Any accounts of Jews having spiritual experiences?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Many Christians will say they have felt the spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, enter them. They will have spiritual experiences where they are overwhelmed with love and joy; which results in an outpouring of love and joy; which mends their behavior and actions.

As I was listening to “King Without a Crown” by Matisyahu, who is a Jewish singer, I admired the lyrics, as it’s very relatable from a Christian perspective.

*You’re all that I have and you’re all that I need"
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
I want to be close to you, yes, I’m so hungry
You’re like water for my soul when it gets thirsty

Without you there’s no me, you’re the air that I breathe
Sometimes the world is dark and I just can’t see
With these demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity
But I believe, yes I believe, I said, ?I believe?

I’ll stand on my own two feet, won’t be brought down on one knee
I’ll fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee
Hashem’s rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Hashem’s rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe

Any jews feel God in a loving and powerful way? A love so strong, it guides their life in all situations?

2

Well I’m guessing your not counting Moses, Jesus, Saul etc.

3

Yes, in Exodus 3.

Wait, are you talking about recent accounts? What counts as recent?

4

Oh, sorry,
I was hoping for modern accounts, not biblical references.

5

I’ve moved this from General Questions to IMHO, as it is asking for opinions.

I’ve also deleted much of the quoted lyrics as a copyright violation.

samclem, MOderator

6

Yes. “[Feeling] God in a loving and powerful way” is what motivated the development of Hasidic Judaism—to which movement, incidentally, Matisyahu belonged (Chabad-Lubavitch). I think he has somewhat distanced himself, although not entirely, from Hasidism.

This isn’t to say that this feeling is absent in non-Hasidic Jewish communities, but rather that Hasidic Judaism came about with this sort of spirituality directly in mind.

Likewise:

This is true for Evangelical Protestants and Pentecostals, but not really for Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, or many Mainline Protestants.

7

Charismatic & other mysticism-oriented Catholics & Orthodox would beg to differ.

8

Because this is a thread on Jewish spirituality, it probably shouldn’t metamorphose into one about Christianity. The main point of my remark was to note that the kind of spirituality the OP posited as emblematic of Christianity is actually only one kind of many found in the Christian tradition and that there are large and historic traditions where it is not a central feature.

In a thread that compares Jewish spirituality to Christian spirituality, it seems pertinent to point out that the particular form of Christian spirituality being used as the focal point of the distinction is only one particular form of it.

9

Speaking of personal spiritual experiences, I once bought a cheese danish that looked uncannily like Benjamin Netanyahu.

What an appetite-killer that was.

10

My Aunt Doris’ brisket often evoked a spiritual experience. That woman could cook.

11

The quoted lyrics and last two posts all back up what I was going to say - that our spiritual experiences have to do with food.
The closest I’ve come was at the end of a day of fasting and popping up and down in shul on Yom Kippur. But in general those groups who do more “spiritual” things don’t seem to have the respect that Christian groups have. Perhaps it comes from not wanting to draw attention to ourselves?