Although Rabbi Glixman ztz"l planted the seeds in my earlier years of the meaning of being a Jew, certainly the influence of Chabad-Lubavitch fertilized the ground.
However, the Chassidic world had been an interest to me from an early time. An original copy of Martin Buber's Tales of the Hassidim part II sits on my book shelf. I don't know how I received it, but judging by the writing on the inside cover, it was a gift to my maternal grandfather. This grandfather, whom I never knew, died six months after being the sandek at my bris.
I spent 9 months in Israel. When I landed in New York, my father, who had heard that I was becoming 'religious' handed me a 1975 siddur, Tehilas Hashem, with my Hebrew name written on the inside cover.
It was this grassroots spiritual revivalist movement that has fueled the fires of Judaism for me.
Because my inquiring mind wants to know coupled with a sense of urgency to choose a consistent path within Judaism for my family to follow, I have been on an investigation for the past three years. I am trying to discover for myself whether the Chassidic movement was correct in their apparent breakaway from mainstream Judaism. What exactly was the friction that existed when the movement started? Who is right? Where do I want to align myself? Is their 'consciousness-expanding' approach the necessary spiritual evolution that will enable the Messianic era to be ushered in? How does Chabad fit in? More than theoretical, this has many practical implications. My minhagim, my nusach, how I educate my children, etc. Many of the posts on the blog will address these issues. As much as I am enthralled by the teaching and personalities of the Chassidic movement, I try to not allow this cloud my objective search. G-d forbid, G-d forbid, is my search ever to be used to judge others who choose different paths. I am only interested in what path I should choose.
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