Stop Learning Chassidus, Start Living It

From the Anash.org Inbox: We all know the words – we’ve learned Tanya, we’ve studied the mamarim, we can quote the concepts. But knowledge alone hasn’t bridged the gap. What if we’ve been looking at it all wrong?

By Mendel M.

Let’s be honest – most of us aren’t spending hours learning Chassidus each day. Maybe we attend a daily shiur and genuinely want to connect to the teachings of Chassidus. Yet somehow, they often feel abstract and distant from our daily lives.

We all know the words – we’ve learned Tanya, we’ve studied the mamarim, we can quote the concepts. But knowledge alone hasn’t bridged the gap. What if we’ve been looking at it all wrong? What if Chassidus isn’t primarily about learning – what if it’s actually about experiencing something real, something direct, something that could transform how we see everything?

While there’s incredible depth in the seforim, the essence of Chassidus isn’t locked away in books or complex concepts. It’s available right now, in this moment, in your actual experience. Chassidus is not just words on a page; and you are not just a brain on a stem.

When the Alter Rebbe explains Achdus Hashem in Shaar HaYichud V’haEmunah, he isn’t just presenting concepts – he’s describing something real and immediate, something that can be experienced directly. That very same experience is available to you right now, in this moment.

Those stories about Chassidim spending hours in hisbonenus? They weren’t just studying a mamaar- they were exploring reality and their inner experience. They were discovering something real, something that changed how they experienced everything.

Want to try something? Take the idea that everything is constantly being created by Hashem. Instead of thinking about it, just sit with it for a moment. Look at something simple – a cup, a table, your hand. What if it’s being created right now? What if you could actually experience that?

Instead of thinking about it – just stay curious. What if each moment isn’t just the cup continuing to exist, but rather Hashem actively willing it into being, continuously? Can you sense the aliveness in that? The constant newness?

Take a moment right now to experience this. See what you get.

This isn’t about forcing anything or trying to have some dramatic experience. It’s about getting quiet enough to notice what’s already true. What’s already happening. What’s already here.

Here are some steps to begin implementing this approach:

1) Choose Your Concept: Pick one concept from Chassidus that you want to explore – maybe it’s “ein od milvado,” or constant creation, or the G-dly spark in everything. Don’t try to understand it better – try to see if you can sense what it’s pointing to.

2) Get Curious Instead of Serious: Rather than trying to force an experience, just wonder: “What if this is being created right now?” “What if everything really is G-dliness?” Let yourself be genuinely curious about what these teachings are pointing to.

3) Start Simple: Start with something simple – maybe your morning coffee. As you lift the cup, pause for a moment. Not to think about Hashem creating it, but to be open to experiencing that possibility directly. What if this warmth in your hands, this aroma, this entire moment is being brought into existence right now?

Don’t worry if nothing dramatic happens. Sometimes it’s just a subtle shift – a moment where the ordinary suddenly feels less ordinary. The key is to stay light, stay curious, and keep coming back to this simple practice of noticing. Not as another thing on your to-do list, but as an invitation to experience the depth that’s already here.

Every teaching in Chassidus points to something you can experience directly. The Rebbeim weren’t just giving us information – they were giving us precise directions for exploring reality itself. When they talk about Achdus Hashem, or how everything is G-dly, or how the world is constantly being created – these aren’t just nice ideas. They’re descriptions of how reality actually is, waiting to be discovered.

We just need to learn to open our eyes and see.