Habadim

Habadim (or rather Chabadim), a subdivision of the Jewish sect of Chasidim, founded by rabbi Solomon, in the government of Mohilef, in the 18th century. The name is composed of the initial letters of the three Hebrew words, דעת, בינה, חכמה, "wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge." They may not improperly be termed the "Jewish Quietists," as their peculiarity consists in the rejection of external forms and the complete abandonment of the mind to abstraction and contemplation. Instead of the baptisms customary among the Jews, they go through the signs without the use of the element, and consider it their duty to disengage themselves as much as possible from matter, because of its tendency to clog the mind in its ascent to the supreme source of intelligence. In prayer they make no use of words, but simply place themselves in the attitude of supplication, and exercise themselves in mental ejaculations.