The Power of the Imagination       
by Velvel "Wally" Spiegler  

As everyone gathers around the dinner table each Friday night, they behold a table set with fine china and ritual objects on white linen. The table is not decorated for esthetic reasons, but as a reminder of the holy Temple in Jerusalem. The table accessories brings forth memories of the altar, the lit candles represent the menorah, the loaves of challah are the bread of display as commanded in Exodus 25:30 and the wine symbolizes the libation offering required for every sacrificial rite. Those of us who gaze upon this Friday spectacle and see it as the ancient sacrificial altar exercise the power of their imagination, and absorb the holiness of that scene.

Man is the only species of God’s creation blessed with the power of the imagination, a faculty that we utilize for physical survival and spiritual growth. Judaism bases so much of its authority on imaginative scenes. Take for example the well-known prescription in the Passover Haggadah when we’re told that “in every generation each individual is bound to consider himself as if he personally had gone forth out of Egypt”.  The use of imagination in Jewish literature is limitless. In the synagogue we do a lot of ‘standing up and sitting down’. We stand primarily when the ark is opened, in order to experience ourselves in a spiritually elevated state. We go even higher when we rise on our toes as the hassan recites, “kadosh, kadosh, kadosh—holy, holy, holy. The mussaf (the additional service of Shabbat and each of the three Festivals) visually describes the scene of the sacrificial ritual assigned to that particular day. This list can go on and on, but it shouldn’t take much thought on your part to come up with lots more.

The use of imagination in Jewish heritage is so far-reaching that it would be difficult to find important aspects of Jewish tradition where the imaginative mind does not come into play. It is widely accepted that the Prophets relied upon their imaginative faculty to receive God’s messages for His people. It’s not a coincidence that each Prophet’s teaching is similar to the others, only the language differed as the mind pictures of each Prophet varied.

The imagination plays a vital role in physical and emotional healing. What we run through our minds has its effect on the body—otherwise known as the medically accepted, mind/body connection. In addition, healers know that they can alter negative energy patterns (the precursors of illness) that runs through the body to effect healing, utilizing thought pictures that they create in their minds. The newly emerging science of psychoneuroimmunology, in other words how you think determines your level of stress, which ultimately affects how your immune system combats disease.  Recent research has demonstrated that hormones and neurotransmitters released under stress can change immune cell behavior. There is much written material on how we can heal the body by simply visualizing scenes like picturing imaginary healing tools working on my body or my body becoming whole and healthy again. We can heal emotional problems by conceiving the repair of something broken dreams, disappointing relationships, or unbearable grief.

What is imagination? It is the mental faculty of forming images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. Imagination is closely related to daydreaming and fantasy. Our education system is deeply invested in training children to further their rational abilities, though the intense study of mathematics, science and history. Consequently they frown on flights of fantasy and put far less value on imagination than on cognitive skills. We’re taught that reason is more important than imagination. It is not surprising that children soon give up being imaginative, never realizing that successful adult life requires a balance between the features of the left brain with those of the right: reason with imagination. The study of Jewish tradition, with its imaginative practices, is dedicated to furthering creative competence, which is necessary to solve the ever-present problems of day to day living.

As we approach maturity, we find it more and more difficult to form mental images. In some of us the talent has been suppressed to a greater degree. But we can all relearn the art of imagination, by practicing ways to develop imaginative skills like role-playing and seeing it through in your mind’s eye. As an illustration, try to imagine that you are Moses; what would you say and do one you learned that the Israelites constructed a golden calf in your absence.

Spiritually, we can see ourselves drawing closer to God during moments of prayer, we can visualize ourselves released from bondage, or freed of the constraints that prevent us from living life fully; we don’t have to be stuck in our past history. We can picture ourselves redeemed from society’s values, which promotes a life filled with stress and tension. We can behold ourselves turning from too much reliance on the external world to our inner world, as we engage in the process of T’shuvah (returning home again). All it takes is creating pictures in our minds of what we would like to actualize in reality.  We can picture ourselves in balance with the flow of the universe—Shabbat and the Festivals, when we cease from our labor to come in contact with the divine harmony.   We can see God in all people, in nature, in objects created my man’s technology; we can even see ourselves walking in God’s image.

Furthermore, we can intensify the effects of any mitzvah with the use of our minds. We can find Shabbat peace and serenity strolling amidst noisy downtown traffic, just by focusing our minds on tranquility. Or we can envision ourselves at rest even though we’re cheering for our kids at a soccer game. What we can’t do is visualize the totality of God’s universe, like the blind men who were asked to describe and elephant—one said is a long wrinkled tube and another thought it was like a tree trunk. We can’t see the entire picture because we are an integral part of it, but as we keep on imagining we see more and more.