Farbrengen

The definition of idle talk relates, not to its content, but to its effects. Speech that has no lasting effect is idle talk, regardless of what was said or how it was said. Batteries that are fully charged and batteries that are depleted may look the same, but only the former can activate appliances. Likewise, only words of substance contain a charge that will have an impact on the listener, while idle talk generates nothing

There is a terrible story about Hershele from Ostropoli, who served as the entertainer in the hasidic court of Rabbi Barukh of Medzhibozh. One day Rabbi Barukh asked Hershele if he had a new story to tell. "Some time ago," Hershele replied, "I met Satan. I asked him how he was. He said that he was fed up with his work. He was fed up sitting with all sorts of lowly people and inciting them to commit transgressions. He was fed up with his lot, with having to deal with repulsive people day "Sometime later, I met him again and saw that he was smiling and happy. I asked him what had happened, and he told me that he changed the description of the people he associated with. He now goes to the righteous, and he makes his living in peace and comfort." Rabbi Barukh turned to Hershele and said to him, "You can't possibly be referring to me." Hershele answered, "All the rabbis to whom I told this story said the same thing."

But the melody sung at a farbrengen is not a concert. It's more like a laundromat. Washing heavily soiled clothing one time isn't enough. One must wash it again and again before a change can be seen , a person must completely enter the melody. In order to enter the word or the melody, one must go in all the way. When a person prays or sings a melody, all of him must be immersed in it. If he is only halfway in, it is tantamount to a person who purges a vessel with half the vessel outside the water, in which case the purge is ineffective. But if he enters it entirely, he becomes transformed, and when he emerges, he is a completely different person. At that moment, he can achieve reparation and purity

The question of how to to live is most critical during routine times, when nothing special is happening

Just as a person can trade in merchandise without necessarily partaking of it, so can a person trade in the fear of Heaven without partaking of it. He knows what's written in the holy books and he sells the merchandise wholesale or retail, according to its worth, and he earns what he earns. But none of it affects him profoundly

"Barukh Hashem" is the Hebrew equivalent of "no comment." It says nothing, neither yes nor no. These expressions "barukh Hashem," "im yirtzeh Hashem" (if God wills it), "be'ezrat Hashem" (with the help of God) - are all empty shells that serve to conceal the emptiness within

The truth is that I think that a person's list of sins doesn't interest even the heavenly host, because there, too, they deal with the question of whether there was anything of substance in his actions

Repentance involves more than just striking one's heart. That's easy to do. One could teach a monkey to beat on his breast and recite, "Ashamnu, bagadnu...." We have been guilty. We have acted treacherously.... True repentance occurs when the heart strikes the person, and that's much more complicated. It has been said that sometimes when a person strikes his heart while reciting "Ashamnu, bagadnu...," the heart believes it is being caressed for each sin. If the person's heart was actually hurting, he wouldn't reach the end of the confession so easily

The ability to renew is part of the secret of life itself. Renewal differentiates between what's alive and what's not

Sometimes a person's parents are the ones who decide that he will observe mitzvot. They cover his head with a kippa and dress him in tzitzit, and he's too good a boy to defy his parents' wishes. If the only reason he is observant is because he doesn't have the strength to rebel, then his observance is meaningless from beginning to end

Within the multifaceted and nuanced world of Hasidism, there are, in my opinion, three branches that represent its essence - though Hasidism quanas a whole is comprised of much more than these branches, both titatively and qualitatively. One branch is Lubavitch, the second is Breslov, and the third, Kotzk. Each of these branches is more than just an offshoot; it is a foundation and path that is correct in both theory and practice. If in Lubavitch the emphasis is on understanding and elaboration, and in Breslov on "the understanding of the heart through which the heart understands,"¹ Kotzk represents essence. This essence is that which is close to the point of truth. This idea can certainly be found elsewhere. People know that truth is God's seal, but they also know that people are ordinarily unable to exist solely on truth. Life based on truth is risky, because truth is intolerant. The intellect is tolerant; the heart is tolerant. The truth is not

A story is told of a famous Zen master who participated in an artistic competition that was staged by the emperor of Japan. Artists competed to determine who could draw the best possible rooster. The artists sat, toiled, drew, and spent time modifying and perfecting their drawings. When the Zen master arrived, he spent just two minutes drawing a rooster that everyone agreed was the best. The emperor asked, "Why didn't you spend more time on your drawing? If that's what you could do after two minutes, you could have produced an even more perfect drawing had you spent more time on it" The Zen master responded, "I've been drawing this rooster in my thoughts for two years, enhancing it again and again. Now I only drew in actuality what I had been preparing for all that time." This is the crux of Kotzker Hasidism.

The Kotzker Rebbe's widespread reputation for always being extreme and never being considerate of people, their concerns, or their suffering is false. The Kotzker Rebbe's rulings weren't extreme in principle. When he was extreme, it was because he thought that was the way to arrive at the truth. When a person is concerned about truth, he doesn't focus on his own popularity. He doesn't behave in a certain way because he wants to be unpopular or because he wants people to talk about him in the street, but because he wants to be honest. All the rest - whether or not others support him, whether or not they stand with him - is of no consequence to him

Once, a hasid returned from a visit with his Rebbe with a new melody for the words "Lift your eyes on high."³ His good friend, who happened to be a prominent opponent of Hasidism, heard the melody and said, "I've heard thirty or forty interpretations of that verse, but none as powerful as the interpretation evoked by that melody. Why didn't your Rebbe write it down?" The hasid answered, "Had the Rebbe written it down, it would have been no different from forty other interpretations." There are things that can be expressed in song that can't be expressed orally or in writing. They lose their intrinsic quality when written down, and what remains is lifeless - just another interpretation, another comment on a phrase of Torah, and nothing more. Along the same lines, the Kotzker Rebbe didn't write, because he thought that if he did, his teachings would turn into just another book

There is harsh galut and benign galut, and there is galut that is so benign that people fall asleep and remain there. Life in this type of galut can be compared to that of a tired person who falls asleep in the snow. Because he is deep in snow that surrounds and cocoons him, he doesn't move to save himself and simply dies there in that place. There are Jews who live in precisely that kind of galut. They aren't beset by too many problems. They feel very comfortable surrounded by a kind of beautiful white snow, and they remain asleep. Ultimately, when they wake up and attempt to emerge from the snow, it turns out that they are no longer Jews. In any event, as long as our world progresses as usual, with highs and lows, good times and bad times, peaceful times and less peaceful times, it remains a world of galut. Once the Messiah arrives, the entire world will move in just one direction: forward and upward, without backward movement, without stumbles or falls. In this life, maintaining balance is difficult and tenuous. We yearn to achieve a stable balance; we yearn for a time when things will remain in their appropriate places, when there can be real progress. This is the entire essence of the messianic era. After the Messiah arrives, is seen, and is revealed, the world's problems will gradually be resolved, humanity will become better, and we will be able to proceed forward in a straight line toward what is called life in the World to Come

I once sat with the elder Slonimer Rebbe and listened to his stories, some of which were about himself and his life. In his youth, he had been a loyal emissary of the previous Slonimer Rebbe who wanted to establish an organization that would unite haredi Judaism long before Agudat Yisrael was formed. The Rebbe sent his young emissary to speak to virtually all of the Torah leaders of the generation. He told me that when he met with one of them, that Rebbe asked his hasidim to look at the guest because "happy are the eyes that saw the eyes that saw the eyes." Sometimes, the very fact that a certain person has had the privilege of seeing the Torah leadership of the generation eye to eye accords him a certain status.

But rationalizations and excuses that may be effective on Yom Kippur are not effective in the personal review that occurs on one's birthday. At times, when a person is subject to God's reckoning, there is room to rationalize. The review that occurs on a person's birthday, on the other hand, is a self-assessment, an earthly evaluation that seeks to answer the simple question: Did I or did I not achieve? Did I or did I not transgression? Did I or did I not fulfill my obligations? In that kind of reckoning, there is no room for excuses. One also doesn't take rationalizations into account in the stock market, for example. If a company is unsuccessful, it plummets. If it doesn't succeed a second time, it plummets further. The company can claim that a natural disaster occurred and its executives did everything they should have, but that changes nothing. The company has already lost all its value. Similarly, when a person evaluates his past year, rationalizations are irrelevant and ineffective

When I speak about the fear of God, I'm referring to a person being truly authentic in his religious observance

I'm a Jewish optimist, and this is what a Jewish optimist says: The world is dark and ugly, but there is hope. If someone sees the world differently, he has a problem with his vision - he is colorblind or needs new glasses. I do think I see the right colors, and this is the way the world looks. It is black and malodorous. But it need not remain that way, and it is by the strength of this hope that I live.