There is an interesting story describing her one of the greatest of Talmudic scholars who had violently opposed movement, surprised his contemporaries by becoming a disciple of one of the great Chasidic Rebbes. The latter was also a great scholar.
One day they met and vied with each other over the meaning of a particular text. Each defended his interpretation and point of you with astounding erudition.
They quoted sources unknown to many, and the brilliance of their reasoning made bystanders marvel. Then suddenly the Chasidic master said, “Stop. We must not continue this way.”
We are looking at the text as if we had written it. We forget that it is not ours. It came from God and we must ask ourselves what He intended rather than how we choose to see it.
This challenge caused his adversary to end the debate. He realized how easy it was to permit one’s ego to become involved in what ought to be a quest for God’s will and he became a follower of the man at whom he had initially scoffed.
-Rabbi Emmanuel Rackman
There is a God and we are not Him.
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