The last part of this spirited conversation
As a talmid of Rav Weinberger shlita, I’d like to point out the middle ground in the ongoing discussion regarding chassidus versus Gemara learning. Throughout Jewish history there have been two pathways in avodas Hashem: the mind and the heart, e.g., Moshe Rabbeinu and Dovid Hamelech, the Rambam and Rav Yehudah Halevi, the Gra and the Baal Shem Tov. These paths are not mutually exclusive.
Just as one does not have the discretion to choose between learning Torah and davening, but must do both, so too one cannot choose the mind to the exclusion of the heart, or visa versa.
The question is only what percentage of a person’s avodah is heart and what percentage is mind. That is dependent on a person’s neshamah. Some of us lean toward the emotional side, others toward the intellectual side. Dovid Hamelech fully expressed his emotional side in Tehillim, yet the Gemara tells us how a part of his day was spent paskening halachic questions.
Despite his being a master teacher and proponent of chassidus, I have heard Rav Weinberger say that 90 percent of a person’s learning time should be spent on Shas and poskim and 10 percent on chassidic works. He also continually challenges his adherents to sleep less on Shabbos and spend many hours learning. So for all those who are worried that the movement toward chassidus is going to negatively impact Torah learning, stop worrying.
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