Chassidus

 

 

 

Yesterday I was asked: what is Chassidus?

 

Its part of Judaism?

 

Is it separate God-forbid?

 

The answer is simple, there are two sides to Judaism: like there are two faces on one coin, or far more accurately as Kabbalah calls it, there is the body of Torah, the laws of Judaism, and then there is the soul of Torah, the why of Torah!

 

Now what was revealed to man at Mount Sinai was the body, though the esoteric wisdom of Kabbalah was also contained, as we know, it is called the pardes; the first three letters pshat – simple meaning, remez hints, drush allegory, were what was written in the Talmud; but the fourth level, sod – secret, only given from the greatest scholar – in fact you had to have mastered the previous three dimensions and only after 40 were you allowed to study the fourth – and was written in a book called the Zohar by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai around the time the other books, paradigms, were first written down!

 

So what is Chassidus as apposed to Kabbalah; for Kabbalah to has a body and soul; Kabbalah itself is the body of Chassidus!

 

Whereas Kabbalah is far more technical, Chassidus is far more relevant!

 

How is it that Chassidus was revealed through the Baal Shem Tov only in our times!?

 

The answer is, that this is the format of God’s revelation of the soul of Torah!

 

For the average Jew to receive this soul dimension we needed to be worthy, hence the tortuous exile was actually a preparation, a tiling of the soul / ground, for us to receive this great light!

 

Furthermore we know that when Moshiach comes he will reveal a new dimension in Torah called torah chadashah mai-iti teitzei, “a new torah will come from me,” and at the same time we know that torah hazu loi tehi muchlefes le-ad ul-ulamei alamim “this torah shall ever deviate for its original self” so how can a new Torah be revealed.”

 

So as the Rebbe explains, all is contained in the Torah, however there are two kinds of secrets, those that you can tell, someone is holding a secret! bursting at the seams with the disposition to “I know something you don’t!” and those that are so good at keeping secrets that in a million years you wont be aware he holds onto a secret!

 

Similarly, the first four dimensions (mainly first three,) are in the realm of the secrets to be revealed, hence are pretty obvious in Torah, however the fifth dimension is not.

 

Hence it was specifically in anticipation of the coming of Moshiach when this will be the main AND ONLY study of Judaism (we will study the body through this study) that this revelation of the soul of the soul of Torah! has begun to be revealed!!