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A God Who I Can Understand Is a God I Would Not Have Chosen
And other wisdoms of the enigmatic Rebbe of Kotzk
A rebbe has been compared to a geologist, one who points out where to dig beneath the earth to find diamonds and precious stones. He’ll tell you where to dig and what you’re likely to find, but you must do the digging yourself to find the treasure within you.
“I don’t have your treasure,” he’d say. “You have it, not me.”
A rebbe is a teacher, master, spiritual guide, and so much more.
A rebbe’s followers, called hassidim ( and he usually has many), come to him for all kinds of reasons. Some go to get advice, or receive a blessing, plead for a miracle, or sometimes just to have someone bear witness to their torturous journey.
I sought out a few rebbes myself when I was in my twenties and living in Jerusalem, where meeting such people was just a bus ride or a door knock away. These experiences were generally so life-giving, they got me curious about the rebbes of long ago, from the past three centuries.
(For anyone who would like to get a flavor of various Hassidic rebbes, I recommend Elie Wiesel’s enthralling book,re: Portraits and Legends of the Hassidic Masters.)
