QUESTION:
There is something that has been bothering me for a long time now. The Rav is certainly aware of the impurities that have entered into our Chareidi Torah communities. It is not a side point, it is an entire movement that is attacking the entire image of how a Jew from the old times look liked – the Jew of previous times who had pure Yiras Shomayim (fear of Heaven), who was filled with eidelkeit (refined behavior) and who had the emes (true way of living) of Torah. Today a person can outwardly look like a Chareidi Jew, but he can be completely empty and full of coarse, unrefined and secular mentalities and influences from society, which any sensible person understands is something that didn’t come from within our communities but from outside of it. With my own eyes I have seen – and so have others seen – that we can actually feel how the most precious thing to us, the world of Yeshivos, which had always brought out the best of bochurim who are gold, where bnei Torah were made into our crowning glory – are now in a fight for their existence.
The problems are many: Non-kosher smart devices are very commonplace. Many of my friends are drowning by regularly visiting internet sites, Rachmana Litzlan. They are even wallowing in the filth of viewing all the stupid dirty television shows on the Web. All of the music that can be heard today in our tzibbur and at simchas is unrefined, and it is clearly influenced by empty, secular culture. Nivul peh (vulgar speech) has become the norm. There is much more unrefined and alarming behavior and bad middos, getting together to drink alcoholic beverages and smoking, and other fads that have become the new norm amongst bochurim.
Chas v’shalom I don’t want to say accusations on Klal Yisrael, and understandably these are global issues that affect everyone in the world, and not all the bnei Torah look this way today. But this is all a destructive path (which is all being orchestrated by Hashem of course) unfolding before our eyes and I feel like I can’t ignore it. I understand that no temporary solution will work for this and it’s not going to happen through any one change we can make. But because it all bothers my heart so much, I would be happy to hear if the Rav has a deep and fundamental solution that can be given to this generation so that the generation can return to the same Yiras Shomayim that has been passed down to us throughout the generations….
I was thinking of the following. There is a faction of Mizrachi called Charda”l, and while we don’t go with their hashkafos I see that there’s a lot of growth amongst them, as they focus a lot on personal growth, character improvement and thinking deeply into the fundamentals of Torah and inner Jewish thought. I sometimes wonder if perhaps there was a way we could incorporate their system of growth into our own communities of bnei Torah, while ignoring their Mizrachi views on Zionism, etc. and just taking from the good parts, their emphasis on growth and deep Torah thought, which I think would benefit the whole Klal Yisrael and improve the situation of pnimiyus in the world of Chareidi bnei Torah. Is that a possible solution?
The problems are many: Non-kosher smart devices are very commonplace. Many of my friends are drowning by regularly visiting internet sites, Rachmana Litzlan. They are even wallowing in the filth of viewing all the stupid dirty television shows on the Web. All of the music that can be heard today in our tzibbur and at simchas is unrefined, and it is clearly influenced by empty, secular culture. Nivul peh (vulgar speech) has become the norm. There is much more unrefined and alarming behavior and bad middos, getting together to drink alcoholic beverages and smoking, and other fads that have become the new norm amongst bochurim.
Chas v’shalom I don’t want to say accusations on Klal Yisrael, and understandably these are global issues that affect everyone in the world, and not all the bnei Torah look this way today. But this is all a destructive path (which is all being orchestrated by Hashem of course) unfolding before our eyes and I feel like I can’t ignore it. I understand that no temporary solution will work for this and it’s not going to happen through any one change we can make. But because it all bothers my heart so much, I would be happy to hear if the Rav has a deep and fundamental solution that can be given to this generation so that the generation can return to the same Yiras Shomayim that has been passed down to us throughout the generations….
I was thinking of the following. There is a faction of Mizrachi called Charda”l, and while we don’t go with their hashkafos I see that there’s a lot of growth amongst them, as they focus a lot on personal growth, character improvement and thinking deeply into the fundamentals of Torah and inner Jewish thought. I sometimes wonder if perhaps there was a way we could incorporate their system of growth into our own communities of bnei Torah, while ignoring their Mizrachi views on Zionism, etc. and just taking from the good parts, their emphasis on growth and deep Torah thought, which I think would benefit the whole Klal Yisrael and improve the situation of pnimiyus in the world of Chareidi bnei Torah. Is that a possible solution?
ANSWER:
I mainly received a way of thinking from the beis midrash I grew up in, Pachad Yitzchok, where I learned by the Rosh Yeshiva shlit”a [Rav Yonasan David], who opened to me the gates of wisdom. This Beis Midrash was founded by Rav Hutner zt”l, who said about himself that he received all of the Torah teachings from Rav Kook except for Rav Kook’s views on Zionism. Rav Hutner’s view [which he received from Rav Kook] was that the bnei Torah need to be taught how to think deeply into the world of pnimiyus.
Right now, this is 70 times more applicable. In the last couple of years, the Shaar HaNun d’Tumah, the 50th level of impurity (moral depravity) has come down onto our world and it is not possible to be saved from it unless one is very deeply connected to an inner world that is rich, expansive, full of life and newness. This is my feeble portion on this world, and it is already a few decades in which I am involved in opening for everyone a little entry into the inner world, in all the different styles of pnimiyus, through the depth of Gemara, through the world of self-recognition, through the world of inner avodas Hashem, through the world of Kaballah and pnimiyus, in razin and razin d’razin (secrets and secret of secrets). And above all else, I teach emunah, an emunah that is fundamental and deep, and of closeness to Hashem – and integrating with Hashem. These are all ways that can help a person develop an inner, strong connection with the Root of our soul: Hashem. For in order to counter the 50th level of tumah today, there is a necessity to enter into the 50th level of kedushah, which is a strong and very deep connection to a dimension that transcends all logic and reasoning so that we become firmly connected to Hashem. And that is the remedy for this generation – to gain a connection to the 50th level of kedushah, and not to be satisfied with the first 49 levels of kedushah. Because if there would only be 49 levels of tumah in the world, it would be enough to have the 49th level of kedushah, but when there is a 50th level of tumah in the world, we need the 50th level of kedushah in order to be saved. This was said by the well-known words of the Ohr HaChaim. This is the entire avodah of the generation and its tikkun – to separate from the 50th level of tumah and to connect to the 50th level of kedushah, which is all-inclusive of every holiness, because the 50th gates contains all the other gates together, all the way to the deepest and simplest connection that there is, the One Who is the absolute Simplest, Hashem, Whom there is none other besides.
Right now, this is 70 times more applicable. In the last couple of years, the Shaar HaNun d’Tumah, the 50th level of impurity (moral depravity) has come down onto our world and it is not possible to be saved from it unless one is very deeply connected to an inner world that is rich, expansive, full of life and newness. This is my feeble portion on this world, and it is already a few decades in which I am involved in opening for everyone a little entry into the inner world, in all the different styles of pnimiyus, through the depth of Gemara, through the world of self-recognition, through the world of inner avodas Hashem, through the world of Kaballah and pnimiyus, in razin and razin d’razin (secrets and secret of secrets). And above all else, I teach emunah, an emunah that is fundamental and deep, and of closeness to Hashem – and integrating with Hashem. These are all ways that can help a person develop an inner, strong connection with the Root of our soul: Hashem. For in order to counter the 50th level of tumah today, there is a necessity to enter into the 50th level of kedushah, which is a strong and very deep connection to a dimension that transcends all logic and reasoning so that we become firmly connected to Hashem. And that is the remedy for this generation – to gain a connection to the 50th level of kedushah, and not to be satisfied with the first 49 levels of kedushah. Because if there would only be 49 levels of tumah in the world, it would be enough to have the 49th level of kedushah, but when there is a 50th level of tumah in the world, we need the 50th level of kedushah in order to be saved. This was said by the well-known words of the Ohr HaChaim. This is the entire avodah of the generation and its tikkun – to separate from the 50th level of tumah and to connect to the 50th level of kedushah, which is all-inclusive of every holiness, because the 50th gates contains all the other gates together, all the way to the deepest and simplest connection that there is, the One Who is the absolute Simplest, Hashem, Whom there is none other besides.
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