In the month of Elul, we are required to conduct personal soul-searching and correct our actions. This is the stage in which we must criticize ourselves, open the wounds of the soul, look at the shortcomings. Naturally, this is the essence of repentance.
Indeed, until the emergence of Hasidism, there was a widespread tendency to translate the concept of repentance into preaching morality, exposing sins and transgressions, and warning against heavenly punishments, God forbid.
The Baal Shem Tov and his disciples offered a different style. They stirred the masses of the House of Israel to repentance and to amend their actions not through warnings and threats, but out of love and warmth. They told the Jews about God's love for them, and they also stirred in their hearts love for the Creator, His Torah, and His commandments.
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What is the main thing?
The truth is that both paths exist in our Torah. On Shabbat, we read in the Torah the section of "Reproof," in which harsh warnings appear for the people of Israel if they deviate from the path of the Torah. Even in education in general, there is a place reserved for "your father's instruction.".
Hasidic teachings themselves explain at length that the worship of God must be based on two foundations, love and fear. These two emotions are likened to the two wings of a bird, which cannot fly on one wing and needs both.
And yet, the question is what is the central motivation in a Jew's life.
Hasidism places the emphasis on love. The work of the Creator should be done out of joy and recognition, out of identification with and love for God. Of course, there must be an element of fear of God, so that the person is careful not to deviate from the will of the Creator, but the dominant emotions should be love and joy.
In the month of Elul, the shofar is blown, the purpose of which is to arouse fear in hearts, and at the same time, Hasidism emphasizes the closeness of God to us. It compares Him to a king who goes out into the field and welcomes all who come with a cheerful countenance, "and shows a cheerful countenance to everyone.".
This description awakens in our hearts a desire to draw closer out of love to the King who comes to meet us.
This is the path of Hasidism in the service of God in general. Instead of wallowing in evil traits, human weaknesses, human sins, and dark passions, Hasidism elevates man to a higher spiritual world, until negative things are automatically rejected.
Instead of beating the darkness with a stick, she teaches to turn on a light, and then the darkness goes away on its own.
Positive attitude
When a person makes fear of punishment a central factor in his life, he becomes closed off, devoid of joy and happiness, since the force that drives him is fear and worry.
In contrast, when the emphasis is on the positive side and the virtue of closeness to God, the person dwells in a spiritual world of holiness and love for God. When he studies and reflects on the greatness of God, the wonder of the Torah, the beauty of the commandments – he automatically rises above the lower concerns of the world.
He does not need to fight against negative things, as he is disgusted with and despises them. Such a Jew is full of energy and joy, as he is imbued with positive energy.
Of course, such a style is also effective in addressing others. When you speak to another Jew with love and affection and draw his heart to the beauty of the Torah and its commandments, he will also respond with joy and love. Thus, Maimonides teaches us that the way to return Jews to the path of the Torah is to "persuade them with words of peace, until they return to the firmness of the Torah." It is therefore also possible to return out of love.
• The column is published in The Conversation of the Week.
