Introduction to Ophanim Yoga

This book is a practical guide to learning Ophanim, based on several years of teaching experience. It offers, for the first time in millennia, a system of physical expression in Judaism which is aligned with the mystical tradition. At whatever level one is interested—exploring the mysteries of the Hebrew letters, developing the ability to meditate, mental renewal and stability, physical revitalization and flexibility, improved breathing or relaxation—Ophanim has something valuable to offer. With the current interest in Kabalah, many people have turned to the intellectual study of ideas. For many people the intellectual approach is not readily digestible, yet they desire to experience something real, accessible on a beginner’s level. Ophanim is a powerful and rapid way to unify and stabilize your mind and be able to access your own inner voice, knowledge from the heights/depths of your own soul. It is also called a “Prayer of the Body”. You can enjoy the benefits of doing Ophanim without any requirement to study Kabalah or to be formally religious. You may, however, be surprised to see such things in a new light.

What Ophanim Is

Ophanim is a system for the practical application of the creative power of the Hebrew letters in the realm of the body, integrating soul-mind-breath-body.

Ophanim is the name for a specific system of “sacred” physical postures and internal exercises which are based on the Hebrew alphabet and Jewish mystical tradition (Kabalah). It has some features in common with Indian Hatha yoga and pranayama and Chinese internal exercises but is in several important ways completely different and unique. It can be called a kind of Jewish “yoga” (in Hebrew: yichud, unification) in the true sense of a practice which simultaneously unifies and renews the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical sides of man. It works with only a relatively few postures in a specific order based on the earliest Jewish mystical text called the Sefer Yetzira (the Book of Creation/Formation). The letter-postures in Ophanim are not just physical poses; they are a system for communication within ones soul and with the world. Ophanim functions as a physical exercise; breathing practice; meditation on breath, body awareness, and internal sound; attunement with the creation; clearing of the mind; and renewal of internal energy. It is comparable to the Chinese chi-kung exercises in terms of renewing internal energy.

The name “Ophanim” means “Angels of Form”. It is the plural of ophan meaning wheel or circle, and by extension “regular patterns”. In the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, it refers to the “wheels” or lowest level of the divine merkavah (chariot) or spiritual hierarchy, which are the interface between the spiritual and physical dimensions. In practical terms, the Ophanim are the spiritual archetypes of the forms and patterns in time, space, and being which make up the physical world. Such luminaries of the Jewish mystical tradition as Rabbi Chaim Vital and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov have stated the equivalence of the Ophanim with the Hebrew letters and physical bodies. In Ophanim we work with the Hebrew letter archetypes to harmonize the energies in the body, develop the communication within the levels of the soul and make the body a better vessel to contain and express the light of the soul.

We call the postures of Ophanim “sacred” because they are much more than just useful exercise forms. They are the physical manifestations and embodiments of “angels”, messengers or messages originating in the Will of the Divine Source. To do the postures is to practice an expressive language of the body which (re-)enacts letter by letter the ongoing structure of the world and harmonizes the soul with the larger creation. On a psychological level working with the letters helps to develop a bridge of communication between the most interior and most exterior parts of the soul. A person is more able to listen and to distinguish their inner voice, the voice of God within. In terms of physical health and healing, the letter postures revitalize and harmonize all of the energy channels of the body. This effect is usually the first to be noticed.

Ophanim presents the return of a form of “yoga”, a practice of the unification of soul, body and world, which, according to the Kabalists, goes back to the creation of man and is considered to be part of the universal heritage of humanity. Ophanim has broad similarities with many eastern systems of yoga, internal exercise, and meditation, but it is clearly rooted in the ideas and practices of the Jewish mystical tradition. Although it may sound complex, the postures of Ophanim constitute a much simpler system than modern systems of Indian yoga. A person does Ophanim to the extent of their personal ability and comfort. The emphasis is intrinsically more on the meditative practice than the physical stretching or exercise. The Ophanim system consists of 27 (22 regular letters and 5 finals) postures with some variations. A basic set includes five constant postures plus two others selected according to the month and day of the week. Other postures may be done for specific mental or physical healing or for a more intensive practice. A basic set takes from 15-25 minutes. From this comes a sense of well-being, soul-body harmony, and increased internal energy which is simultaneously a meditation on the name of God, and a “prayer of the body.”

It says in the Bible that Adam was created in the “image of God” and that God breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life” or “living soul” (nefesh hahayyim). The “image of God” is immanent in the human form, where it is most perfectly expressed. Jewish tradition is emphatic that we cannot speak of God having any form whatsoever. In the Kabalah, there is an abstract diagram called the “Tree of Life”, a structure consisting of 10 conceptual stages or emanations (sefirot), which explains how a completely transcendant God brings about created worlds. In the Kabalah, this diagram is often found superimposed on the image of a human body with a specific reference of each sefirah to a part of the body. In the Zohar, in a number of places, the Hebrew letter Vav is called the “Tree of Life”. In Ophanim, when a person does the “inner exercise” with the letter-posture for Vav, all of the ten locations (sefirot) of awareness in the human body are in the positions corresponding to the “Tree of Life.” All of the other letter-postures have distinctly different configurations of these ten internal centers which give the letters their particular energetic qualities. Our conscious breathing of the name of God in the “inner exercise,” parallels the continuing action of God breathing into man the “breath of life”. There is thus an experiential dimension in Ophanim to know and feel the meaning of “man being created in the image of God” and becoming a “living soul”. It is the basis for self-renewal with each breath.

The structure of Ophanim is based on the Sefer Yetzira, the earliest known text of the Kabalah. The book explains the creation and maintenance of the world by means of the Hebrew letters, how every facet of creation in respect to time, space, and being or consciousness is rooted in certain letters. In doing Ophanim every letter-posture has correspondences to different elemental energies and parts of the body. The practice involves receiving and consciously directing an influx of vitality through the body while doing the postures in order to harmonize and restore these energies. According to the Kabalah, man is meant in a central way to co-operate and communicate with the creation through working with the letters, to name, to understand and to co-create. One form of this communication or attunement is accomplished in Ophanim by practicing the letters in a certain order, which includes doing certain “constant” (meaning always active) letters, and those which are done according to the specific month and day. Ophanim is a way to both interact with and explore the abstract concepts of the Sefer Yetzira in the realm of the body, the most external part of the “soul.”

The “inner exercise” consists of a meditation technique working with a specific breathing, body awareness, and mental vocalization all related to the Hebrew name of God written with the letters “Yud–Heh”. This name is familiar to many from the Hebrew “Hallelu-Ya-H” which means “praise God (Ya-H)”. It is one of the most important Divine Names in Hebrew. The reason for working with the name Ya-H is that this name refers to the attribute of Divine Wisdom (Chochmah), whose function is to bring about constant renewal at every level of the creation. We can renew ourselves completely, each moment, breath by breath, through activating this attribute within.

How Ophanim Works

There are three levels of the soul (at an individual level) which are spoken of in Judaism: nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. All three, linguistically, are related to roots having to do with breath or wind. While one can speak of three levels as if they were really distinct, there is another sense in which “soul” is completely one, including the body. It is in this sense that the terms yichud or yoga have their full meaning, referring to the unification of all the “parts” within the whole. It can be helpful to explain how such a practice as Ophanim works by referring to the three levels of the soul, keeping in mind that, fundamentally, the soul is one. Nefesh (translated: soul, life, mind, breath, self) is the most external level of soul which refers to the physical body itself, to the everyday mental screen of awareness, and to the life energy which animates the body. Ruach (translated: “spirit” or wind) is the middle level of soul which has to do with communication, (ruach hakodesh translated: “holy spirit”), speech, and the emotions, the feeling of God-within (inspiration, enthusiasm). Neshamah (translated: soul or higher soul) is the deepest level of the individual soul as a pure spark of God. The work of unification is to bring the light of the neshamah to shine into and dwell integrally in the nefesh.

The techniques for unification used in Ophanim relate to the three levels of the soul in this way. The “inner exercise” described in chapter two relates to the level of neshamah as King David wrote in the last verse of the Psalms: “the whole soul praises the name Ya-H, praise Ya-H,” (col haneshamah tehallel Ya-H halleluYa-H). Included in this work is rhythmic (10/5) breathing of the name Ya-H; mental vocalizing of the name Ya-H; and awareness of the body while breathing in terms of the ten sefirot and the heart (yud=10 sefirot, heh=5=Binah=heart), which is another reference to the name Ya-H expressed in the body. The letter-postures and combinations relate to the level of ruach, of holy “signs”, expressing themselves in the nefesh. Ruach bridges the neshamah and nefesh. It carries messages from the neshamah and an inspired emotional energy to the nefesh. When done with the “inner exercise” the letter combinations renew and balance the vital energy in the body, harmonizing it to be a suitable dwelling place for the higher levels. Since we start out in Ophanim at the level of nefesh, basic awareness of the body, breath, and mental space, we are able to experience in this level the influence or inclusion of the two higher levels, to the point where they become one entirely. So it is that the practice of Hebrew or Kabalistic “yoga” called Ophanim is a prayer and meditation of the name of God unifying all levels of the soul (col haneshamah).

Where Ophanim Comes From

Kabalistic tradition starting with the Sefer Yetzira

The Sefer Yetzira is one of the primary texts in the study of Kabalah. It is comparable to an Indian sutra in its terseness (versions range from 1300 to 2500 words), reputed age, and need for commentaries. It is ascribed traditionally to the Patriarch Avraham and many great teachers have written commentaries on it. It is also the theoretical source for much of the Western traditions of astrology and magic. The discussion here is based on the “Gra” version (1800 words long). The Sefer Yetzirah devotes most of the first chapter to mention of the Ten Sefirot, expressed in a profoundly beautiful, but highly figurative, language which is practically incomprehensible without a commentary. The discussion turns to the primordial element of “one breath”, then “breath from breath”, then “water from breath”, and “fire from water” which relate to the mother letters and to that “breath” which precedes them. Chapters two through five introduce the 22 Hebrew letters telling how they participate in the creation of the world, and how man is directed to work with them, albeit in a highly technical and abstruse manner. The letters are divided into three groups: “three mothers”, “seven doubles” and “twelve simples (elementals)”. Each letter has an energy– air, water, fire, or earth, qualities, ranging from general to specific. Each letter has an expression in three dimensions: time (shanah), space (olam), and being/consciousness (nefesh). Beyond the first level of the text where it can be described as the primary book of Jewish “natural science” (by Yehuda Halevi in the Sefer Kuzari), the book is the basis for multiple systems of meditation and “co-creation” working with the Hebrew letters. For anyone seriously interested the best introduction to this subject in English is the translation and commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

Tradition of Jewish Meditation

Meditation in all its many forms can be asserted to belong to the basic mental faculties of humanity (like dreaming, mental imagery, and other non-intellectual mental functions) and as such to have existed in some form in all cultures from the beginning. In modern terms we can speak of meditation as bringing about a shift from left-sided, verbal/analytical to right-sided, holistic brain functioning, and to the unification of both hemispheres’ functions. A multitude of techniques have been employed to facilitate this shift including the use of: physical exercises and postures, work with the breath, exercises of attention and concentration, use of mental imagery and sound, ritual (for example the Japanese tea ceremony), fasting, drugs, and physical exhaustion. In Judaism, for public knowledge, the evidence on meditative practices has only just recently been documented. There are indications of meditative practices in the Hebrew Bible and in the writings of the Prophets and explicit instructions in the writings of the Kabalists and Chassidic masters. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan wrote several books which document this tradition, including: Innerspace, Meditation and the Bible and Meditation and Kabbalah. The interested reader is encouraged to study these books.

The basic definition and initial aim of Jewish meditation is “stabilizing the mind” called in Hebrew “yishuv hada’at”. This means reaching a state of mind which is settled, awake, clear, relaxed, and renewed. The basic purpose of Jewish meditation has been traditionally as a preparation for prayer starting from the “First” Chassidim mentioned in the Talmud (Berachot 32B) continuing through to the (New) Chassidism of Eastern Europe initiated by the Baal Shem Tov and his students. What makes the techniques intrinsically “Jewish” is the central part played by the Hebrew letters in general and certain names of God in particular. Hebrew is understood as the language of the soul, the root of all human languages. It is an essential means for communication, transcending the consciousness of separation between man and God and between our everyday awareness and deeper levels of our soul. The Hebrew letters are “keys” which greatly assist in the process of clearing and stabilizing the mind.

Beyond the basic aim of Jewish meditation stated above, there is an endless ladder of ascent of the soul indicated in the traditions of Jewish meditation. It is an extremely important area of spiritual practice for the people chosen to be “a light to the nations,” a “nation of Kohanim (priests)” and Prophets. As Moses said in the Torah (Numbers, 11:29): “Would that all the people of God were Prophets”. The prospective student must be prepared before undertaking such an inner journey. Even for great sages, the outcome is not always safe or certain as in the famous Talmudic story of the “four who entered the garden.” (Chagigah 14B).

Modern Re-emergence

In our time, the re-emergence of the practice of Ophanim is the outcome of the combined efforts of two great modern Kabalists, of blessed memory, who lived in Israel through the 1970’s, Shoshanah Weingrove and Rav Gedalyah Aharon Koenig. Shoshanah is well-known for her creation of a flowing dance based on the shapes of the Hebrew letters. She also discovered the principles of doing still-forms of the letters in an order based on the Sefer Yetzirah which are the basis of Ophanim. Rav Gedalyah was a great teacher of Breslov Chassidism and Kabalah who influenced an entire generation of seekers. Under his guidance, a system of meditation and Shoshanah’s researches were passed on to the chain of teachers and students who have continued teaching Ophanim until now.

How To Use This Book

One of the basic principles of learning found in the Torah is stated as “do and understand” (na’aseh v’nishma); understanding comes after experience, after one has already been engaged in doing something. This book is intended to present the practical instructions and advice for doing the Hebrew meditation/“yoga” called Ophanim. If a person approaches the book only in theory, however much it succeeds in impressing or failing to impress in terms of its possible truth, beauty or usefulness, he or she will not have any personal knowledge to go by. A few minutes of actual practice which is within reach of almost anyone, regardless of physical condition and previous training, goes a long way toward resolving theoretical questions. With this in mind, the book begins with teaching how to do the essential inner exercise in Ophanim, then presents the groups of letter-postures according to the scheme of the Sefer Yetzirah. It is advisable to learn the stages of the inner exercise first, one by one. You are advised to practice them comfortably either standing (see the Vav, page 48) or sitting (see the Mem, page 22). If you wish you can start to practice the letter poses while you are still learning to do and integrate the stages of the inner exercise. The final chapter goes into some theoretical background on Kabalah and Hebrew-Hindu connections and concludes. Appendices are added to correlate the Hebrew months to the Western calendar, and to suggest texts in English for further study.

Continue to Basic Instructions →