While going through the recent Sukkos issue of Toras Avigdor, I was happy to see the forthright words of Rav Miller ז"ל warning against frivolity and "fun", hefkeirus and wildness, הוללות masquerading as praiseworthy Torah שמחה, during the great time of זמן שמחתנו. Take a look at his words in the beginning of the booklet, and especially on page five, about such perversions taking place on שמחת תורה no less, where he mentions a shtiebel where they threw wet towels at each other on that day, a Kohen who demonstratively broke ranks to drink schnapps at the time of ברכת כהנים instead of blessing his people, and other nonsense.
This very important message came back to me when I saw a recent video clip, allegedly from a שמחת בית השואבה, of a fellow with a shtreimel hanging on to a chandelier and pulling it down. Besides it being dangerous for multiple reasons, it is destructive, and not sanctioned by our תורה הקדושה. Yet, a prominent social media personality described it as part of Hasidic Jews 'knowing how to have a good time'.
A שמחת בית השואבה is not a free for all. In fact, in סידור הגר"א אזור אליהו there is a order for that celebration, IIRC, consisting of the fifteen psalms of שיר המעלות said then in the time of the בית המקדש, along with readings from Chazal about it. Presumably one can find some such structure for it elsewhere as well (perhaps in the very comprehensive siddur of Rav Yaakov Emden for example?).
While this message is quite relevant and important during Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah, it really is very important and fundamental year-round as well. Not only are wildness and "fun" not the same as Torah approved genuine wholesome simcha, they are at odds with each other. Wildness and fun may bring temporary thrills, but they fade quickly, leaving emptiness and a price to be paid.
May הקב"ה help us attain true Torah happiness, שמחה של מצוה, and not be fooled by, or settle for, inferior, cheap imitations.
א פרייליכען יום טוב - חג כשר ושמח
Rabbi Miller got this one right, I.e. Simcha and fun aren't synonymous. This said, Rabbi Miller was speaking to Jews who were looking to achieve Shleimus, but my belief is that such Jews are in the minority. Most Jews, and I include from Jews, are as materialistic as the mainstream and probably even more.
ReplyDeleteThe live audience that Rav Miller z"l addressed decades ago, during his physical life on earth (from recordings of which the booklets are transcribed) was a different type of crowd, we might call them modest and non-mainstream (in a good way). NYC and the frum and general worlds were quite different then too.
ReplyDeleteThe frum community today may be significantly larger, but there are too many that are lost and confused, unfortunately. However, B"H there are still mevakshim, people looking for more. I would like to believe that even among those not thought of that way, a person could seemingly be materialistic, while simultaneously retaining some idealism, which, though not always visible, could emerge unexpectedly at times.
UNRELATED, but I think you would enjoy this article -
ReplyDeletehttps://www.hyehudi.org/recovering-the-anti-chassidic-truth-of-nefesh-hachaim/
I really apologize for beating a dead horse, but I came across something I think is worth sharing. This is from Pg 241 of "Rebbe's Army" by Sue Fishkoff. The author interviewed Rebbetzin Rivkah Slonim and she related the following, "As a little girl I went to sleepaway camp and they taught us this song, "From 770 we are marching out, On to victory, there is no doubt. To the corners four we're marching happily, nation by nation we will be conquering." The Rebbetzin then pontificated. When I learned the song I was quite naive so I really didn't understand it, I mean are we going to go to war by putting Tefilin on people and handing out Shabbos candles? As I got older I realized that this couldn't have been the Rebbe's intent because he wasn't interested in the external he was only interested in improving the internal. Rabbi Miller used to say, "When great people say something they mean exactly what they say." And the Gaon added, "The simplest answer is the truth." As Dr. Berger told me, "The Rebbe, on numerous occasions spoke about taking over the world." If you think he meant by starting an international revolution in Torah, I have some bridges for sale.
ReplyDeleteThe words to the song you are talking about, "Shluchei Adoneinu" according to Habadpedia, go back to the Lubavitch summer camp "Gan Israel" in 5732/1972 (source - https://tinyurl.com/7z259tj7). At https://tinyurl.com/nekdw8ta you can see it performed.
DeleteAccording to the above, the words were not composed by the late Rebbe, so they don't have the official weight within Habad-Lubavitch as if they would have been. So I wouldn't worry too much about them. If Lubavitchers fantasize about such things, it is just another delusion they have. They can dream that their faith will be adopted by the whole word, like other sects do, but it ain't happenin. :) The so called "Rebbe's Army" is a bunch of civilians.