With Rav Nahman of Uman and Breslov there is a kind of רצוא ושוב -going up and then falling back process towards the truth. But Hegel has a different kind of process in which one goes back and forth between two extremes and by a process of synthesis rises up to the next level. I can see both kind of processes at work in my own life. For a certain period when I was at the Mir in NY--I felt I was in a kind of רצוא state. [Going up] I was involved in learning Gemara [the Oral and written Law] and also Musar. Then coming to Israel certainly helped accelerate that process. But then came the period of falling away. And in that period I learned a thing or two about reality and the truth and the importance of Rav Shach and the Gra.
So I have learned a lot. But the lessons have been hard to put into writing. I would like to find a way of expressing the importance of the straight Litvak path [the Gra and Rav Shach, and Rav Israel Salanter--Musar] but along with that to show a synthesis with Rav Nahman and also the path of my parents (to emphasize good character and also to learn Physics and Mathematics as also brought in most rishonim based on Saadia Gaon]
So far I have not been able to find for myself any kind of simple way to explain the difficulties and the kind of synthesis that I am looking for. It is a kind of path of balance. To learn from the great sages of the past but also the greater need for common sense to discern who is worth listening to as opposed to who is actually from the Dark Side. In terms of this kind of common sense it seems to me that even for one who lacks that kind of sense still faith in Rav Shach and the Gra to believe that they knew what they were talking about can make up for the difference of what one lacks.
So I have learned a lot. But the lessons have been hard to put into writing. I would like to find a way of expressing the importance of the straight Litvak path [the Gra and Rav Shach, and Rav Israel Salanter--Musar] but along with that to show a synthesis with Rav Nahman and also the path of my parents (to emphasize good character and also to learn Physics and Mathematics as also brought in most rishonim based on Saadia Gaon]
So far I have not been able to find for myself any kind of simple way to explain the difficulties and the kind of synthesis that I am looking for. It is a kind of path of balance. To learn from the great sages of the past but also the greater need for common sense to discern who is worth listening to as opposed to who is actually from the Dark Side. In terms of this kind of common sense it seems to me that even for one who lacks that kind of sense still faith in Rav Shach and the Gra to believe that they knew what they were talking about can make up for the difference of what one lacks.
