Some time after being told by the Rebbe to learn avodadike maamorim, Reb Bentzion Stein’s mashpia felt that it might be time to upgrade. In his next yechidus, the Rebbe advised him to continue learning what affected him most, but learn haskala maamorim on Shabbos.
Chassidus is comprised of avodadike maamorim that are introspective, and haskala maamorim, that discuss achdus Hashem on various levels.
Reb Bentzion Stein of Detroit MI relates:
The Rebbe once told me to learn avodadike maamorim in depth, to commit the maamorim or their content to memory, and to think them over periodically.
This is what I began doing. However, after a while, my mashpia suggested that perhaps the Rebbe’s directive was only for the first stages of my growth, and now the time had come for me to begin haskala maamorim.
In a quandary, at my next yechidus, I asked the Rebbe what I was to do.
“If you feel that avoda maamorim have more of an effect on you, you must continue learning them,” the Rebbe responded. “But since your mashpia instructed you to learn haskala maamorim, you should learn them on Shabbos, when you have more time.”
And then the Rebbe added, “and in general, studying haskala maamorim, fits more with the idea of Shabbos.”
(Ovinu Roeinu p. 42)
From The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash
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