[Avodah] Learning, Spirituality, and Neo-Chassidus

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 1:14pm, R Aryeh Stein wrote on Areivim:
> Rabbi Shafran's letter to Mishpacha included the following paragraph:
>> It's easy to say that a person has a relationship with Hashem wherever
>> he is, regardless of what he is doing, but it's not true. Many of us break
>> that connection through destructive habits and the like, and sugarcoating
>> them doesn't make them any less destructive. "Feeling spiritual" may
>> be better than feeling bad about yourself, as quoted in the article,
>> but are we to be content with feeling spiritual?

I think the real problem with R' Avi Shafran's article was picked up in
the replies. It's not an either-or. Rather, people whose core learning
is the regular gefe"s or shas-and-posqim aren't getting inspired by
intellectual pursuit *alone* and are looking for a better connection to
the emotional and experiential aspects of Yahadus. Addition, not
replacement.

The question is more:
Are we content with thinking the right thoughts while being parched
spiritually?


> Rabbi Moshe Weinberger was  very  disturbed by this paragraph in which
> Rabbi Shafran seems to state that one's relationship with God can be
> severed if one engages in destructive behavior.

> He didn't discuss this specific point in his response to Rabbi Shafran
> that was printed in Mishpacha, but he dedicated two shiurim to
> demonstrate that Hashem's love for every Jew is eternal and
> unconditional (see links to shiurim below)

At 03:59:40PM -0400, Zev Sero via Areivim wrote:
: To Hashem's love may be unconditional, but the direct connection a
: person has with Him can certainly be severed; that is what kares
: means.  See Igeres Hateshuvah ch 5-6:
: https://tinyurl.com/y9hckn5t
: https://tinyurl.com/y6wtghxf

But on another level, I don't think a person or even an object can be
fully severed from the Borei, because withough Or Ein Sof, there is no
such thing as existing.

This fits kareis as per the Rambam, that the onesh after misah is ceasing
to exist. (Except that we would have to translate the Baal haTanya's "Or
Ein Sof" language into the Rambam's chain of sikhliim.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Education is not the filling of a bucket,
micha at aishdas.org        but the lighting of a fire.
http://www.aishdas.org                - W.B. Yeats
Fax: (270) 514-1507