the vilna gaon dons beggar\'s clothes and goes out of town to do penance. on the way home there are some strange happenings. original music & images added to a retelling of the traditional jewish story. How can I justify the wild associative leaps that I make in this video? For example, by substituting Netanyahu for the Vilna Gaon, and Barak Obama for Moshiach? The answer is that I am following the formula of Nachman of Breslav, when he writes, "my Torah is completely behinot (hebrew: "associations"). A string of intuitive associations that generates a work salad, such as Nachman's "Likutei Moharan" (hebrew: "collected essays") is based on inductive rather than deductive logic. Inductive logic was taught by Francis Bacon and Georg Hamann within the Christian tradition, and no doubt Nachman found similar sources within the Jewish tradition he studied. What follows is my own essay about how inductive thinking is the key to understanding Nachman of Breslav. Since most of my videos also are constructed inductively, it is an important essay to read if you wish to make sense of what I am trying to do in the videos you have here on the net. ........................................... .... FRANKLYN WEPNER fwep@earthlink.net June 5, 2009 LM 4: BACON, HAMANN AND NACHMAN CONTENTS (1) INTRODUCTION (2) BACON TO HAMANN TO NACHMAN (3) BACON AND PERLS (4) LM 4 (5) HAMANN ON LANGUAGE: (a) imagery ("bilder") (b) analogy (c) parataxis (d) paradox (e) multiple levels of language (f) affective terminology (6) CONCLUSION REFERENCE: "JOHANN GEORG HAMANN, BY JAMES O'FLAHERTY (1) INTRODUCTION FW: The Breslaver Hassidic movement as it is set up and operates today is an introverted sect, in contrast to the Chabad Hassidic movement which is set up and operates today as an extroverted sect. Breslavers tend to keep to themselves, while Chabadniks drive around town in Mitzvah Tanks seeking wayward Jews as potential recruits. But opposite as the two sects are in that respect, one thing they have in common is an aversion to "philosophy" in its traditional academic sense. Both sects condemn "philosophy" as "chochmot chizoniot" (external wisdom) or "avodah zorah" (strange work). even through ironically they both embody philosophy in the most profound manner possible. Breslav is largely Jewish neo-Platonism, while Chabad is largely Jewish rationalist Aristotelianism. However, since, of course, their educational curriculums contain no Philosophy 101 course. they pay the price of ignorance and intolerance as a result. The Chabad press, for example, once published Nissan Mindel's excellent "The Philosophy of Chabad", but today that book is almost impossible to find, and Chabad has no plans to republish it. The book is being supressed most likely because in that book Mindel contends that Chabad is ideologically within the tradition of Moses Maimonides' "Guide For The Perplexed", which, as everybody except Chabadniks themselves know, is ideologically within the tradition of Aristotle. Breslavers are even more anti-rational than Chabadniks, since their theory base is primarily neo-Platonic mysticism. Merely mention the word Plato at a Breslaver shul on the Sabbath, and you can be sure nobody will invite you to dinner! Or go to a Breslaver mikvah after demonstrating your philosophical insights concerning the writings of Nachman, and there is a good chance that after you emerge from the holy waters you will not find the clothes you hung up! FW: Another price that Hasidic sects pay for ignoring their intellectual roots is mistranslating the writings of their own originators. The originators, fortunately, were profound philosophers, but much of what they are philosophizing is wasted on their disciples, who are preachers of the sect rather than teachers of the Word. Preachers of a sect aim at building up the sect by glorifying their colleagues, in this case the "tzaddikim" (Hebrew: pius ones) or "talmid chachams" (Hebrew: wise students, students of wisdom) of the local congregation. Teachers, on the other hand, have a primary loyalty to the subject matter they teach, i.e., to the truth. By translating the phrase "talmid chacham" as "wise student" or "Torah scholar" rather than as "student of wisdom", the deeper reference of the word "chochmah" (wisdom) to the right pillar of the tree of life, or inductive logic, goes into the trash can, and we end up with the notion that anybody who sect leaders designate as "wise student" or "Torah scholar" is thereby empowered to serve as a spiritual guide. But preachers are not necessarily teachers, and so most talmid chacham's today are serving the needs of the sect rather than propagating the message of the sect founder. Thus, for example, Nachman's emphasis on the individual's search for God by "hitbod'dut" (being alone with God) is these days transformed into a typical cult emphasis on groupie gatherings, mob hysteria, guru adoration, nonsense "bubbeh maysehs" (Yiddish: grandmother stories), 18th century sect un

• published: 01 Sep 2010
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