Knish Wars

Rabbi Dovid Sears, Director of the Breslov Center for Spirituality and Inner Growth, and author of many books on Jewish thought provided the material for the posting below.

Question:

Are there fundamental differences of emunos ve-de'os (basic theological beliefs) that divide Chassidim from non-Chassidim? Or are the main differences those of emphasis and spirit?

Answer:

Reb Noson once observed, "The difference between a Chassid and a Misnaged is the difference between a hot knish and a cold knish." We all have the same Yiddishkeit, the same Shulchan Aruch. So I would say that the latter part of your question is nearer the truth -- although we cannot gloss over differences of emphasis and spirit, either.

My teacher, Rav Elazar Kenig of Tzefat, has often said, "All the pnimiyus ha-Torah we study is only meant to help us to learn the same blatt Gemora with more emes and more geshmak!"

Reb Elazar's father, Rabbi Gedaliah Kenig, zal, addressed this issue in his book-length essay, "Chayei Nefesh," Chapter 4. There, he states:

"We maintain that it is impossible that there could be any contradiction between [Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin's] holy words and the premises of Chassidism. For I have received a tradition from the house of my father and master [Rabbi Elazar Mordechai Kenig, after whom the present Rav of the Tzefat Breslev community, shlita, is named], as well as from the house of my teacher [Rabbi Avraham Sternhartz, zatzal], that the issues in the dispute between the Chassidim and the scholars known as the P'rushim did not touch upon the principles and foundations of our religion. In fact, these principles and foundations of our holy faith are beyond dispute. All Jews share the same underlying faith in the absolute unity of the Creator, may He be blessed, in Divine Providence, in His holy Torah, and in His faithful servants, who are the Prophets and Sages, the true tzaddikim of every generation, and in their holy words that are spoken in truth. This is the very foundation of the entire Torah, both Written Torah and the Oral Torah. Since the words of the Sefer Nefesh HaChaim mentioned above deal with fundamental and essential matters of our holy faith, then clearly it is impossible to conjecture that the Chassidim, may God protect and bless them, say or think otherwise, heaven forbid."

Some say that there is a dispute over the kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum, the Chassidim following the view of "tzimtzum she-lo ke-pshuto," and the Misnagdim following that of "tzimtzum ke-pshuto." There is much discussion about this in the Chabad seforim in particular. However, the idea of tzimtzum she-lo ke-pshuto did not originate with the Baal Shem Tov, but appears in earlier sources. And the concept of tzimtzum ke-pshuto, to which the Vilna Gaon and other great kabbalists in the non-Chassidic world subscribed, was rejected by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the author of Nefesh HaChaim. So we can't even say that this constitutes a real dividing line between the two movements.

Yet the distinctions between the various schools of Chassidus and the various "Litvishe" approaches also need to be recognized and appreciated for what they are.

The Litvishe approach tends to be more focussed on intensive Torah study, particularly of Gemara and Poskim, keeping the Kabbalah pretty much under wraps for all but a small elite. It takes a more rationalist approach overall; does not foster the same attitude of bittul toward tzaddikim and teachers; and allows the critical intellect to remain dominant, within the confines of basic emunos ve-de'os. Additionally, in modern times, the yeshiva has become the unifying factor in Litvishe communities, as contrasted with the Chassidic "courts," which revolve around the figure of the Rebbe, and which tend to be intensely close-knit.

Rabbi Nachman praised the Chassidic Rebbes for preserving the traditional Jewish form of dress and appearance, and for keeping their followers distant from secularism (chokhmos chitzoniyos) (see Chayei Moharan 421). He also praised the early Chassidim for their fiery enthusiasm in prayer, which he wanted his talmidim to emulate (Chayei Moharan 79; Tovos Zikhronos 5).

In addition, Chassidim have traditionally placed greater emphasis on matters of kedushah (sanctity of body and mind), including regular use of mikveh before davenning, etc. They also have placed greater stress on hiskashrus / attachment to tzaddikim; on ahavas Yisrael, which eliminated some of the elitist tendencies of the Litvishe world; and on deveykus / mystical attachment to Hashem as a serious goal in the spiritual life of the average person. Although these points of emphasis have gone in and out of focus over the course of time, they are still recognizable in the Chassidic world.

These are the roots of the seemingly opposite polarities of the "cold knish" and "hot knish." However, despite the implicit value judgment in Reb Noson's comparison, he is clearly stating that the contents are the same -- although I don't know if he identified the Universal Orthodox Knish as kasha or potato.

asimplejew.blogspot.com/2006/03/guest-posting-from-rabbi-dovid-sears.html

Giving thanks helps your psychological outlook

Nov 22, 9:12 PM (ET)

BY SETH BORENSTEIN


WASHINGTON (AP) - Count your blessings this Thanksgiving. It's good for you.

While it seems pretty obvious that gratitude is a positive emotion, psychologists for decades rarely delved into the science of giving thanks. But in the last several years they have, learning in many experiments that it is one of humanity's most powerful emotions. It makes you happier and can change your attitude about life, like an emotional reset button.

Especially in hard times, like these.

Beyond proving that being grateful helps you, psychologists also are trying to figure out the brain chemistry behind gratitude and the best ways of showing it.

"Oprah was right," said University of Miami psychology professor Michael McCullough, who has studied people who are asked to be regularly thankful. "When you are stopping and counting your blessings, you are sort of hijacking your emotional system."

And he means hijacking it from out of a funk into a good place. A very good place. Research by McCullough and others finds that giving thanks is a potent emotion that feeds on itself, almost the equivalent of being victorious. It could be called a vicious circle, but it's anything but vicious.

He said psychologists used to underestimate the strength of simple gratitude: "It does make people happier ... It's that incredible feeling."

One of the reasons why gratitude works so well is that it connects us with others, McCullough said. That's why when you give thanks it should be more heartfelt and personal instead of a terse thank you note for a gift or a hastily run-through grace before dinner, psychologists say.

Chicago area psychologist and self-help book author Maryann Troiani said she starts getting clients on gratitude gradually, sometimes just by limiting their complaints to two whines a session. Then she eventually gets them to log good things that happened to them in gratitude journals: "Gratitude really changes your attitude and your outlook on life."

Gratitude journals or diaries, in which people list weekly or nightly what they are thankful for, are becoming regular therapy tools.

And in those journals, it is important to focus more on the people you are grateful for, said Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis. Concentrate on what life would be without the good things - especially people such as spouses - in your life and how you are grateful they are there, he said.

Grateful people "feel more alert, alive, interested, enthusiastic. They also feel more connected to others," said Emmons, who has written two books on the science of gratitude and often studies the effects of those gratitude diaries.

"Gratitude also serves as a stress buffer," Emmons said in an e-mail interview. "Grateful people are less likely to experience envy, anger, resentment, regret and other unpleasant states that produce stress."

Scientists are not just looking at the emotions behind gratitude but the nuts-and-bolts physiology as well.

Preliminary theories look at the brain chemistry and hormones in the blood and neurotransmitters in the brain that are connected to feelings of gratitude, Emmons said. And the left prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is also associated with positive emotions like love and compassion, seems to be a key spot, especially in Buddhist monks, Emmons said.

However it works in the brain, Emmons said there is little doubt that it works.

Emmons, who has conducted several studies on people from ages 12 to 80, including those with neuromuscular disease, asked volunteers to keep daily or weekly gratitude diaries. Another group listed hassles, and others just recorded random events. He noticed a significant and consistent difference. About three-quarters of the people studied who regularly counted their blessings scored higher in happiness tests and some even showed improvements in amounts of sleep and exercise.

Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan studied different gratitude methods and found the biggest immediate improvement in happiness scores was among people who were given one week to write and deliver in person a letter of gratitude to someone who had been especially kind to them, but was never thanked. That emotional health boost was large, but it didn't last over the weeks and months to come.

Peterson also asked people to write down nightly three things that went well that day and why that went well. That took longer to show any difference in happiness scores over control groups, but after one month the results were significantly better and they stayed better through six months.

Peterson said it worked so well that he is adopted it in his daily life, writing from-the-heart thank you notes, logging his feelings of gratitude: "It was very beneficial for me. I was much more cheerful."

At the University of North Carolina, Sara Algoe studied the interaction between cancer patients and their support group, especially when acts of gratitude were made. Like Peterson, she saw the effects last well over a month and she saw the feedback cycle that McCullough described.

"It must be really powerful," Algoe said.

It has to be potent to combat gloom many may be feeling in such uncertain times.

There have been many Thanksgivings throughout history that might challenge society's ability to be grateful. The first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims came after about half of the Plymouth colony died in the first year. Thanksgiving became a national holiday in the United States when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it in 1863 during the Civil War, the deadliest war the country has ever known. And the holiday moved to the fourth Thursday in November during the tail end of the Great Depression.

Emmons actually encourages people to "think of your worst moments, your sorrows, your losses, your sadness and then remember that here you are, able to remember them. You got through the worst day of your life ... remember the bad things, then look to see where you are."

That grace amid difficulty motif may make this Thanksgiving especially meaningful, McCullough said.

"In order to be grateful for something, we have to remember that something good happened," Peterson said. "It's important to remind ourselves that the world doesn't always suck."

---

apnews.myway.com/article/20111123/D9R65D881.html

Thanks for that zemmy .

If we only had kavanah for those meah brachos.  I guess we need training wheels.

Giraffes make me go hmmmmm

all giraffes? or only Belzer giraffes?

hmmmmmmmm
gitte kasha
hmmmmmm


buckwheat anyone?

ZemirosShabbos wrote:


I am still taking licorice -- I hope to regain my sobriety. I need to take much much more potassium containing food.

The Ramba"m says that the sun is 170 times the size of the earth.

Hmmmmmm......

Zemmy, could be just my mood but that's one of the funniest things I've ever read.

cordnoy wrote:


The Sun is 864,400 miles (1,391,000 kilometers) across. This is about 109 times the diameter of Earth. The Sun weighs about 333,000 times as much as Earth. It is so large that about 1,300,000 planet Earths can fit inside of it.

I repeat.....Hmmmmmm......

ZemirosShabbos wrote:

This is seriously bad news.
Is 5g of licorice a problem or 5g of the active ingredient?

since the Rambam's times the sun has put on some weight, a middle age paunch?

shlomo613 wrote:


R76 (I believe) is the resident expert on this.....or was it someone else?

It's gonna have major implications on my diet