For over the past two centuries, many in the Jewish world wondered why the Vilna Gaon opposed the Chassidic movement. I do not claim to know for sure. Rebbe Nachman cautions that disputes between Judaism’s great saints are rarely, if ever, about what they appears like to the masses. But I would like to offer the following tentative possibility.
Based on the stories I heard and the style of each side’s approach to Torah, it seems to me that the Gaon was uniquely sensitive to the soul of time. He was concerned with where the timeline of history and destiny stood at that moment. What may have been paramount to him was not to compromise the flow of this particular stream.
In contrast, the Baal Shem Tov and his followers were uniquely sensitive to the soul of European Jewry. They were concerned with the suffering and the needs of the people. What may have been paramount on their side was to elevate the material and spiritual state of their flocks, even if such efforts may have led to anachronistic results; such as solving a present day issue by drawing down a spiritual light from the messianic future.
If this was the case, then each side had important concerns and who am I to take sides? All I can do is resonate with where my soul is genuinely rooted, while admiring the Torah contributions and concerns of the other side as well.
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