העורך Editor

I was posed a whole bunch of difficulties on Breslov in a letter.

An excerpt:

I don’t know how your reaction to this would be, as you do seem to be somewhat of a Breslov sympathizer (no, obviously I don’t mean of all current practitioners, or those who claim to be…). On the other hand, you do seem to be interested in emes, even when (or perhaps especially when?) not politically correct.

Maybe similar things can be found in other Chassidish writings – I remember seeing as a bochur some Chabad piece about “hiskashrus” to a/the Rebbe that also would be (similarly) hard to swallow for someone with a classic Jewish education…)

Is everything just written off as “bechinos“?…

Now, I will not answer all in beautiful fashion, partly for the same reason Jews had trouble weighing in on the Protestant revolt against the papists, a pox on both their houses. If I explain matters too well, the obvious question will then be why I don’t adopt the thing I defend, myself…

But the reader’s chief problem seems to be the Breslover “Hareini Mikasher” said before prayer. Rumor has various famous rabbis saying this does\can either lead to\is the same as idol worship.

“Breslov sympathizer” or not, the responsible course here would be to ask a knowledgeable Breslover or two, consult Likutei Moharan’s commentaries, and perhaps check Likutei Halachos (Nachalos 4?). Not doing that. But here is one layman’s answer.

The source for the concept is in Likutei Moharan volume I 2:6:

וצריך כל אחד לכון בתפלתו, שיקשר עצמו לצדיקים שבדור, כי כל צדיק שבדור הוא בחינת משה משיח, כמו שמצינו, שהצדיקים קורין זה לזה משה, כמו ‘משה שפיר קאמרת’. ומשה זה בחינת משיח, כמו שכתוב: “עד כי יבא שילה” ‘דא משה משיח’.

וכל תפלה ותפלה שכל אחד מתפלל הוא בחינת איבר מהשכינה, שהם אברי המשכן, שאין שום אחד מישראל יכול לאעלא שיפא בשיפא כל חד לדוכתיה, אלא משה בלחוד, בשביל זה צריך להביא ולקשר כל התפלות לצדיק הדור, כמו שכתוב: “ויביאו את המשכן אל משה”. והוא יודע לאעלא שיפא בשיפא ולעשות אותה קומה שלמה, כמו שכתוב: “ויקם משה את המשכן”.

And again in Likutei Moharan volume I 9:4:

וצריך כל אדם לקשר את תפלתו לצדיק הדור. והצדיק יודע לכון השערים ולהעלות כל תפלה ותפלה לשער השיך. כי כל צדיק וצדיק הוא בחינת משה – משיח, כמו שאמרו ‘משה, שפיר קאמרת’, וכתיב: “עד כי יבא שילה” ‘דא משה’; ומשיח הוא כלול כל התפלות, ובשביל זה יהיה משיח ‘מורח ודאין’, כי התפלות הם בחינת חטם, כמו שכתוב: “ותהלתי אחטם לך”.

Sichos Haran [Breslov] 296:

בשעת התפלה צריכין לקשר עצמו להצדיקים שבדור כמובא בסימן ב’ ובסימן ט’ ב”לקוטי מוהר”ן” חלק ראשון ובשאר מקומות. על כן הזהיר לאנשיו שיאמרו קדם התפלה הריני מקשר עצמי לכל הצדיקים שבדורנו.

This instruction is not a secret, either, mentioned prominently in Reb Nosson of Nemirov’s introduction to Likutei Moharan.

What does “Hiskashrus” mean? Love. That’s generally the definition of the word in Breslov lingo (see, for example, “mekushar latzaddik” in the context of Likutei Moharan I 8:2, and especially ibid. I 135.)

If anything, the question should be, why even mention this, since the Arizal already says the same thing: accept the commandment of “ואהבת לרעך כמוך” (which means righteous Jews, of course) before Shemoneh Esrei. But here is added “Hiskashrus” in the intercessory sense (famously corrupted by Lubavitch into genuine idolatry: asking the “intermediate-intermediary” Rebbe (or “father-in-law”) to do XYZ from afar, even while alive), but that is taken as happening elsewhere somehow. Practically speaking, “Hiskashrus” for the reader is just feeling love for righteous Jews right before speaking to צדיקו של עולם.

(Rabbi Gedalya Kenig’s Chayei Nefesh reportedly says this means that he intends to pray with the proper intention, same as the righteous.)

Of course, there is much more to the concept of “Tzaddik” in Breslov, a topic for a whole new discussion.

Finally, a word on “Bechinos”. Modern idolaters use the identical line to escape the charge of idol worship (worshipping the Sun became “saluting” the sun; the idol merely “symbolizes” and channels divinity, etc.). Doesn’t work.

ליקוטי הלכות [ברסלב] על ברכת השחר הלכה ג’:

רק שזה ידוע שכל בחינה כלולה מכל הבחינות, כמבאר בכתבי האריז”ל כמה פעמים שכל שם וכל בחינה וכל ספירה וכו’ כלולה מכל השמות ומכל הבחינות…

Berachos 63a:

תניא הלל הזקן אומר בשעת המכניסין פזר בשעת המפזרים כנס ואם ראית דור שהתורה חביבה עליו פזר שנאמר יש מפזר ונוסף עוד ואם ראית דור שאין התורה חביבה עליו כנס שנאמר עת לעשות לה’ הפרו תורתך.

Rashi there:

המכניסים, שאין חכמי הדור מרביצים תורה לתלמידים.
פזר, אתה, לשנות לתלמידים.
בשעת המפזרים, שהגדולים שבדור מרביצים תורה.
כנס, אתה, ולא תטול שררה עליהם, דאף זו לכבוד שמים היא לאחוז במדת הענוה, וכתיב עת לעשות לה’ הפרו תורתך.
ואם ראית דור שאין התורה חביבה עליו כנס, ואל תטיל דברי תורה לבזיון.
הפרו תורתך, מלפזרה בשעה שהכנוס לשם שמים.

But it appears this is only the case when there are a limited number of geographical “transmission belts”.

“המלחמה אינה אלא המשך המדיניות באמצעים אחרים.”

מקור: קרל פיליפ גוטליב פון קלאוזוביץ (Carl von Clausewitz, 1780 – 1831), איש צבא פרוסי, מאבות תורת הלחימה המודרנית.

הרב ראובן קרלנשטיין זצ”ל מסיח לפי תומו:

(מתוך ספר “יחי ראובן” על ויקרא עמ’ קפ)

Excerpts from Allan Stevo’s LRC article:

Many millions cannot safely wear a face mask. With the one-size-fits-all face mask approaches, this presents a problem.

Those who can’t safely wear a face mask are pressured into wearing one, to their own detriment, or they are alternately, discouraged from using vital services due to the heavy-handed enforcement measures that place personal safety secondary at best.

The reasons for not being able to safely wear a face mask are many: from obvious issues such as chronic lung ailments and terminal heart conditions, to less obvious issues like panic attacks, dyspnea (shortness of breath), angina (chest pains), cephalalgia (headaches), migraines, internal physical deformations from injuries, or genetic abnormalities.

Since my previous writing on the topic, in addition to my own experience, I have received many correspondences from people crossing face mask compliance checkpoints and sharing what works and doesn’t work for them. There are some behaviors that work repeatedly across the board and there are some behaviors that don’t work. Using some of these principles, I have yet to wear a face mask even one time.

One sentence is supremely helpful. You almost never need anything else, even in the most locked down environments: “I am unable to wear a face mask safely.”

…

What All People Manning A Checkpoint Have In Common… 

What they all have in common is their humanity. If you keep things nice and calm and you behave in a friendly way, virtually all people are going to respond favorably to you. If you keep the issue of your exemption nice and focussed, by saying “I am unable to wear a face mask safely,” almost all people will make exception for you. They won’t ask questions. They won’t give you a hard time. They won’t ask much else.

There’s a little bit of humanity left in many face mask policies. The humanity is in the exemptions around someone making the statement “I am unable to wear a face mask safely.”

Some working a checkpoint might say “So what?” or the equivalent, especially if you look healthy.

Stick with it and add a small clause, if you want: “I am exempt from your face mask policy, because I am unable to wear a face mask safely.” If they push further, you should feel comfortable saying “I am not comfortable talking about this private matter with others. I am unable to wear a face mask safely.”

If that doesn’t work, simply say “May I speak to someone else?”

I strongly recommend no other conversation at a compliance checkpoint. Almost all other conversations are losing conversations. If you are yelling, you are probably doing it wrong. If a bystander is recording you in hopes that your outburst will go viral, you are probably doing it wrong.

Some compliance checkers might want to debate your condition. Some compliance checkers might want to see your doctor’s note: the answer to that could be “Yes, of course I have a doctor’s note.” 75% of those who ask will stop there. If they press to see your doctor’s note, you can say you don’t want to show the note because it mentions a personal condition of yours that you wish not to share with strangers.

Very seldom (perhaps 1 in 10,000) will the conversation go there if you treat the other person as kindly as possible and stick with “I am unable to wear a face mask safely.”

…

The main problem that causes people to unsuccessfully cross face mask compliance checkpoints is that they have not decided on a clear outcome that they are working toward.

If you want to yell at someone at the top of your lungs in a public place about John Locke, and to be the ridiculed subject of a Young Turks video that makes the rounds on Twitter, with clips that perhaps the local Fox affiliate also picks up, then these suggestions probably aren’t for you. There’s a lot of stress in the world right now. Vast portions of the globe are effectively living in a state of communism, without it being called such. I completely understand the need to blow off steam.

If you have a standard of well-being for yourself that specifically excludes the use of a face mask, and insists for yourself that you be allowed to go through your daily life without a face mask, then you are the audience for this piece. “I am unable to wear a face mask safely,” is the easiest and most effective tool you can have at your disposal.

Many honorable people have made an unsuccessful ruckus at a checkpoint, but it seems that some of them really just wanted to go through the day without wearing a mask. That is sad. This article is for them.

The act of making a ruckus and the act of successfully crossing a checkpoint unmasked are not always mutually exclusive, but are almost always mutually exclusive.

Seeing if you fit into one of the checkboxes, on a flowchart, that a corporate functionary needs to check off, will make it easier for you to pass. You make it easier for them to show you compassion. You may be one of the many millions who can simply say “I am unable to wear a face mask safely,” and will be left alone to cross the compliance checkpoint unmasked.

This lets you pass, and it lets them keep their job. It may not be perfect, but it provides for the primary want of each party to the interaction.

…

Less than 80 years ago, the United States government put Japanese Americans convicted of no crime into prison en masse. Today, mainstream politicians and media in the United States are advocating for a political system that killed more than 100 million civilians over the last century. Since Roe v. Wade, a number of babies equivalent to more than half of the current black population have been aborted by the eugenicists who run and fund abortion clinics. A black baby in New York City is more likely to be aborted than to make it out of the womb alive. The United States has almost constantly been at war since its founding. All this barely begins to tell the story.

The United States government is awful. So many with their hands on the levers of power are awful. There is no moral backstop within the government. It doesn’t come to an end with them. No one in DC is the deus ex machina.

You are deceiving yourself if you don’t think this can get so much worse.

If you are one of the many millions affected by a mask, rather than wearing a harmful mask, now is the time to take a stand.

See the rest here (Note: bad language)…

N.B. In Israel, a doctor’s note will exempt you from a police fine for not wearing a mask. Also, see this.