HOW CAN A CHUSSID FEEL MORE CONNECTED [#18736]

March 4, 2022

QUESTION:

WITH HIS CHASSIDUS?
This question bothers me very much. I come from a certain Chassidus, and I don’t see any particular way of thinking or hashkafah running through it, except for a few opinions and views on certain matters and a bit of advice when it comes to avodas Hashem, but there is no particular approach to it. My personality is more intellectual and I am a deep thinker, and I don’t feel connected to my Chassidus or to my Rebbe. Except for coming to tish – which I anyways feel that it’s all external and superficial - I have no sense of connection to my Chassidus. For stimulation, I learn the sefarim of Chabad and also the sefarim of Reb Tzadok. My Chassidus really has its roots in Lezhinsk, where the underlying theme is connecting to the tzaddik and realizing that the tzaddik is the center. My question is: How can I become more connected with my Chassidus or with my Rebbe if I don’t feel a connection to the Divrei Torah and if I don’t feel connected to the hashkafos of my Chassidus? I have a lot more questions about this topic, but I’ll leave it at this for now, so that the discussion doesn’t get too heavy.

ANSWER:

[The root of your way of Chassidus is the concept of] Connecting to the tzaddik, seeing the tzaddik as a “pipe” which can connect you to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and to thereby derive shefa (Heavenly blessing) from Him. [All ways of] Chassidus [in general] is about really connecting to all other Jews through ahavas Yisrael.