Ask a Snatch Anything!
Feb 4, 2015 11:30:53 GMT -5
Post by snapdragon on Feb 4, 2015 11:30:53 GMT -5
Feb 4, 2015 7:04:36 GMT -5 @blackpearl08 said:
snapdragon, one more for you. Is there or what is the difference between your Orthodox Judaism and Hasidism? Are all Hasids Orthodox but it's just a separate community? I lived in Brooklyn for a while and there is a big Hasid community there. Within "regular" Orthodox communities, you will find various customs and ways of dress. Though there is always a community rabbi who people will go for questions, some people have other rabbis from their past they will ask, or their fathers, or grandfathers, or really any other qualified rabbi who happens to be easy to reach on the phone. And, in general, a great rebbe like the Breslever Rebbe has established, specific guidelines and teachings to follow whereas a community rabbi is mostly for answering questions, from "Rabbi, my meat spoon fell in my dairy soup! Is it kosher?" to "Rabbi, I think I want to get a divorce. What should I do?"
Hasidim are often referred to as "ultra-orthodox," but that's not strictly true. A Hasid is not "more orthodox" than I am, for example, they just have different customs. Hasidim are often stringent on some things and go beyond the letter of the law, but I've learned that in some ways they are actually LESS stringent. At any rate, all Orthodox Jews follow Torah law, and all stringencies and leniencies must come from a reliable Torah authority who okays it because going one way or the other is not breaking the law. You're not allowed to just make those decisions on your own. Does that make sense? So like you said, all Hasidic Jews are Orthodox, but not all Orthodox Jews are Hasidic.
The main thing Hasidim have in common (with the notable exception of Chabad/Lubavitch, whose MO is outreach) is that they are very insulated from the secular world. They are very private, and they stick to within their own communities. Because of this (and because I have never lived in New York), I have very little personal experience with Hasidim, so I'm reluctant to say any more.