Anonymous

Posted as a comment to my previous post:
anonymous said...
"The Enemy Within" - Rabi (sic) Twerski -
Those who believe have no questions and for those who don't believe there are no answers!!

If you believe so strongly in beliefs, what do you think of a little boy born to Muslim fascists and grows up believing he should kill people? If there is something wrong with his beliefs that his parents taught him, maybe there's something wrong with your beliefs that your parents taught you. ( "Ah, but my beliefs are true...") And if there is nothing wrong with his beliefs of blowing people up, then I don't want to have anything to do with something so destructive as belief. Not even your so innocently *true* ones.

The problem, as I see it, is that you're reading Rabbi Twerski before reading more fundamental works, such as the Tanya. If you would flip it open to chapter 18 you would come to understand the Jewish definition of belief, and then maybe you wouldn't be so prone to take Rabbi Twerski's words so grossly out of context.

Belief, or Faith, according to Judaism, is discovering one's-self. If you apply this principle to the subject at hand, you will find that Faith will actually substantiate my view, as was mentioned in another comment, that the "depth (core) of a Chassid is Rebbe." A Chassid who believes, i.e. discovers his core, has found the Rebbe.

In this light, allow me to quote from Rabbi Twerski (albeit out of context): "Those who believe have no questions and for those who don't believe there are no answers."

Truth Hurts

As long as we’re not asking the questions, we can disillusion ourselves to think we have satisfactory answers.
We don’t ask what exactly happened on Gimmel Tammuz. We don’t question if the Rebbe is still with us. We don’t wonder how we will continue now.
We’re encouraged not to ask. It’s a funny thing, because Chabad has always been about asking. But now, they don’t have any answers for us. So we’re pressured to just accept what we’re told: The Rebbe “left us, but only physically” on Gimmel Tammuz. And: of course the Rebbe is still with us! Guiding us, leading us, connecting with us, even answering us in his mysterious ways. And the way we continue is by realizing that the Rebbe is “still” with us, and he “still” gives us the strength we need to continue doing what he wants us to do. We must bond with the Rebbe, and “we still can”, even in these dark, dark times.

And we leave it at that. We’re too scared of what we might find when we delve a little deeper, so we just accept what we’re told is right.
But there’s something we must realize: this is good enough for the previous generation, the one that lived it. They can pretend they’re still living it. That it’s still whatever their imagination wants it to be. That nothing changed. But we, the new generation, who were conditioned to feel guilty about not knowing the Rebbe, to feel bad about not being involved in a lifestyle in which everything revolved around the Rebbe, we can’t pretend. These beliefs won’t work anymore.
So we can continue to make believe we’re satisfied with what they tell us, or we can finally ask the questions that must be asked.

Before we even start, let’s put things into perspective. According to Chassidus, everything a Rebbe gives the world can be categorized into three general qualities:
1. A Rebbe is an example of G-dliness on earth, inspiring us to fulfill G-d’s will
2. A Rebbe leads and guides his people, giving them answers to question they ask, don’t ask, and don’t even think to ask
3. The sustenance of the entire world with everything and everyone in it flows through a Rebbe’s blessing

The third quality is inherently a spiritual one. We can’t see the sustenance of the world, let alone its source and how it’s distributed. But the first two: inspiration and guidance, those are directly for us to perceive and benefit from. And if we cannot perceive or benefit from them, they are non-existent. If it’s not inspiring, it’s not inspiration. If it’s not guiding, there’s no guide. This is the definition of these qualities.
Since Gimmel Tammuz, the day of the Rebbe’s passing, we are missing these two qualities; the two reasons we, physical people who perceive physical things, have a Rebbe!
It’s true, after a Tzaddik’s passing he is even more involved with his people’s needs, even more influential in the world. Unfortunately though, that’s only from his perspective.
From the perspective of Chassidim, now that the Rebbe has passed away, the holy person who gave us inspiration is gone. The great man who guided us can no longer speak. The first two reasons we have a Rebbe are no longer existent. We are left with one third of a Rebbe.
But that’s impossible! A world without inspiration and without guidance will fall apart! How are we to fulfill our mission without motivation? How can we do what’s right if we don’t know what is right? It’s impossible.
This is the million dollar question of our generation. But instead of dealing with this problem, some people choose to ignore it. They don’t think about the fact that we’re missing at least two thirds of our Rebbe, because it’s too scary a thought for them to think.
Even worse, others say they have the inspiration, and they have the guidance. They fail to see a difference between the inspiration their parents received from the Rebbe and the inspiration they receive. They can’t differentiate between the way the Rebbe answered the previous generation and the way the Rebbe answers them. They don’t need a Rebbe.

Thirteen years have come and gone since the Rebbe’s passing. It’s time to grow up and stop fooling ourselves. It’s time to recognize where we are, and what we are doing. It’s time to accept reality, not as we would like it to be, but as it is. It’s time to get answers.
I finally read an article that,-in my opinion- asked the questions, faced the reality, and gave the answers. Here is an excerpt from Windows by Tzvi Freeman:
“The answer is that each one of us must find our window now. The tzaddik within. The place where the tzaddik and the student are no longer two beings.
That is the whole purpose. For all of time and all of creation was directed to this point: a point when the people no longer look above for G-dliness to pour down from the heavens but search for that G-dliness within themselves, within the people of the earth who belong to the earth. When heaven has reached earth and speaks from within it. From within each one of us.
The tzaddik has shown us where to look.”

The Rebbe did leave us, but not before he charged us with a responsibility. The Rebbe made us leaders, and gave us the power to accomplish what he said he could not. The Rebbe entrusted us with the most sacred mission in the history of mankind: his own mission. Most people think the Rebbe didn’t leave a successor. But he did: You and I. We Chassidim, collectively, have succeeded the Rebbe’s position.
In our generation, it is not so important to know whether the Rebbe is with us. It is mostly irrelevant to attempt to live as if the Rebbe was with us. And it is a waste of time to cry about the fact that the Rebbe is not with us.
In a time like this, the only thing which remains relevant is to become a Rebbe ourselves. We must complete the job that the Rebbe started, but did not finish. The Rebbe entrusted us with a mission; not to see us sit down and cry, but to see us get up and do it.

What happened on Gimmel Tammuz? The Rebbe passed away, but not before he put us in charge of his vision.
Is the Rebbe still with us? In our reality, no. However, he empowered all of us to replace his role in this world, and do everything necessary to complete what he set out to accomplish.
How do we continue now? We have to divorce ourselves from the idea that the Rebbe must still be with us, and instead focus on what the Rebbe entrusted us with.

When I first thought about these ideas, I too, was scared of what I would find. But now that I see the implications, it’s obvious to me that this is the only way we can continue. If we persist to consciously “need” the Rebbe, we will lose motivation slowly, as the span between the Rebbe and the present, grows. Young Lubavitchers, just like tens of generations before them, grow up being taught that having a Rebbe is the only true way to practice Judaism. But nowadays, unlike those generations, they eventually come to the realization that we don’t have a Rebbe. The results are inevitable.
If we will understand, and teach our children, that we -they- are now filling the role of Rebbe, that we have a responsibility to the world that no average person has ever had before, and that therefore we are not average people at all, we will be motivated and empowered not only to continue what the Rebbe set us out to do, but ultimately fulfill the purpose for which the entire world was created, when Hashem’s Glory will be infinitely revealed, and we will be re-united with the Rebbe, very soon.

Now

I'll write something now.
I've decided to begin updating this blog again. Watch this space.

Now

You want me to write something now?! Yeah. Like that's happening.

But I did want let you know that after much deliberation, I have decided that a criminal would not be purely Chessed as I previously stated/thought, rather there are other emotional factors mixed in. Mind you, Chessed is still a major player.
Please stay tuned. This thought is not yet finished...

Emotions, Third installment

Gettin’ the drift? Feelin’ the breeze? Ridin’ the wave? Whatever man.

Netzach is expansion in relation to others. In other words: once he recognizes that there actually is another, as opposed to Chessed, to whom everyone is but an extension of himself. Being that Netzach recognizes another, yet still tries to expand, that expansion is inevitably at the expense of the other. The basic example for this would be competition. The player recognizes the opponent, and tries to win, but at his expense (the loser doesn’t win. doh). A good Netzach will succeed phenomenally. He will be highly respected, but not necessarily loved.

Quite the opposite is the Hod. He reduces (contracts) himself in a social environment. That means he has more room in his heart for you than for himself. He is kind, soft-spoken quiet, and listens well. Everyone loves him. But here’s something to chew over: without a good dose of Chessed, Hod will have a hard time loving back.

So that pretty much covers the rights and lefts of emotions. On with the program.

Society

Did you know that Judaism doesn’t place any restrictions on children? Don’t you think that’s phenomenal?

In our society, you must be 18 or older to do certain things. Is it morally correct for an 18 year old to do them, but not morally correct for a 12 year old? How can something be right just because you’re older? The reason there’s this age thing, then, is because a younger person, due to his age, “cannot make proper choices”. But an adult, due to his age, can make improper choices?!

Why can’t a child smoke? Why can’t a child drink? Is it unhealthy only if you’re under the age of 18 or 21? Or is it because adults are allowed to make improper choices, but children are unable make proper choices? Explain that one to me.

In Judaism it’s perfectly opposite. Whereas an adult is not allowed to make improper choices, such as violate the written law, a child is. And even when there are restrictions placed upon children, it's solely for educational purposes. In other words, a child is prohibited to do only the things prohibited to an adult too. Phenomenal, eh?

Know it, love it.

Pickle

Did you realize that I didn’t include “good and bad” in my list of opposites a while back? Do you have any idea why? I didn’t know exactly why either. Until now*.

You see, good and bad cannot be characterized in terms of right and left. It just doesn’t work. You see, bad really has nothing to do with anything besides itself. Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, deemed it proper to command that certain actions should not be done, and that when a person does such an action, that will be called “bad”.

Bad is in the realm of doing. Doing is in the realm of choice. You can ask if doing is right or left. You can ask if choice is right or left. But you can’t ask if bad is right or left. The definition of bad is: a certain action based on a conscious decision. Is that right or left? It depends what the action is! It depends what the decision was! And even then: it's the nature of the action or decision which can be categorized, not the "badness" of it.

Take the action of killing, for example. Killing is not bad unless it's done to another human being. Then it's bad. But it's the exact same action whether it's killing an animal for food, or killing a man out of revenge. The action is the same. And we could categorize the action if we were knowledgable enough. But just because you added the word "bad" to it due to a circumstantial change (person as opposed to animal), that doesn't alter the nature of the action. The action is what's being characterized, not the badness of it. Hey! I just said that at the end of the previous paragraph.

Don’t you see? Bad is not based in any type of color or flavor. It is dry as a wrung out pickle. It’s as hypothetical as your dog scratching it’s ear (if you don’t own a dog (or if the dog you own doesn’t have ears)). It is nothing until it happens. And even then it’s nothing. Just plain bad.

I can’t explain myself any more than I already haven’t. So long.


*edit: work in progress.

Emotions, Part 2

So you can see that things aren’t always as they seem. A Chessed may be very gracious, but did you notice he’s not considerate? A Chessed would make for a great friend, but he’s not very friendly. Basically, what I’m trying to say is I wasn’t in an explaining-things-mode yesterday.

But back to the issue at hand: Chessed is on the right because it is expanding my world. I go over to you and shake your hand. You were just added to my contact list. My contact list is my world. The bigger it is, the bigger my world is. So I shook your hand. Now I pull out a ten dollar bill and hand it to you. Not only are you on my list, but your family is on my list. Your mortgage is my mortgage, and so on. Your world is my world. On to the next person. I shake your hand and smile. You have just been added to my ever-growing world. Chessed. The personal emotion of expansion.

Gevurah is precisely the opposite. It is on the left for it’s contraction. It puts up barriers between my world and yours. And the barriers form a territory as small as I can handle without going insane. I want only the things I need. And even then, they should be in order. I don’t want a big, messy, world. I’m organized, clean, and neat. I’m just trying to make my own little space feel perfect. After that’s done, maybe I’ll be available for your community projects. Gevurah is the personal emotion of contraction.

Emotions, Part 1

Don’t read this post.

Now let’s tackle the emotional qualities:
There are two types of emotional qualities:
1) Personal/Emotional -how one feels regardless of social interactivity
2) Reactive/Functional -how one feels in reaction to or in relation with social interactivity

On the Personal/Emotional level, there are:
Chessed- commonly translated as ‘kindness’ or ‘attraction’ on the right, and
Gevurah- commonly translated as ‘severity’ or ‘rejection’ on the left.

And on the Reactive/Functional level, we have:
Netzach- commonly translated as ‘victory’ or ‘competitive’ on the right, with
Hod- commonly translated as ‘submissive’ or ‘devoted’ on the left.

Example: A person who gives tzedakah out of the kindness of his heart is acting upon a personal emotion, Chessed. One who lays a kind hand on the shoulder of his friend and comforts him is acting upon a reactive (socially interactive) emotion, Hod.
Or: Someone who secludes himself for a period of time and meditates is acting upon a personal emotion, Gevurah. One who creates division/seclusion by maintaining an elite-ness about himself as opposed to others, is acting upon an interactive or functional emotion, Netzach.

Break for coffee.