An incredible online resource is being created as an interactive platform to explain the width, depth, and breadth of Chassidus, by explaining the context of each concept in the many sources it appears in.
A team of dedicated Chassidus learners and tech fans have taken on an impressive new to build an online platform to explain Chassidus concepts with their contexts in different sources and locations. The platform will be modeled after Wikipedia, in that it will be interactive and allow for corrections, modifications, and additions of sources.
Bar Yochai:
Beginning in the times before processed paper, the printing press, typewriter, or computer, was a vision that could only be fathomed by the holy minds of a select few.
A whole world was hidden away; a reality so true that it couldn’t be grasped even if it was told directly to you, and so it wasn’t shared, it remained a secret.
Revealing it seemed to be an impossibility.
Yet, it continued to be the inner purpose of our lives, and the entire reason for Creation.
Over the course of time, society was swerving dangerously away from its intended course.
Change was imminent.
History showed that exclusivity couldn’t work.
Altering the practice of the past, the secret was whispered softly in the ear of the Jewish people.
Internally sparking life that couldn’t ever be stifled again.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was famously known for teaching the inner dimension of the Torah. Gathered around in a sublime and blissful atmosphere sat our Sages listening to the sweet words dancing from the mouth of Rabbi Shimon. Heaven on Earth must have been experienced by those fortunate few. But there was another, more farsighted, intention behind all the teachings. They formed the design of the mindset of all Jewry, and ultimately, the whole world. However, it would take time.
Slowly it was developed throughout the generations; midgets climbed on the shoulders of giants so that they might continue what has been left behind. Until, suddenly, a new light descended upon Earth. Chassidus.
The essence spread through all threads of Torah, and an organized system was constructed to allow access to the mind and heart.
Our Rebbeim taught it to us. They haven’t only explained it, but instructed us that it is our obligation to toil in it and share it with the whole world.
They gave us a treasure trove of goodness filled to the brim with a compressed world, a world that is to become ours.
It’s quite simple, actually. All that we have to do now is to unfold and internalize all that was taught to us.
All too often we come across a topic in Chassidus that seems to be explained differently the last time we learned it. “It depends on the context” might be the response of the mashpia you asked. What we intend to do is give some of that context.
We began working on a platform that offers a whole new dimension to learning chassidus in English. Our goal is to create both an encyclopedia and visual map that guides the reader through common themes and intricate concepts in Chassidus.
This project has many levels. The first level is to lay out the core of the concept: etymological root, definitions, and possibly some examples of its use in popular contexts.
Next, a network of cross-references that show different angles of the idea.
Since this would all be online, it allows the inclusion of any constructive piece of information on the relevant topic, including: 1. Direct quotes from Seforim and books 2. Audio 3. Video.
It is important to have another level: The order of every idea within the meticulous system of Tanya. It’s like combining all different materials you’ve gathered and constructing a tower conducive for proper Hisbonenus.
This project can be described as a Wikipedia of Chassidus of some sort, in the sense that it could be updated whenever necessary, and that it could link to any resource online that could contribute to the article under study, whether in text, audio or video.
In short it’s something that many have thought about, and we would like to make it a reality.
You don’t have to be the peanut gallery. If you see it and you want to have something to do with it, that means you are needed for this project. We need all the help we can possibly get. If you think you can help with research, writing, translating or funding please reach out to [email protected]
Sincerely,
The ChassidusWiki Team
You can check out the website here chassiduswiki.com