I received the following question from a reader:
General Questions
In a nutshell, for each question, what is wrong with;
- Mussar?
- Brisk?
- Chassiduth in general?
- Breslov in particular?
Answer:
The case for a conservative/paleo/originalist Judaism is simple.Since ideals are ordinal, it is a logical necessity (and historical observation) any time a new ideal is preached, it must supplant the earlier scale of ideals: “antinomianism”. The Jewish problems with “revivals” such as Brisk, Mussar, Chassidus, and so on, are but manifestations of this axiom.As for Breslov, although the individuals may have problems, especially due to misinterpretations of doctrine, the system itself is not revolutionary (in the negative sense), since Breslov explicitly leaves Halacha alone.And again, this is chiefly about ideas, not specific Jews. Some Jews may think they are following these perversions, by misreading the texts to mean nothing heretical, and adopting only harmless mannerisms, while other Jews have ostensibly no connection, yet tragically absorbed these poisons.