One of the major aspects that is important about the Gra is in an ironic way expressed most plainly in the 13 stories of Rav Nahman. There in the 12th story you have this idea that every saint "tzadik' contains the essence of some Divine trait. And that bringing these traits together would result in a great help for all mankind.
And the trait the Gra represents is that of pure Torah. And the proof is in the pudding. Wherever you have a yeshiva based on the Gra, [i.e. straight Litvak yeshivas like Mir or Ponovitch or Brisk] there you have people following the straight unadulterated path of Torah.
But a major obstacle in getting to any tzadik of the realm of holiness is the Sitra Achra, the Dark Side. And in Torah there is a general principle זה לעומת זה עשה האלהים [God made evil parallel to good].
So even more important than coming to the realm of holiness that one can find in a Litvak yeshiva, it is more important to avoid the Dark Side that is elsewhere.
How can you tell? One basic way is "faith in the wise". Even if one does not understand what the Gra says or why, still by listening and heeding his advice, one is saved from the Dark Side.
[I actually did try to follow the Gra in every detail for some time, but I fell from that. However, even if I can not succeed, why should I not want others to succeed? Learning Torah and trust in God are certainly the major points of the Gra, but so is his signature of the letter of excommunication. To the degree that people pay heed to these important points of the Gra, that is the degree they succeed in Torah.]
Even in Lithuanian yeshivot however there are pathological tendencies. They are not solely going by the Gra. But that is the point. To the degree they do not go by the Gra, that is the degree there are pathologies.
And the trait the Gra represents is that of pure Torah. And the proof is in the pudding. Wherever you have a yeshiva based on the Gra, [i.e. straight Litvak yeshivas like Mir or Ponovitch or Brisk] there you have people following the straight unadulterated path of Torah.
But a major obstacle in getting to any tzadik of the realm of holiness is the Sitra Achra, the Dark Side. And in Torah there is a general principle זה לעומת זה עשה האלהים [God made evil parallel to good].
So even more important than coming to the realm of holiness that one can find in a Litvak yeshiva, it is more important to avoid the Dark Side that is elsewhere.
How can you tell? One basic way is "faith in the wise". Even if one does not understand what the Gra says or why, still by listening and heeding his advice, one is saved from the Dark Side.
[I actually did try to follow the Gra in every detail for some time, but I fell from that. However, even if I can not succeed, why should I not want others to succeed? Learning Torah and trust in God are certainly the major points of the Gra, but so is his signature of the letter of excommunication. To the degree that people pay heed to these important points of the Gra, that is the degree they succeed in Torah.]
Even in Lithuanian yeshivot however there are pathological tendencies. They are not solely going by the Gra. But that is the point. To the degree they do not go by the Gra, that is the degree there are pathologies.
