬
‫‪ 12‬השורש הוא מילוט כמו בפסוק הַמְמַ ְּלטִים אֶת נַפְׁשְָך הַּיֹום וְאֵת נֶפֶׁש ָּבנֶיָך ּובְנ ֹתֶ יָך (שמואל ב‪,‬י"ט‪,‬ו)‪.‬‬
‫‪ 13‬על‪-‬פי פסוק באיוב כ"ב‪,‬ל (יְמַ ֵּלט אִ י נָקִי ְונִמְ לַט ְּבב ֹר ַּכֶּפיָך ְּבב ֹר ַּכֶּפיָך)‪ .‬הכוונה היא בטוהר כפיים‬
‫כמו נְקִ י ַכ ַּפי ִם ּובַר ֵלבָב (תהילים כ"ד‪ ,‬ד)‪ .‬ראו מסכת תענית כ"ג‪ ,‬ע"א בפירוש של חכמים מלשכת‬
‫הגזית לחוני המעגל על תפילותיו‪ :‬יְמֵַּלט אִ י נָקִ י ‪ -‬דור שלא היה נקי מילטתו בתפילתך‪ְ ,‬ונִמְ לַט ְּבב ֹר‬
‫ַּכֶּפיָך ‪ -‬מילטתו במעשה ידיך הברורין‪.‬‬
‫‪19‬‬
 Meditation to Cultivate Compassionate Love
Jean L. Kristeller & Thomas Johnson, "Cultivating Loving-
Kindness: A Two-Stage Model for the Effects of Meditation
on Compassion, Altruism and Spirituality", Zygon: Journal
of Religion and Science, volume 40, Number 2, June 2005 ,
pp. 391-40714.

Jean L. Kristeller & Thomas Johnson, professors of

psychology, direct The Center for the Study of Health,
Religion, and Spirituality at Indiana State University. They advocate using
meditation to cultivate experiences of compassion, empathy, and altruism. In
a two-stage meditative practice, they suggest suspending mundane thoughts
such as the immediate self-protective and self-gratifying needs, and reducing
the ruminations involved in analysis and everyday social discourse. The
nerve cells are thus liberated from their usual irrelevant synaptic clutter.
When the conscious mind is no longer responding from unfulfilled desires,
there will be relaxation and an enhanced sense of well-being.

The second meditative step is to focus on the innate "universal human

capacity for altruistic experience, love, and compassion". The loving
kindness practice starts with compassion towards the self, with short phrases
while in a meditative state: May I be free from suffering. May I find my joy.
May I be filled with love. May I be at peace. These phrases are repeated with
a shift of focus to a friend, then to a neutral person, and finally to someone
with whom we experience interpersonal difficulties, even an enemy. At the
end, this compassion is radiated to all sentient beings 15.

14
See also their paper presented at the Conference Scientific and Religious
Perspectives on Altruism, Philadelphia, PA
www.metanexus.net/conference2003/pdf/WOLPaper_Kristeller_Jean.pdf.
15
S. Bodian, Meditation for dummies, Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide,
Inc., 1999. P. Monaghen, & E. G. Derrick, Meditation: the complete guide,
Novato, CA: New World Library, 1999.

20
Mood Contagion - Limbic Resonance
1. A General Theory of Love is a book about the science of human
emotions and biological psychiatry written by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini
and Richard Lannon, psychiatry professors at the University of California,
San Francisco, and published by Random House, 2000. New editions
appeared 2001 and 2007.
The book surveys emotions and particularly intimacy and love, from Freud
through modern neuroscience, with a focus on understanding the limbic
brain and personality. The authors suggest that beginning in earliest
childhood, the limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic
nuclei, and limbic cortex) is affected by those closest to us (limbic
resonance) and synchronizes with them (limbic regulation) in a way that
has profound implications for personality and lifelong emotional health.
Therapy is effective not so much by virtue of the underlying theory but to
the degree to which the therapist is able to empathetically modify these set
patterns (limbic revision).

2. Limbic Resonance and Successful Parenting

Gloria Degaetano, Parenting Well in a Media Age: Keeping Our Kids
Human, Personhood Press, 2004, pp. 66-67
Children learn to empathize with others when they feel understood and
loved in infancy and early childhood. Limbic health means the child
becomes capable of being in healthy intimate relationships as an adult….
Brain researchers are now uncovering the fact, that in a bonding emotional
love relationship a phenomenon exists called limbic resonance. This is a
special attunement between two or more people which brings comfort and
shared meaning. Their limbic brains, or emotional centers, harmonize.
Limbic resonance, for instance, takes place when two lovers cuddle. It's not
about sex. It is about being in each other's arms and breathing in sync with
each other. Before long there is a relaxation response and both bodies begin
to relate in accord with each other. As the emotional centers of both brains
resonate, each person experiences a meaningful relatedness. Similarly
holding and lovingly touching our babies brings about limbic resonance
and spurs important brain growth. At birth, a baby's brain holds millions of
unconnected cells. Human touch is absolutely necessary to help these cells
connect.

21
3. Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal
Teachings of Buddhist Psychology, Random House, Inc., 2008, pg. 17.
Each time we meet another human being and honor their dignity, we help
those around us. Their hearts resonate with ours in exactly the same way
the strings of an unplucked violin vibrate with the sounds of a violin played
nearby. Western psychology has documented this phenomenon of 'mood
contagion' or limbic resonance. If a person filled with panic or hatred walks
into a room, we feel it immediately, and unless we are very mindful, that
person's negative state will begin to overtake our own. When a joyfully
expressive person walks into a room, we can feel that state as well

22