Chassidus Misapplied: The Dangerous Reinvention of Chassidus

By Rabbi Sholom Kesselman – Mashpia of Anash in Los Angeles

Since the founding of Chabad Chassidus, there have been two general groups of Chassidim who devoted themselves to Chassidus and Avodas Hashem.

There were Chassidim who were known primarily as maskilim, and others who were known primarily as ovdim. Both served Hashem with selfless dedication, but they differed in their approach.

For the maskilim, the primary focus was on learning and understanding Chassidus in a deep and intellectual way, delving into its concepts and gaining a profound comprehension of Elokus.

For the ovdim, the emphasis was primarily on Avodas HaTefillah, iskafya, and the ongoing work of refining and perfecting one’s character and middos in the service of Hashem.

The maskilim would admonish the ovdim: You are not applying yourselves deeply enough to understanding Chassidus. You are not studying, contemplating, and plumbing the depths of its ideas as you should.

And the ovdim would admonish the maskilim: What good is all your understanding if it does not translate into avodah? You know Chassidus, but are you actually applying yourselves to the avodah that Chassidus demands?

Of course, in truth, there is no real contradiction between the two.

In a world of perfect truth, haskalah and avodah are perfectly compatible. They are not competing ideals; they are two sides of the same coin. The understanding of Chassidus is meant to lead to avodah, and the avodah of Chassidus is meant to be rooted in a true understanding of what Chassidus teaches.

But we do not live in a world of perfect truth.

We are feeble, fallible human beings. And as human beings, we tend to gravitate toward one side or the other. Some of us are naturally drawn to understanding, analysis, and intellectual depth. Others are more naturally drawn to emotional engagement, personal transformation, and practical avodah.

As a result, finding the proper balance between haskalah and avodah has always been something Chassidim have had to work at.

Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we don’t. That is the way it always was.

“New Age Chassidus”

However, in recent times, we are seeing this age-old saga take a turn in an entirely new and foreign direction.

A new discussion has emerged around the application of Chassidus and making it more practical and meaningful in our daily lives. On the surface, this would seem like a welcome endeavor: to translate the ideals of Chassidus into actual practice. One would expect this to result in increased limud haTorah, davening ba’avodah, careful observance of Shulchan Aruch, and a greater commitment to refining one’s character and middos.

Unfortunately, this is not what we are seeing. Instead, the primary focus of this new approach to Avodas HaChassidus has become all about human psychology, mental health, personal growth, self-development, and emotional healing.

There are some very gifted scholars and thinkers who, having become familiar with the language and insights of modern psychology, are using these ideas and this language to translate and explain Chassidus.

In the name of avodah, (and often quoting phrases such as ועבדהו בלבב שלם), they argue that authentic Chassidus cannot remain confined to the realm of intellectual study, elokus or avodas Hashem. It must be applied to “real life”. It should speak to questions of human growth, emotional development, relationships, mental health, and healing.

While there is certainly value to this approach, and there is no question that it has helped many people, unfortunately, the project has gone off the rails and has evolved into something that has very little to do anymore with Chassidus and genuine Avodah.

What began as an attempt to make Chassidus more accessible and applicable has become a wholesale reinterpretation of Chassidus, until what emerges bears little resemblance to the Chassidus taught by the Rebbeim.

The truth is that there is a fundamental misunderstanding in this new approach of what it means to bring Chassidus down into Avodah.

When the Posuk says, “דע את אלקי אביך ועבדהו בלב שלם”, or “וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך,” it means that the haskalah of Chassidus must lead to enhanced Avodas Hashem. It must translate into greater Ahavah v’Yirah, Bitul, Kabolas Ol, Simchah, Ahavas Yisrael, midos tovos, Avodas HaTefillah, and every other dimension of serving Hashem.

Never in the history of Chassidus did “ועבדהו בלב שלם” mean translating Chassidus into psychology, self-help, or human development and growth. The purpose is not to bring Chassidus “down” simply into the heart, into the realm of the human psyche. That is a fundamental distortion of what the Posuk is saying. The objective is not the development of the lev as an end in itself. The objective is ועבדהו to serve Hashem (with a full heart).

What is happening today is no longer the age-old debate between haskalah and avodah, it is a distortion of the very definition of what עבודת החסידות is.

In that debate, there was a clear consensus as to what avodah meant. Bittul was bittul. Kabbalas ol was kabbalas ol. The same was true of iskafya, hisbonenus, ahavah, yirah, and the other fundamental concepts of Chassidic avodah.

Of course, there was always a lively discussion and debate among Chassidim about how best to implement and practice these ideas. Different Chassidim understood and expressed them differently, each aliba d’nafshei.  But the discussion took place within a shared framework.

The language was the language of the Rebbeim. The concepts were the concepts of the Rebbeim. The arguments, even when they were sharp and nuanced, were firmly rooted in the words and teachings of the Rebbeim.

The disagreement was over the details, emphasis, and application, not over the fundamental vocabulary and values of Chassidus and avodah.

What we are seeing today, however, is something fundamentally different. We are seeing an entirely new language, along with an entirely new set of values and ideals, originating outside the world of Chassidus; often ideas that are fundamentally at odds with Chassidus, being superimposed upon Chassidus.

Self-worth. Self-esteem. Self-healing. Presence. Mindfulness. Trauma. Abuse. Holistic well-being. Inner peace. Inner alignment.

These and similar values are increasingly being presented as the yesodos, the foundational principles, through which we are now expected to learn and interpret Chassidus.

And, in the name of “healthy” bittul and “healthy” kabbalas ol, we are told that these concepts do not mean what they have always meant. 

Bittul, for example, is now about “…(fill in the blank).” Kabbalas ol becomes – “…(fill in the blank).” And the traditional vocabulary of Chassidus is emptied of its original meaning and recast through an entirely new litany of values and ideals.

There may be truth and value in some of these ideas. Some may even provide useful tools for helping particular people. But when these concepts become the foundational vocabulary through which Chassidus itself is defined and understood, something very different is taking place.

Chassidus is no longer simply being applied through a modern psychological lens. It is being reinvented through that lens.

Is There No Place to Use Chassidus for Personal Development and Healing?

Of course there is.

But there is an integral point which must be clarified first.

Chassidus is not inherently a system of human healing and personal development.

Chassidus is Yedias Elokus. It is Chochmah Elokis. It is the study of Hashem, Seder Hishtalshelus, Achdus Hashem, and the entire spiritual reality that Chassidus seeks to reveal.

And the avodah of Chassidus is likewise not self-help, it is avodas Hashem. It is about how to serve Hashem, fulfill His will, and live with the awareness of Elokus. It is not simply about human healing and wholesomeness.

Taking care of our mental and emotional wellbeing is certainly necessary and can be an important, even holy, endeavor. But wellbeing and avodah are not the same thing. Wellbeing concerns the health and functioning of the person; Avodas Hashem concerns what the person does with himself in the service of Hashem. Thus, working through emotional difficulties, developing healthier patterns, or seeking psychological healing may be entirely necessary, but these activities should not, simply because they improve the person, be labeled Avodas HaChassidus. Avodah means applying the teachings of Chassidus to serve Hashem, to cultivate bittul, strengthen one’s connection to Elokus, improve one’s middos, and change the way one thinks, speaks, and acts as an eved Hashem.

The goal of Chassidus is not simply to produce healthier, happier, more emotionally integrated human beings. The goal is to create real Ovdei Hashem.

As an example:

Consider the beginning of the Alter Rebbe’s discussion of happiness and sadness in Tanya, beginning in Perek 26.

The Alter Rebbe begins a lengthy and important discussion about how a person should deal with sadness and how to cultivate joy. At first glance, one might be tempted to read this as a discussion of emotional health or psychological well-being.

But notice how the Alter Rebbe himself introduces the subject.

He writes:

“But this must be made known as a cardinal principle: It is with the service of G-d just as it is with a victory over a physical opponent, for instance, two people who wrestle with each other, each striving to fell the other. If one of them is lazy and sluggish, he will easily be defeated and will fall, even if he be stronger than the other, since his laziness and sluggishness prevent him from revealing his strength. Similarly with the conquest of one’s evil nature. It is impossible to conquer the evil nature with laziness and sluggishness, which stem from sadness and a stonelike dullness of the heart, but rather with alacrity, which derives from joy and an open, i.e., responsive, heart that is unblemished by any trace of worry and sadness in the world.”

There is a subtle but extremely important point here.

The Alter Rebbe is not discussing happiness because he is a psychologist who wants to help people become emotionally healthy.

That is certainly a worthy goal. There are professionals whose expertise is precisely in helping people deal with emotional and psychological difficulties. But that is not what the Alter Rebbe is doing. He is interested in avodas Hashem. Period!

His starting point is that a person cannot successfully wage the battle against the yetzer hara when he is weighed down by sadness, laziness, and sluggishness. To defeat the yetzer hara, a person needs zerizus, and zerizus comes from simchah and an open heart. Therefore, the Alter Rebbe now turns to the subject of sadness and happiness.

The distinction is critical. He is not saying: Human beings need to be happy in order to be emotionally healthy. Therefore, let me teach you how to achieve happiness. He is saying: A Jew needs to overcome his yetzer hara and serve Hashem properly. Sadness makes that avodah impossible. Therefore, let us understand sadness, its causes, and how to overcome it, all in the context of avodas Hashem.

Tanya is filled with profound insights into human psychology. It speaks about emotions, motivation, self-perception, inner conflict, thought patterns, behavior, and the human condition. Much of this can be remarkably relevant to modern discussions of psychology and emotional health.

But that does not make Tanya fundamentally a book about human development and healing.

The Alter Rebbe is not trying to create emotionally healthy human beings for the sake of being emotionally healthy. He is trying to create an oved Hashem.

Someone who is suffering from sadness, anxiety, or emotional pain can absolutely take the Alter Rebbe’s teachings and find profound help in them. But the ideal form of healing comes when those teachings are embraced for what they truly are: a path to bittul, living achdus Hashem and genuine Avodas Hashem. By becoming less self-focused and more deeply devoted to Hashem, a person naturally becomes less consumed by anger, anxiety, resentment, and other forms of self-preoccupation. The emotional healing that follows is not incidental; it is a natural result of genuine avodah.

If, however, a person takes the same teachings merely as psychological tools for feeling better, they may still gain something from them and experience temporary relief. But they will miss the deeper transformation, and ultimately, the fullest form of healing that comes from authentic, meaningful avodas Hashem.

The fact that the Alter Rebbe’s teachings can heal the human being does not mean that healing the human being was the Alter Rebbe’s primary objective. His objective was avodas Hashem. The emotional insight is in service of the avodah. The psychological discussion is in service of the avodah.

Consider a simple example.

A pen is a writing instrument. But if you need a bookmark you can also use your pen to mark your place in a book. The pen can serve that purpose quite effectively.

But you wouldn’t conclude from this that a pen is a bookmark. It isn’t. A pen is a writing instrument, but you are using it for another purpose because it happens to work for that purpose as well.

The same is true with Chassidus.

Chassidus can provide extraordinary insight into the human being. Its teachings can be applied to questions of personal growth, emotional development, relationships, healing, self-understanding, and many other areas of human life.

But that does not mean that Chassidus is a system of human healing, development, or self-discovery.

It is something much greater. It is Divrei Elokim Chaim.  It is about knowing Hashem. It is about making Elokus real in our lives. It is about realizing אין עוד מלבדו. And yes, it is about real bittul.

Meshalim Are Only Meshalim!

It is true that, in explaining matters of Elokus, Chassidus frequently uses mashalim drawn from human experience: מבשרי אחזה אלוקה.

But the purpose of these discussions is not to remain with the mashal and make it the ikar. The mashal is a vehicle through which we can understand the nimshal, a spiritual truth about Hashem and our relationship with Him.

If Chassidus explains a particular aspect of Elokus by using an idea from human psychology, the point is ultimately to understand the Elokus that the psychological analogy is helping us grasp.

We should not get stuck only with the Moshol and make that the primary focus and goal.

Unfortunately, what we are seeing today is a total inversion of this principle. Instead of the focus of learning Chassidus being the study and understanding of Elokus, with the human being used only as a moshol to help explain those concepts, the opposite has increasingly become the goal.

The purpose has become to uncover psychological ideas, insights, and methods about the human being, while the discussions of Elokus are adopted as the moshol and the means toward that end. In other words, what was once the nimshol has become the moshol, and what was once the moshol has become the nimshol.

The Danger of Misapplied Chassidus

Someone might still want to argue: But what is the big deal? So what if Chassidus wasn’t intended to be a work of self-help? It works. It’s healing me. It’s alleviating my struggles. So what if I use a pen as a bookmark?

The truth is that there is a very real danger here.

The difference between Chassidus and modern-day psychology can be summed up in one line: In modern-day psychology, the person is at the center. It’s all about “me”: my self-worth, my self-esteem, my healing, my mental and emotional well-being, etc. In Chassidus, Hashem is at the center.

The purpose is bittul and mesirus nefesh. It is about prioritizing the truth over the self.

When Chassidus is misapplied, the danger is that instead of being about selflessness and dedication to the emes, it becomes another sophisticated tool for the perpetuation, and even glorification, of the self.

This is not merely a misunderstanding of Chassidus. It is the exact opposite of what Chassidus is about.

The solution to abstract Chassidus is not to turn it into a glorified self-help manual that subtly feeds the sense of self and the ego. Rather, the solution is to explain why learning authentic Chassidus and developing true bittul will make you a much better oved Hashem, which is the purpose of our existence.

Chassidus Is Too Abstract and Doesn’t Seem Relevant to My Life

One of the common pushbacks against authentic Chassidus is that it is too abstract and doesn’t seem relevant to everyday life.

Many people genuinely want to learn Chassidus. But when the subject is a lengthy pilpul about the three levels of Or Ein Sof shelifnei hatzimtzum, Atik and Arich, or Akudim, Nekudim, and Berudim, they simply don’t find it meaningful or relevant to their lives.

Then someone comes along and explains that these ideas are really about something taking place inside of you, a personal struggle, an emotional experience, or some psychological process, and suddenly, it becomes meaningful and relevant. The same concepts that seemed abstract and remote now feel directly applicable to one’s life.

This, of course, is part of the reason that what we might call “New Age Chassidus” has become so popular. It makes Chassidus feel relevant, accessible, and alive.

But while the goal is noble, and I appreciate the attempt to find a solution, in truth, the method is totally mistaken.

The problem has not actually been solved. Yes, it can be difficult to see the relevance of an abstract passage in Chassidus. But explaining that passage as a psychological phenomenon does not make Chassidus relevant. It simply reinvents Chassidus and transforms it into something else.

You have not succeeded in making Chassidus meaningful. You have transformed Chassidus into psychology.

And yes, psychology is meaningful. It can be enormously helpful and relevant to our lives. But that is not what we should be aspiring to when we learn Chassidus.

Do not confuse this attempt with bringing Chassidus down into Avodah, or with “ועבדהו בלבב שלם.” It can only be called Avodah when it speaks directly to some aspect of Avodas Hashem. Simply addressing matters of the heart, emotional struggles, or mental well-being does not qualify as Avodas Chassidus.

Our goal should not be to make Chassidus relevant by reinterpreting spiritual ideas as psychological ones. Rather, our goal should be to explain to people why these spiritual ideas themselves, as they exist in their purity and holiness, are relevant to their lives and can transform them.

Don’t take Atik and Arich and explain why they are meaningful because they correspond to some psychological counterpart within a human being.

Make them meaningful by explaining the truth of what they actually are, and then explaining why knowing that truth can change a person’s life.

Explain how understanding Chassidus makes a person more refined. Explain how it makes Elokus more real to them. Explain how it helps them see that nothing truly exists besides Hashem. Explain how the neshamah and one’s emunah become spiritually nourished and healthy through knowing and contemplating these truths. And explain how that spiritual health ultimately translates into an actual love for Hashem, excitement about Yiddishkeit, and a deeper and more genuine relationship with Him.

You don’t make something relevant by explaining that it is something else.

You make it relevant by discovering the relevance of the thing itself, without watering it down, without diluting it, and without transforming it into something it is not.

Now, it is true that if someone doesn’t particularly care about Avodas Hashem or about developing a relationship with Hashem, they may struggle to find Chassidus meaningful. But of course that is going to be the case. Chassidus is fundamentally about Avodas Hashem. In order to find Chassidus relevant, one must, at some level, care about the very thing Chassidus is trying to accomplish.

Making Chassidus into a form of self-help and divorcing it from genuine Avodas Hashem simply so that it can be made meaningful to people who otherwise have little interest in Avodas Hashem is not a solution.

It is simply not Chassidus.

How to Learn and Teach Chassidus

Considering all of the above, when learning Chassidus, and certainly when teaching it, it is imperative to preserve the proper seder.

First and foremost, we need to understand the idea as it was intended. If the subject is something in Elokus: an olam, sefirah, partzuf, dargah in Keser, or any other concept in Seder Hishtalshelus, we must first understand what it actually means l’maalah.

If Chassidus gives us a mashal, we need to understand the mashal, but we cannot stop there. We must return to the nimshal, using the mashal to understand the spiritual reality being described.

Likewise, when Chassidus discusses avodah, we first need to understand how Chassidus itself defines that avodah. What does bittul mean? Kabbalas ol? Iskafya? Hisbonenus?

Not, what we would like these concepts to mean. Not, how we can reinterpret them through whatever psychological trend happens to be popular today. Rather, we must ask: What does Chassidus itself mean by these concepts?

And then, of course, we must practice these ideas and incorporate them into our daily lives—והשבות אל לבבך. It is not enough simply to know what bittul or hisbonenus means. We must actually put these ideals into practice and allow them to shape the way we live. המעשה הוא העיקר!

Then, and only then—after we have understood Chassidus as it was taught by the Rebbeim, and after we have brought those teachings down into real avoda—Avodas Hashem—and are actually living and practicing authentic עבודת החסידות, only then may we move on to applying the principles of Chassidus to other areas of life.

At that point, there is certainly room to say: “By the way, this idea can also be helpful in addressing a particular psychological struggle.” Perhaps it can help someone with low self-esteem, sadness, anxiety, relationships, trauma, or emotional development.

But this cannot be the starting point. We should not approach a text of Chassidus and immediately process it through the language, assumptions, and values of modern psychology, as though these constitute the fundamental meaning of the text.

When appropriate, such an application can certainly be made, but only after we have first learned Chassidus as Chassidus.

Even then, however, we must be clear about what we are doing.

We are no longer defining the Chassidic concept itself. We are taking an idea from Chassidus and applying it outside its primary context. We are taking the pen and using it as a bookmark.

This approach allows us to accomplish both things. We preserve the emes of Chassidus, its definitions, language, priorities, and framework as received from the Rebbeim, while still allowing its profound truths to illuminate and even help heal the human experience.

How We Got Here

I don’t know this as a fact. But if I had to offer a theory for how we arrived at this point, I would suggest the following.

Unfortunately, there are people who have been through traumatic experiences and are dealing with very real nafshiyos’dike struggles. For some of these people, because of their sensitivity and fragility, there may be a genuine need to avoid focusing initially on concepts such as bittul and kabbalas ol.

It is not difficult to understand why. How do you speak to someone about bittul when their very sense of self is broken or severely compromised? How do you speak about kabbalas ol to someone whose life experience has associated submission and authority with an abusive or controlling figure?

For such a person, these concepts may not be productive at a particular stage. They may even be harmful. In such cases, it may be necessary to make an exception and to present certain ideas differently, in order to help the person heal and eventually become a keli for more.

If, for a particular individual, speaking about bittul in its traditional formulation is likely to trigger something destructive, perhaps it is appropriate, in that person’s case, to explain bittul in terms that first help restore a healthy sense of dignity and stability. But that is an exception.

Many of the scholars and thinkers at the forefront of what might be called the “New Chassidus” are deeply involved in working with people who are struggling with various forms of emotional and psychological distress. They are doing great work in this area and they deserve tremendous credit for that.

But it is certainly possible that there is a natural sampling effect at work.

Someone who spends much of his time working with people who are emotionally or psychologically struggling will, understandably, encounter a very high concentration of people for whom traditional formulations of bittul, kabbalas ol, iskafya, and similar concepts are difficult.

If almost every person one encounters struggles with these ideas, it can begin to feel as though the concepts themselves must be the problem. And perhaps, therefore, they need to be redefined for everyone for a “healthier” bittul, and a “healthier” kabbalas ol, and so forth.

But that conclusion does not necessarily follow. There are legitimate reasons why these concepts may be difficult for certain individuals. That does not mean that the concepts themselves have become inappropriate for the klal.

We do not need to change the fundamental language, definitions, and values of Chassidus wholesale, because there are individuals for whom a different approach is necessary.

As far as the klal is concerned, we need to remain faithful to the authentic language, definitions, and values we received from the Rebbeim.

Boruch Hashem, there are thousands of Yidden today who are perfectly capable of learning and practicing genuine Chassidus, as the Rebbeim taught it, in the same language and with the same values that our grandparents learned it, and in the same tradition that Chassidim have carried forward all the way back to the Alter Rebbe.

There is no need to reinvent Chassidus for the klal. And there is certainly no need to misapply it to the klal just because certain individuals require a different approach.

For those individuals, however, we should do everything necessary. If a person needs a different formulation, a different emphasis, or even a different path altogether in order to heal and eventually become a keli for Chassidus, that is important work. We should approach it with sensitivity, wisdom, and compassion. But it should remain what it is: an exception to the rule, not a redefinition of the rule.

As a klal, Chassidus is and must remain about Elokus, avodas Hashem, and bittul. It must never be allowed to become the latest psychological trends dressed up in Chassidic language.