Saturday, October 27, 2012
Finding your path
Confession: Lately I have been struggling with my Avodas Hashem. I have not really wanted to get up for davening, I haven't really been davening period, and getting up even on Shabbos has been non existant. It has been horrible, I have really struggled. Thankfully I have been shomer Shabbos, and shomer Kashrut, which is a good thing since my job depends on it. Lately, due to events in my life that I will not share about here, maybe ever, I have found myself more interested in the mussar path within Judaism, and have shied away from Chassidus for now, not totally mind you, just not front and center. Both movements place emphasis on a person's relationship with Hashem, but focus on different aspects of it. Once I understand the goals of both more, I look to discuss more in depth, but for now, I will leave it at the fact that Chassidus in general focuses on the greatness of Hashem, whereas Musar looks more at the lowliness of a person, although, Slobadka focuses on the greatness a person could attain.
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Hi.
ReplyDeleteIf you loved Chassidus so much, as you write in your "About Me" blurb, I hope you reconsider your decision.
Whatever the events in your personal life, which I'm sure were very difficult for you, and I sympathise, they don't change the awesome holiness of the Baal Shem Tov and his students and of the teachings that they left specifically for us to use in our service of Hashem now.
Also, we learn from the lights of Chanukah that one should always rise higher in holiness. Chassidus provides a much deeper path in serving Hashem, providing insights based on the Sefiros, the levels of the Neshamah, the deeper significance of the Mitzvos, and so on, which Mussar, though also a legitimate path, lacks.
Moreover, in particular considering the low state that you describe yourself to be in, it would seem to me that you need more of the uplifting positive energy of Chassidus than what you yourself describe as Mussar's focus on "the lowliness of a person."
May you have only blessings in all areas!
Thank you for your reply, an update is to follow shortly :)
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