Finding the Truth is Easy
Finding the Truth is Easy but changing the reality into something true is far more difficult. As a little bit of a Kotzker, I find myself constantly searching but as soon as I see the reality, I am forced to run. This is because change is hard, it surmounts to a tremendous amount of work.
To a certain degree, in order to change, you must totally admit your failures. Then you have to take yourself out of the routine and depending on how long you have been stuck in this place, going out can be an unbelievable undertaking. So it isn’t enough to have simply found the truth or have admitted the failures, you must make a huge leap and in some cases, it could be equivalent to changing planets.
So in order to make this jump, you have to set in discipline. Mussar study gives a person this. Someone who is used to training themselves can always add a new exercise but for someone who isn’t used to hard core training, they will have to take things gradually. This is why it is important for us to always be in training and working on ourselves. We should always be learning some mussar so that when we need to discipline ourselves, we can.
The Kotzker chassid wasn’t just someone who searched for truth. He also had enough control to change any midah, character trait at any given time. There was no set routine of failures and there was no outside show put on for onlookers.
At first Mussar was too much for me to take. Then I started learning Chassidut. Now, I am realizing how to take life seriously and grow from the pain of past mistakes. Chassidut turns Mussar into a blessing. With Chassidut, even the Tochecha (sections of rebuke in the Torah) can be perceived as a blessing.
Comment by Yonason Shlomo — August 13, 2008 @ 2:32 am
i still just get depressed when i learn mussar.
and Rebbe Natan says about Rebbe Nachman (i think in likkutei moharan towards the end of tinyana) that he would weigh for months taking on a new hanhaga, so there are other methods than being ready to change on a moment’s notice.
for me, the only successfull way is to increase the good until there is no time/energy left for bad. if instead i focus on eliminating the bad, i very quickly have no energy left over for the good — and i get depressed.
having said that, i started looking at Iyov on tisha b’av and for the first time i thought perhaps i could find a bridge to mussar in there.
Comment by yitz.. — August 13, 2008 @ 3:50 pm