[Avodah] Challenge: Finding Spirituality w/o Qabbalah

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Rich Wolpoe wrote:

> My friend's thesis is that Judaism w/o Qabbalah or Hassidus
> is mechanical and lifeless. And so he challenged me as
> follows: To List aspects of Jewish Spirituality that were
> devoid of Qaballah or Hassidus.

What do you (or he) mean by "Jewish Spirituality"?

I love saying Kiddush on Friday night. It truly makes me feel a deep connection to the Creator, and it is the high point of my week. Is this not Jewish Spirituality?

Any reading of history -- be it in Tanach or even in our daily lives -- which shows me how HaShem is "pulling the strings" and sending things and people to their destiny, is to me a demonstration of the relationship between the spiritual world and the physical world. Does that count?

If we believe that Mitzvos Bein Adam L'chaveiro are not merely to keep society orderly and liveable, but are also part of the Divine Law and are simultaneously Bein Adam L'Makom, then doesn't one feel spirituality in simply saying "Hello" to one's friend? And kal vachomer when one puts some effort into a more difficult mitzva, like avoiding Lashon Hara or avoiding a grudge?

If we were in a world devoid of Kabalah and devoid of Chasidus, would these things be mere rote actions? Would they simply be facets of our "religion"? I sure hope not. Rather, they would still be vehicles for raising our spirituality, wouldn't they?

On the other hand, I must loudly agree with the comment of R' Simon Montagu, who wrote:

> Discussions of this kind inevitably degenerate
> into the "no true Scotsman" argument
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman.

Indeed, we've experienced this exact phenomenon here whenever anyone has offered their opinion of what counts as a "left-winger" or "right-winger". I strongly suspect that RSM's prediction will be proven correct, when someone cites the examples I gave above, and responds with, "That's not what I mean by spirituality."

Akiva Miller

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