8/19/2019 Intro to Hasidut - 13.5.14

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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Intro to Hasidut

Lag Ba’Omer

- Lag Ba’Omer is about two things, the death of RASHBI and the cessation of the deaths of thestudents of R’ Akiva.

- Meron is about to the Death of RASHBI.- A Rabbi from MErcaz HaRav (?) looked up the manuscripts and found that it was a girsa error

•  people flipped out at him. how could he cast aspersions on the holy day of lag ba’omer.- Popularly accepted origin of the holiday comes from the Idra Zuta, a description of what

rashbi told his students before his deaths.- The celebration by the death of rashbi is called a “Hillula”, happiness resulting from the torah

he gave on that day, and b/c of the celebrations in heaven upon his arrival.

Kivrei Tsadikim - the idea of lying stretched out on the graves of righteous people comes form the midrash RE

kale ben yephuneh that says he went to hebron to lie on the graves of his Fathers, to ask them

to pray for him. (TB Sotah 34b)- students of the GRA used to go to his Kever on his yartzheit, but not necessarily to pray.- the soloveitchik’s specifically didn’t go to graves- YERUSHALMI SHEKALIM 47a - R’ Shimon Ben Gamliel: “We don’t make nefashot  for

tsadikim. Their words are their remembrance.” (nefashot means some form of remembrance,

 presumably lying on the grave) (Kesef Mishna: it means visiting graves)- Rambam brings this as halavah. Hilkhot Evel, Chapter 4.- Radbaz says its from Darkhei HaEmori

- R’ Dr. Yehezkal Lichtenstein - Mehkar on traveling to Kivrei Tsadikim - two main trends in

visiting kivrei tsadikim- There was even critiques of this in Hasidut itself

• HaRav Me’Tsanz - Divrei Yatziv- Holocaust survivor- thought hasidim shouldn’t necessarily go to kivrei tsadikim

- Lots of Mahloket about this in poskim.

• Maharil is for it.- thought you should be praying to ‘!, not the tsadik.

- hasidim practiced that b/c writ large they followed after the ARIZAL

- SHAAR RUAH HAKODESH - When you lie on the kever of a tsadik you unite your nefesh

w/ his, you ke’ilu bring him back to life temporarily, you elevate your should together, etc.- It’s an action, something you do. not a form of limmud.- One can Learn Torah in this manner.

Kuntras Ha’Hishtatchut

- Admor HaEmtza’i

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8/19/2019 Intro to Hasidut - 13.5.14

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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

- five levels

• 1st: to arouse yourself to humility and teshuvah

• 2nd: Tefilla there is more accepted. The area is Kadosh V’Tahor. That’s an ontological

reason. But it’s also b/c the person is more aroused to tefilla there, and that’s more

subjective.• 3rd: It will instill in a person sadness and Shvirat HaLev, b/c of the suffering the Tsadikim

suffered.

• 4th: The Nefesh of the Tsadik is there, and if you met/knew them (or learned their torah?)

while they lived then you can connect to them/see them b’einei haruah. Then the person

visiting is mitbatel  to the nefesh of the tsadik, and thus their prayer is elevated and more

effective.

• 5th: any person, regardless of whether or not they met the tsadik, can do this, so that makes

it a higher level. it’s not about feeling kirvut to the tsadik, but yirah. the person feels in awe

and therefore is mitbatel . it’s totally spiritual, nefesh to nefesh.

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