[Avodah] Who First Said it?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Mar 04, 2010 at 11:22:41PM -0500, T613K at aol.com wrote:
: My father said that the Vilna Gaon's opposition had ultimately been very  
: good for chassidus, because it forced the chassidim to rein in their own  
: extreme, non-normative, anti-nomian elements, and to stay on the straight and  
: narrow (aka the strait and narrow).  Had the Vilna Gaon not acted, it is  
: quite likely that the entire chassidic movement would have gone off the  
: rails...

And there were little rebbeles of the first generation who were. We have
writings from L's Alter Rebbe condemning a few of them.

For that matter, your father's sentiment about how the Gra saved
Chassidus is also attributed to the Rebbe Rashab. (I doubt he was
refering to Chabad Chassidus...)

But crediting someone with having a good unintended consequence and
accepting someone who put you into cherem are two different things.
BH, L believes in qabeil es ha'emes mimi she'omro.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Man can aspire to spiritual-moral greatness
micha at aishdas.org        which is seldom fully achieved and easily lost
http://www.aishdas.org   again. Fullfillment lies not in a final goal,
Fax: (270) 514-1507      but in an eternal striving for perfection. -RSRH