BS’D

God’s Turned-On People

By

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan zt’l

“Serve the Lord with gladness

Come before His presence with singing.” (Psalms 100:2)

The Jewish community today is faced with a crisis.  More and more of our young people are turning away from Judaism.  For one reason or another, they are not interested in what we have to offer – the synagogue simply turns them off.

Our established leaders have given this problem top priority, and are studying the question in depth.  Many answers have been proposed, but we have met with only small success in isolated instances.  Our solutions have proven futile when applied on a larger scale.

We have tried everything to get our young people back to the synagogue – beautiful buildings, top-notch cantors, more English in the service, enriched Hebrew School programs, better youth groups, experimental programs – the works!  But in general, all of these have been less than successful.  Our recipe seems to be missing some special ingredient.  Some special vitamin seems to have been left out.  We need something to turn these young people on and we just don’t seem to have it. 

What is this missing vitamin? Can we discover it, and duplicate it?  Is there somewhere a Jewish community which does not face this crisis?  Can we find a community where the youth are involved?  Where their dedication to Judaism is as strong as that of their parents?

Interestingly enough, we can indeed find such a community, right here in the United States.  There is no question that the most successful Jewish community in America, in terms of the participation of the entire community, including the youth, is the Chassidic community.  But it goes even further.  Not only do their own youth remain but they are attracting teenagers from the outside.  And often, those young people who are attracted to Chassidism are the ones with the least Jewish background.

The story of Chassidism in America is really quite remarkable.  The majority of the Chasidic elders came here in the years after World War II, so that the majority of their young people, in their teens and twenties, are a generation born and raised in America.  In this way, the generation that came to America in the 1940’s was very much like the generation that came here at the turn of the century, that of our parents and grandparents.  But there was one important difference.  While our grandparents may have had a strong commitment to Judaism, somewhere along the line they failed to instill this in their children.  Even the first generation born in the United States had lost most of the deep religious feeling that their parents had brought from the old country, and by the 1920’s, most of that religious feeling was gone.  But the Chasidic groups that came in the 1940’s were able to transmit their values and their commitment to their children.  And so we find their children clinging to Judaism as strongly, and even more strongly, than their parents.

Now, our thinking about Chassidim tends to be limited.  For many of us, the picture begins and ends with beards, payot, (sidelocks), and long black coats.  While this image may be true for many Chassidim, it is only the beginning of the story.  In fact, that very image is only a reflection of their great commitment to Judaism.  Others consider the Chassidim as overly European, even ghettoized, living in their own sheltered world.   It would come as a surprise, then, to learn that there are many Chassidim who are every bit as modern as the rest of us.  Many are college graduates, fully aware of the most forward-looking ideas of our times.  With them, Judaism is a matter of commitment, not a matter of ignorance.  Therefore, it is really not so surprising that some Chassidim have had quite an impact on college campuses.  Many young college students today have taken quite an interest in the movement, and are very excited about it, meeting with Chassidic groups and setting up classes in Chassidism right on campus. 

What is it about these Chassidim that attracts our youth?  What is it in their philosophy that turns our young people on?  Perhaps they have that missing ingredient, that spiritual vitamin we lack.  They certainly have been successful, not only with their own young people, but with ours as well.  Perhaps, then, there is something we can learn from them.  If they can turn on our younger generation, perhaps we had better look more closely.

Chassidism came into being at a time very much like our own.  It was a time when European Judaism was on the decline and many young people were becoming indifferent to Jewish values.  Then, suddenly, a new religious leader came on the scene.  Israel Baal Shem Tov was a man with a new outlook, a new philosophy, which spread like wildfire throughout most of northeastern Europe.  It has been called one of the great religious movements in history.  Israel Baal Shem Tov was a radical, denounced by the Orthodox, rejected by the Jewish establishment, nearly put under ban of excommunication.  Yet he succeeded where they had failed, and for over 200 years, Chassidism gave new life to Judaism in Europe.  For Chassidism is a turned-on Judaism.  It has meaning, it is dynamic.  It has tremendous strength.

The Baal Shem Tov once summed up his teaching of Chassidism: “I have come to this world to teach people how to love – how to love God, how to love one another, how to love God’s Torah, how to love life itself.”  And this is the essence of Chassidism: love.

The Chassidim began with a gigantic love affair, a deep love affair, with God.  When a person is deeply in love, he cannot get his mind off the one he loves.  He sees his love in everything, and every act is colored by his love.  And this is how the Chassid feels about God.  God is in everything, every act is influenced by this great love of God, and there is no division between the sacred and the secular. 

The Chassid sees God in everything, especially deep in his own soul, for man’s soul is a reflection of God, and so man must worship God in everything he does.  The Chassidim teach that God is everywhere, with every individual, whether the scholar in the synagogue, the farmer in the field, or the college student out on a date.  And most important, no man is ever separated from God.  No matter what he does, there is never a wall between man and his Creator. 

When a Chassid prays, he is not just saying words.  He is speaking to his beloved, communing with the Infinite, the Ultimate, and every word is full of heart, full of soul.  Every word is uttered with burning devotion, every service an act of losing oneself in God. 

The Chassidim teach that the human being is a reflection of God, and therefore one cannot love God without loving one’s fellow man.  Every person has a spark of holiness in him; every person contains an emanation of God.  For the Chassid, there can be no such thing as an evil person; there are only evil deeds.  And when a person stops doing evil, the light of God shines through, unblemished.  No person is ever rejected by God, no matter what he does.  No matter what kind of life he leads, he is always loved by God, and can always return to Him, for God is always ready to receive him.  And therefore, the Chassidim teach that it is a virtue, even a duty, to look for good in one’s fellow human beings.  Once a desperate father came to the Baal Shem Tov and asked him, “Rabbi, what should I do about my son?  He has become a very wicked person.”  “Then,” answered the rabbi, “you must love your son all the more.”

But the main thing that gives the Chassidim the ability to transmit their teachings to their children, is their way of looking at Judaism in general.  They are really turned on by Judaism.  The old order viewed Judaism as an extremely complex system of laws which, if kept, would provide a means of approaching God.  The Chassidim, on the other hand, do not look at Judaism as a lesson in self-discipline, but as a lesson in love.  For them, the rituals of Judaism are just another way of expressing their love of God, and every observance becomes an act of love.

The Chassidim teach that, beyond the letter of the law, one has to give life to the spirit of the law, to use each law, each custom and ritual, to come closer to God.  So for the Chassid, Judaism is not obedience to a set of dry rules.  It is an act of love.  And the Chassid loves his God so much that he cannot do enough for Him.  And where the old rituals are not expressive enough, he seeks new ways to express this love.

The Klausenberger Rebbe zt’l explained the difference in the following way.  We have a commandment to fast on Yom Kippur and we have a commandment to dance on Simchat Torah.  Some people keep Judaism like fasting on Yom Kippur, an unpleasant duty they feel bound to keep, as an act of self-discipline.  This, the Rebbe explained, is not the way of the Chassidim.  The Chassid keeps all of Judaism like dancing on
Simchat Torah, out of sheer joy.  God gave Judaism to His people to help them lead a happier life, and this is the true way of Judaism, to keep it for the sheer joy of it.

So for the Chassidim, Judaism is not a somber religion.  It is a happy religion, serving God with gladness.  It is what gives life meaning, making the soul rejoice, and bringing happiness to the heart.  Sadness is a great sin, while happiness and joy are considered service to God.  Worship is not a cold, formal affair, but an expression of this joy, with singing and dancing, motion and life.  In the darkest days of Jewish history, Chassidism brought a new hope, a new happiness to millions of people.  It brought Judaism to life again, making it meaningful to the masses.  The radiance that illuminated two centuries of Jewry may yet have another great purpose to serve.

I was once at a conference where it was discussed what kind of Judaism we will have in America 100 years from now.  Some people said that the trend would be toward Reform.  Others said that it would be toward the middle, conservative movements.  The pessimists said that there would be no problem, given the current rise in intermarriage, for in 100 years, there would be no Judaism at all in America.  But one person suggested that 100 years from now, Chassidic Judaism would dominate the American Jewish scene.

I would agree.  The Chassidic spirit, the Chassidic philosophy, is certainly the up-and coming thing.  Perhaps this is our answer, the missing ingredient which will provide our coming generation with a new kind of Judaism, a turned-on Judaism.  Maybe it is time that we took ourselves more seriously, and blew new life into our synagogues.  Maybe we have to get involved in this love affair of the Chassidim, this love affair with God.

“God’s Turned-on People” is an essay from the book “Facets & Faces” by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan zt’l that was reprinted for online distribution with express permission from Moznaim Publishing Corporation.

The book “Facets and Faces” and other Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan books are available at:

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