HABAD TEACHINGS on prayer give a personal, individualistic dimension to the life of the hasid, as do Bratslav teachings on hitbodedut. Further, Habad teachings on contemplation, particularly in the twentieth century, constitute an interesting form of response to modernity: a reaching into the deep spiritual resources of hasidism in order to confront a changing world. However, would spiritually demanding systems of contemplation be relevant to the average member of the hasidic community? Does Habad contemplation lead away from the world or towards it? Such issues are discussed in this chapter together with consideration of examples of the contemplative individual, who, rather than being a lone mystic, fulfils a significant role in Habad society as a mashpia, spiritual guide, seeking to bond people together and maintain awareness of spiritual values.

PRAYER WAS IMPORTANT for all branches of early hasidism. However, a distinctive feature of the Habad approach in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was the endeavour to create and popularize one or more contemplative systems. At this early period tracts on contemplation were compiled by Rabbi Shneur Zalman, his son R. Dov Ber, known as the Mitteler Rebbe, and the latter's rival, R. Aaron of Starosselye (1766–1828).

The first part of this chapter explores the paradox implicit in this task. A system of contemplation suitable for an elite group of men of stature may well be unsuitable for the needs of a wider echelon of society. Indeed we find that Rabbi Dov Ber of Lubavitch felt forced to rein in many of his followers and substitute a more simple and accessible path. However, it is striking that at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a revival of some intense varieties of spiritual quest which previously had seemed inadvisable. This development in Habad- Lubavitch was itself a response to modernity. One had to be something: Zionist, Bundist, contemplative. It was an intense period in Russia leading to global changes in world history and powerful transformations in Jewish history.

The second part of the chapter considers the social ramifications of contemplative prayer in the context of modernity and postmodernity. What is contemplative prayer? Otherworldly mysticism or love of one's fellow?