Machmer & Makel

(courtesy of Heinz.com)

When Hashem decided to have a Holy nation come from Avraham, he didn’t make a stale carbon copy Jew that lacks beauty and uniqueness. Yaakov had 2 wives and 2 concubines. 4 different women who in turn begot 12 different unique and beautiful sons. Our people come from this beauty and uniqueness. Judaism has 12 gates of prayer (as well as a 13 gate revealed by the Holy Ari'zal) as well as 13 ways of living life. Hashem gave us the Torah and gave the Rabbi's the authority and ability to understand what is expected of us as Jews.

Many FFBs as well as BT's are taught a certain way and this way is Emes of course and might work for them, but they fail to realize for one reason or another that this is not the only way. Anyone who learns Gemara knows that you can get through one daf of any masekta without 3 of our Sages disagreeing with each other, bring up a Barisa here and there and showing each other that R' so in so actually meant this when he said that. There are no superflous words in the written or oral Torah, and there is an important reason why the Gemara is written the way it is. I once ate by a Talmid Chacham of a Chasid for Shabbos in Jerusalem. He told me in Kollel they are learning the non-Pshat of the Gemara and this is showing them that they didn’t even know the Pshat to begin with. Another brilliant Chasid who was my Chevrusa in yeshiva said, "The easiest thing to understand is why the Rabbi who is right is right, the real point of the Gemara is to understand why the one who is wrong is actually right!"

*Note: This blog is a response to statements made to me and these statements are italicized in orange like this. These statements were made to be my Torah Jews searching for Emes and my responses are meant to show a bigger picture and not show them they are wrong and I am right.


There are many different ways in Torah Judaism and they all are Emes, they all keep in Halacha and they all are devoted to HaKodesh Baruch Hu. With that said, it is said by many great tzaddikim that just as it is bad to always be Makel on Halacha, it is just as harmful to always be Machmer on Halacha.

Haredi Judaism, especially Chassidus focuses at great length on the idea of "kadesh et atzmecha b'mutar lach" meaning that you can attain holiness by holding back from permitted things.

I was told a story of a Chabad Rav who said once in a shiur, "Just because there's Kosher L'Pesach ketchup doesn't mean you have to have ketchup on Pesach!" Meaning that, just because it's permitted doesn't mean it's something you "should do".

There are people that take issue with this idea. I mean if its Kosher than its ok, right? Wrong. I wish that in illustrating this issue they chose an example other than Pesach because this one my biggest issue in Torah Judaism. The Jews left Egypt with flat bread because they had to leave immediately. Do you think they had Kosher for Passover Ketchup? Or Kosher for Passover Cake mix? I hear people complain every year of how expensive Kosher for Pesach food has become and how the price raises every year. Newsflash!!! It’s Hashem raising the prices!! For one week would it be so bad to not eat processed food? Maybe eat fruit and vegetables for a change? All I ate for Pesach last year was raw foods. It was amazing, and when I saw that there are people whose daily living is eating raw foods, I figured for a week I could live. To be Machmer for a week, oy so difficult.

But this doesn’t really answer the question. Internet, Movies, TV, Concerts, these are what kadesh et atzmecha b'mutar lach is talking about. Each way of Torah Judaism is Emes, and I can’t stress that enough. Chassidic, Litvish, Sephardic, Modern Orthodox, Mizrach, Whatever you are, we all have one thing in common. We praise Hashem and we keep Halacha. Still different groups choose to hold different levels on different things and just because that isn't right for you doesn’t mean its not right for someone else. There is no internet connection in New Square and using the internet is Assur. Why? Because 80% of the internet is a Chillul Hashem of Sex, Murder, and Avodah Zara. The internet is a storage space for the 3 cardinal sins of Judaism. Now the other 20% what about that? Well the Internet is what Tanya would called a Klippas Nogah. Something that although can be used for evil can also be transformed into Holiness. That’s why the internet has been used by Chabad to bring thousands of Jews back to Yiddishkite in a way that without internet would not be possible.

Someone told me imagine you and 3 other people are walking and you see on the ground an object which has materialized from space. You have no idea what this object is but it seems to have some function. It's ownerless. What would one's gut reaction be before knowing anything: is this (brand new, never existed before) object mutar/permitted or assur? You have two ways to go about the research after this point, "It's mutar, of course, why should it be assur?" or "It's assur! Show me why it's mutar!" I started seeing far more of the latter in the Chassidish world than the former.

I’m not exactly sure what the former is, if this is the former Chassidic generation, then the answer is that there was less unknown things then than now. The Industrial Revolution has in 200 years accomplished more than it did the prior 5569. A Jews mission here on earth is to bring Holiness into the world by performing his Mitzvos. The question arises in regards to something being assur or mutar is, how will this help me reveal Hashem into the world and connect to him. Does watching TV do this? Going to a concert? Eating Kosher L'Pesach Ketchup? I’m not here to give my own opinion, in as much as I want people to get thinking and knowing that Yes, or No, neither violates Halacha but some people choose to go above the letter of the law.

Another person said to me:
Is abortion assur? I got shut down at a Chabad before even bringing up pro-choice opinions. Ask in the Chassidish velt if America should have gay marriage - who will mention Leviticus and who will mention the Gemara in Chullin, the source of the issur (for goyim, for Jews its the Sifri)?

This was kind of left field for me, because the discussion was about Chassidus and Modern Orthodox, and I was unaware that the Rabbinic leadership of Modern Orthodoxy said that Abortion and Gay marriage is mutar. I’m not really looking to discuss that as I don’t see a point, and this itself deserves its own blog and I’m not willing to waste time with such.

This was a rather surprising statement also said to me and I was very shocked to say the least. More so because I feel this person knows what he’s talking about and I cant image what less uneducated people might make of these types of experiences.

"Chassidus" is given as the reason "why" something is done I get furious. We do NOT pasken from Tanya. Or from the Kedushas Levi or any sayings of any other Rebbe except when said in a halachic context. Period.

First of all Chas V'Shalom we should ever be angry, because anger the sages say is equal to Idoletry. Secondly I can for a moment relate to this, but once its explained I can not relate to it. Something that used to bother me specificly in respect to Chabad is that they always say "The Rebbe said" and rarely sight an actual source. Then it hit me one Shabbos and I understood. I was learning Chumash with the Baal HaTurim's commentary and that same Shabbos someone said "The Rebbe said" and said exactly what I learned. I wanted to yell out actually the Tur says that and he is quoting Rashi, but G-d forbid I would embarrass a Jew publicly. A Rebbe and I mean any Rebbe of a Chassidic dynasty is a huge tzaddik and its safe to say they know the whole written and oral Torah by heart. Its also safe to say that the only thing that comes out of a Rebbe's mouth is Emes Torah. So most people arent learned enough to remember the sources the Rebbe used but if you ever watch videos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe its always "Its says in this Gemara this and it says in Shulchan Aruch that" and all of his Sichos have sources cited. So to say that you cant learn Torah unless you are reading straight Shulachan Aruch is absurd. As for saying you cant Paskin from the Tanya, this is true you cant. However the person that wrote the Tanya the Baal HaTanya was a Posek and codified his own Shulchan Aruch that many Chassidim hold by. It also is written in the beginning of Tanya that nothing the Alter Rebbe writes is new. Its all sourced and every other line is straight from the Gemara. I took the liberty of providing the sources for the 1st chapter of Tanya to prove this point. Every source on the 1st Chapter is from the Gemara. Niddah 30b, Berachos 7a, Bava Batra 16a, Bava Metzia 86a, Sanhedrin 99a. So you cant "poskin" a Shilah from the Tanya, but you can sure use it as a map to live ones life as a Torah Jew. I personally have never heard anyone poskin from Tanya because unless you are a Posek you cant poskin and some random Yid or even a Rabbi isn’t a Posek even if they try to derive Halacha from the Tanya.

Or when "Israel are compared to the stars of the sky" is given as the reason for why a Chabad Sukkah doesn't need to have the stars visible (real reason: multiway machlokes in the Shulchan Aruch, Alter Rebbe going in his usual derech of paskening, down w/the Magen Avraham )

I would just like to clarify if it isnt clear, that Chabad is a Chassidic sect but does not represent all Chassidim, so it makes me a little said when all Chassidim are judged on account of how Chabad holds (which is in most cases the opposite of general Chassidus). Regardless my reoccurring theme still stands, and that is that it’s ALL EMES and I pray my words arent taken as criticism of Chabad. With that said, the Alter Rebbe is quoted as saying "His only regret is that he didn’t poskin more like the Magen Avraham." The Magen Avraham was Polish and many Polish, Galicia, Ukranian Chassidim hold by him while Russian, White Russia, Luthuanian Chassidim (such as Chabad) don’t. I’m not familiar with this Chabad Minhag and my parents (who are Lubavitchers) have a sukkah that I see the stars just fine in. Regardless you said it yourself. Its a Machlokes in the Shulchan Aruch so that means more than one opinion and that doesn’t violate the Halacha.


One of the reasons I'm feeling myself drawn to the Modern Orthodox world is davka for this reason. Looking at halacha and seeing endless cases of "hey, you mean I could have been doing this the whole time?". Halacha based on people not seforim is the opposite of what I see in Brooklyn shtetlach based on my interactions with Chassidish Rebbeim.

As a Jew it is YOUR Job to learn Torah. It isn’t the job of any Rabbi to sit there and give you the 10 opinions brought down from the Shulchan Aruch. Its a big problem for people that become religious later in life, who go to Yeshivas like Mayanot, Aish, Ohr Somayach and they learn the way that group holds and they think that is the halacha without actually taking time to learn out the halacha from the Gemara or the Shulchan Aruch where they see that almost all Halacha has more than 2 opinions. They arent told that "This is how we hold, but there are other opinions" because that will confuse people and cause problems. If you hold by one Rav for one thing and another Rav for another thing what happens when you hold by something that goes against that Rav. That doesnt make sense. You are supposed to find yourself a Rav. It says it in Pirke Avos to make yourself a Rav. What does that mean? It means you must search to see which Rav's way of holding Torah suits you best. Whether its Modern Orthodox, Ultra Haredi Orthodox or something in between, you have to find a Rav and stick with what he says. You can play picksies and choosies when you don’t like how a Rabbi rules and find someone who rules like you want. That’s not how it works. You need to find a Rav and stick with him. If you want to find a Rav that is makel on most things that is fine, but you cant criticize someone who decides to be machmer and go above the letter of the law.

Conclusion:

The reason that there are so many ways of Judaism is because there is not just one way for Jews to reach their full potential. Not everyone should adhere to an Ultra Orthodox Standard of life, and some people should raise themselves up above an "Always Makel Stance" on Torah. Hashem knows where we should be so if we all learn Torah and search out for the Emes then we will all be put in the place we belong.

To say that Chassidim don’t follow Halacha is not only inaccurate but it is the anti of Emes. Not everyone is perfect but you judge a group of hundreds of thousands of Yidden on your or mine or anyones limited experiences is unfair and wrong.

Remember the Heilega Baal Shem Tov said, "When you see a fault in someone, its really a fault in yourself."

We should all merit bringing Emes into the world through our holy study of Torah and with that bringing Moshiach ben David through peace and not war, NOW. Amen.