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Session Eight
Hasidism
They asked Reb Pinchas of Koretz, "Why do people all look so different?"
He answered: "Because they're in the image of God." You can serve God by fasting. And you can serve God by eating.
So... Why not eat?
of Your Soul
Whether we like it or not, most of us are living our Jewish lives
in a post-halakhic way. Many traditional Jewish teachings about
how to live are basically irrelevant to us, because they assume
that we are following all the traditional rules, or at least trying
to, whereas in fact we're not. Many traditional teachings also
assume that we're part of a community which has fairly clear standards.
But many of us live far more individualistic lives than that.
Hasidic teachings are helpful in this post-halakhic context, because they recognize
and celebrate the individual's freedom of choice and the fact
that the right thing to do may be different for different people
at different times. These teachings have often been controversial
in the traditional religious world because they tend to undermine
the halakhah. They may be just as disturbing, though, to liberal
Jews, because they take our freedom and the responsibilities it
brings so seriously: we are free, because each person has the
task of connecting with God according to "the root of their own
soul".
The following examples are mostly borrowed from an important article
by Yehoshua Mondshine of Jerusalem, "The Fluidity of Categories
in Hasidism". I highly recommend reading the whole article, which
can be found in the book Hasidism Reappraised, edited by Ada Rapaport-Albert (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1996), pages
301-320.
Mondshine writes: "One can envisage a computer operating a halakhic
programme which will guide the individual from birth to death,
resolve all his doubts, and bring him to the life of the next
world clean of all trace of sin and laden with Torah and mitzvot"
(page 303). This would be the ideal for some understandings of
traditional Judaism -- but not for some of the great Hasidic teachers.
They take the halakhah very seriously as the usual expression of what God wants from Jews; this is why Hasidism
is now considered a branch of Orthodox Judaism, not Reform. But
the halakhah will not provide the right answer for every person
all of the time. Each of us is responsible to try to respond to
God's desire in the moment.
The halakhah is that one may not give more than a fifth of one's
wealth to tsedakah (charity). Many of the Rebbes gave away much
more. Reb Mendel of Vizhnitz said: "I would rather go to hell
for disobeying the Sages than go to heaven by depriving the poor."
The Baal Shem Tov said: "The halakhah sets no limit on spending
money for pleasure; my pleasure is giving tsedakah." (See Mondshine,
p. 309)
The Yid ha-Kodesh (the "holy Jew", Rebbe of Psishcha) said: "In
the service of God there are no rules, including this one." (Mondshine
313)
Once Rebbe Naftali of Ropschits gave a disciple a detailed list
of instructions for how to spend his days -- when to study, when
to pray, and so on. As the disciple was leaving, the Rebbe called
him back and said, "Of course, sometimes, you have to do the exact
opposite." (Mondshine 313)
Rebbe Elimelech of Dinov writes:
"We have a tradition handed down by righteous people, whereby
no day is like another, and sometimes what is done one day is
a mitzvah and the next day the same thing is a sin... and no hour
is like another... You should understand this, for it is impossible
to expound everything in writing; but one who understands, will
understand." (Translation Mondshine 306)
Then how do we know what to do or not do? The halakhah, and guidance
from teachers, are usually considered safe to fall back on --
but only usually. In the end there's no substitute for wisdom
-- which comes with trial and error. Some teachers emphasize developing
your ability to hear the inner voice. For example: If you have
an impulse to be generous -- follow it if you possibly can. Paying
attention to such impulses can help you to be aware of promptings
of the Divine voice within you in more subtle matters. Others
stress the importance of checking your motives and thinking over
each action in a spirit of clear self-knowledge. The whole enterprise
is risky -- but not to be worried about too much. As in the famous
saying (and song) of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov: "The whole world
is an extremely narrow bridge. And the main thing is not to be
afraid at all." I've heard from Neila Carlebach a Hasidic teaching
that as the angels look down from heaven and watch us make all
kinds of mistakes, they're not saying, "Oy! Oy! Look at the terrible
places Justin is going, how he's going astray and leaving the
right path!" Instead, they're laughing with joy and saying, "Look!
Justin is finding a new path to God!"
The Rebbe of Kotsk said to his friend the Rebbe of Vorka, "I hear
that you have learned the secret of silence. Please tell me about
it." The Vorker didn't answer.
