Q&A: Definition of Mysticism
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Definition of Mysticism
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I watched the recording of your first lecture on mysticism.
In the lecture, the Rabbi was looking for a suitable definition of the term “mysticism.”
I wanted to ask what the Rabbi thinks about the definition on Wikipedia. Why is that definition not suitable, if indeed it isn’t?
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%94
Thank you
Answer
A foolish definition. In fact, there isn’t really any definition there at all. I explained well in the lecture why this is nonsense.
I’m adding here the references that Yossi Laor sent:
In the English Wikipedia, the entry “Mysticism,” which parallels the Hebrew entry “Mysticism,” deals mainly with faith and religions. The entry “mystical experience” is a small section within the entry
“Scholarly approaches to mysticism.”
In Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/mysticism
mysticism is defined as:
the practice of religious ecstasies (religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness)
In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/
they define it as:
‘Mysticism’ is best thought of as a constellation of distinctive practices, discourses, texts, institutions, traditions, and experiences aimed at human transformation, variously defined.