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5.5.20

Rav Nahman of Breslov had a wealth of great ideas and advice but his main emphasis was on medicine for people's soul's. Medicine is not the same as food. So while Rav Nahman has great advice for particular problems, that does not mean to simple decide "to be Breslov". You might ask what is wrong with that? The problem is it is like a kid walking into a pharmacy, and picking out all the different medicines that have pretty colors.  Is there any question about how long this would last?

That is why I tend to emphasize the Gra and the Musar approach of Rav Israel Salanter in order to have an idea of the basic structure of Torah. Then within that context, Rav Nahman can be very helpful.

I learned a lot from my experiences at Shar Yashuv in Far Rockaway and the Mir. And I learned a lot from the great sages, Rav Freifeld, the founder of Shar Yashuv and Rav Shmuel Berenbaum. I mean to say it was not just book learning, but also I stuck around these great sages and thus learned a lot by osmosis.

[However it was not until later when learning with David Bronson, that the basic in depth learning approaches of Shar Yashuv and the Mir began to sink in.]]


[Rav Nahman emphasized learning fast and Litvak yeshivot emphasize learning in depth. So what is best in balance. To have some sessions fast and others in depth.]