“When the Alter Rebbe lived in Liozna [known as the period before “Peterburg”], anyone who would walk in to the Rebbe’s room even for a short while, would leave as a Tzadik with ‘Ahavas Hashem and Yiras Hashem…
This changed however, once the Rebbe moved to Liadi [known as the period ‘after Peterburg’] it was then that from the Alter Rebbe shone ‘Moichin’.” (R’ Yisroel M’Dubrovne, as he himself heard from הרה”ק ר’ שנ”ז מקאפוסט)
The Rebbe Rashab took this further. He explained that not only was this during Yechidus, but even during the Ma’amorim themselves.
“Before ‘Peterburg’ the Maamorim would burn the world (עס האט געברענט די וועלט)”
“This is because [the words were like an] external flame. And the nature of something external is that it ‘burns’ [i.e. it generates an obvious excitement by the individual, as they cannot contain the content]”. (Toras Sholom p. 26).
From the above it seems that at the start of the Alter Rebbe’s Nesius, most Chassidim received Hadrocha in a manner not much different from the other Talmidei Hamagid.
They would walk into Yechidus, or listen to a Maamor, and the Alter Rebbe would help them reach massive heights merely though saying ‘Oisiyos’.
Bringing them to heights that they couldn’t attain on their own, nor contain once heard.
It seems that during those early days,
the core teachings of ‘Hisbonenus’ were only taught to a very select few Chassidim, who could achieve ‘Hislahavus’ – an intense feeling for Elokus—from their deep understanding.
(Chassidim such as R’ Aharon Strashele, who would later place a very large emphasis on this ‘pre-Peterburg’ conduct).
However, after the Alter Rebbe wrote the Tanya that all changed.
Now the practices were no longer reserved to what the Alter Rebbe would tell an individual in the private setting of Yechidus, rather it was suddenly open and available for anyone prepared to take a Mashpia and apply the Hadrocha.
This created the ‘Kapeida’ which caused the Alter Rebbe to go to prison, culminating in his release and permission to continue teaching, nay, vastly expanding, the holy Derech of Hisbonenus.
But there was one caveat, no longer could the Alter Rebbe have ‘both worlds’, that of Hisbonenus and ‘Hislahavus’.
If Hisbonenus was to become ‘Nachlas Haklal’ [open to everyone], then it would have to remain focused on the work of the mind.
Why not both?
Why not focus on the emotional aspect of loving and feeling Elokus?
Emotion is positive and important; But emotion comes with a downside.
These are some of its challenges
- Emotion centers on the human feeling. Therefore, focusing on emotion creates an Avoda that is “Me-Centered”. We don’t need too much explanation to see where person-centered “feel good” Avoda can lead a person astray…
- One cannot be guaranteed where an emotion comes from. For example; Suppose a person is in a good mood because they “won”, but they did so by hurting another person. Imagine they then use that “joy” to ‘feel’ Elokus. Are they feeling a love for Hashem, or are they just loving themselves because they hurt someone else?
- Feeling can easily shift. Love for Elokus, can be shifted to love for the impure etc. and therefore an overemphasis on emotion can create big challenges. מי שגדול מחבירו יצרו גדול ממנו.
The mind, on the other hand, needs nullification.
To understand something, one needs to focus on the concept itself. In fact, the deeper one tries to understand, the more they need to stop thinking about themselves.
To that, the more one connects to a concept of understanding, the less one feels themselves and the more one becomes the knowledge they are thinking.
And one more point, because what a person really wants is to feel good, once a person generates an emotion, they feel a sense of success; as though they achieved something. “I really felt good at that Farbrengen, I was so inspired”.
When that happens, they lose the sense of urgency to act upon their feelings, as they already achieve a large part of the aim.
The feeling person “feels” Elokus. They are all set.
The “thinker”, on the other hand, the one focusing on the depth of understanding, feels nothing. They do not feel as though they achieved anything other than “understanding someone else’s thought”, in which case the next obvious step is to act upon that which they understand.
Achieving the action, which is what it is really all about.
Therefore, the Alter Rebbe taught to focus on understanding, because whereas focusing on feeling can lead us astray, focusing on understanding won’t.
True, understanding is ‘cold’ and it is hard to feel, but at least we know that what we have is one-hundred percent real, and it won’t fool us.
On this day of the Alter Rebbe’s Yortzeit, let us focus for the next two weeks, on re-dedicating ourselves to Hisboneunus.
If you are as of yet unfamiliar the Derech of Chabad in Hisbonenus;
Here are some essentials to begin with:
- Put on [Talis and] Teffilin. (The holy objects help our body become conditioned to understand holiness).
- Ensure we have no distracting objects around us.
- If you are just beginning, set a time for how long you will practice Hisbonenus (start with 30 seconds to a minute).
- Sit or stand in one place
- Close your eyes or focus on one place in the Siddur
- Think
What to think:
For beginners;
- Start with thinking through a Maamor in exactly the way it is written (אותיות הרב),
- Once you can think through that for three minutes or so uninterrupted, move on to thinking it through in your own words.
- Once you are comfortable with that you should be able to think through an entire סוגיא as it is in various מקורות (it is then that you will truly begin to appreciate the concept).