The yetzer hara has mastered the art of spinning something from nothing. If he wants machlokes, he’ll figure out a way to get it
L
ast year, I wrote an opinion piece in the Succos issue titled “The Grinch that Stole Simchas Torah.” It was about grinchy people who grump their way through the hakafos as others celebrate. We explained how their misery stems from a deep sense of frustration and inability. And we discussed how to remedy it — without alcohol.
Whether you liked the piece or not, you have to admit, the title was great (an editor’s idea).
But now, I’d like to focus on another Grinch, one lurking somewhere in the background of every Simchas Torah celebration. It’s a very sinister Grinch indeed.
Some history. Sometime in the mid-19th century, Polish chassidus saw a stark divide. Rav Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izhbitz, a dedicated disciple of the Kotzker Rebbe, left the court of Kotzk and founded his own chassidus and his own approach to avodah.
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