Hope in the Jewish tradition is expressed most fervently in "salvation history," or the notion that God acts in history in a saving, covenantal relationship. Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism is an historical tradition, with great weight put on the ways God communicates with humanity. A covenant, or berit in Hebrew, is a vow, promise, contract, agreement, or pact. This extremely important biblical concept was commonly used to express Yahweh's purposeful relationship with an individual or nation. Beginning with creation, God communicates with people,
62 Creativity, Spirituality, and Mental Health
offering blessings, protection, and guidance. In the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh initiates four major convenants, all designed to express God's graciousness in voluntary binding Godself to a person or people. One source of Jewish hope thus is derived from the covenant between people and divinity based on communal faithfulness. God's ultimate goal in this context is universal unification.
In terms of individual healing, Jewish mysticism offers a path through the Kabbalah. As Kramer (2003) suggests, this text shows one how to clarify pathways for inner guidance, teach methods to transform consciousness, and guide everyday actions. The ancient tree of life, comprising the ten faces (spherot) of G-d, reflect our own many faces. Kramer writes:
Having faith in life is one of the most important attributes of human life. We need to embrace feelings of hope and to believe in new possibilities for our futures. Without this positive frame of mind, we would not be motivated to continue to act in responsible ways. We each need to feel that some light exists at the end of our own individual tunnels. Most human beings are blocked in some way in that imbalance is often not recognized. We all have dark shadow sides of ourselves. Our task is to find balance in our lives, (p. 103)
Kramer suggests meditative practices to foster balance in one's life. After determining which quality on the Tree of Life needs to be emphasized, exercises are done using imagination to cultivate the particular quality in one's life.
