CHASSIDIC CREATIVITY, NEW AGEISM & FRUSTRATION – A RESPONSE

Posted at mentalblog.com, Thread: Originality in the Charedi world or dozen tomatoes

Schneur writes:
…There is little originality left in the Charedi world. If you are an original person, you will be labeled a meshugener and will have issues in shidduchim, etc. I recall Reb Michel Abehsera describing the Orthodox world like a dozen tomatoes genetically produced to look the same color, size and shape… …And many of the so called Shluchim who do the Chabad House circuit are speaking not about Chassidic ideas but rather they advertise Chassidic ideas. What they talk about is either straight out of the self help genre in Pop Psychology or Religious (New Age) psychology of which there are hundreds of similar books in Christian book stores or they are trying to copy the success of the Kabbalah Centers and teach Kabbalah to control your life, etc. But few teach chassiduth…

----------------

Berl responds:

"Creativity & the "Baal Shem Tov revolution": I think the entire premise/expectation that the multitudes of the Jewish people can turn into original creative thinkers and lofty spiritual seekers is both unrealistic & wrong. Such an outlook smacks of a utopian world view that flies in the face of human nature (G-d’s creation). I always thought that the core message of the Baal Shem Tov’s was quite the opposite – "Jew, no matter how "mediocre" you or others think you to be, your sincere performance of the mitzvos, your heart-felt prayer are near and dear to G-d!" Creativity is important, to be sure. But the kind of creativity discussed here is, by definition, the lot of the few. Those that were endowed by the Creator with such intellectual and spiritual abilities are responsible to strive high and should not "stop at the age of 21". But I would submit to you that such people are few. And they are few among the sheluchim as well – as to be expected! For a simpler person, creativity could mean "translating" chassidus into their own language ( בלשון המשפיעים - אייגענע אותיות ). That brings me to the other topic:

New Ageism & the Mechanical sichos: Translating the ideas contained in chassidus into one’s own language is true when teaching as well. Everything depends on the audience. There are people who are inspired by the "Divine plan for the Jewish people" – and they should be told that. But, sadly, there are many Jews today who speak the language of the New Age and do not feel any emotional connection to the Jewish people. They need to be reached as well. One way of reaching them is translating the ideas contained in chassidus into that language. The test is not in how these lectures sound to Schneur or how often the lecturer mentions "Rabbi, Judaism, Mitzvoth", but whether this actually causes these Jews to take on the observance of mitzvos! And the fact is – it does that. As to the mechanical repetition of sichos (as off-putting as it is), this too finds an audience for whom the strength and power of the ideas contained therein shines through.

Frustration with the above: Dissatisfaction is inevitable for people that attend the wrong lecture hall. A man that belongs in Reb Yoel’s shiur should not expect to be happy with the typical Chabad House speech.

berl, crown heights 06.01.05 - 1:02 pm Link: #