As I said in the first post in this series, part of the issue with the story we began with is the necessity of "doing it right". Judaism has many rules and regulations; some Biblical, some rabbinic, some custom. In the first two instances, there is little leeway One simply cannot decide to not do, or even decide to change, a mitzvah. If I wake up way too early (as I usually do), I do not have the option of deciding not to put on Tefillin. I may, however, choose to abbreviate less essential parts of the prayer. There is room in some instances for spontaneity, and special circumstances. RAMBAM, for instance, rules that one is not even permitted to pray if tired (three days after a long journey), hungry or thirsty. Most other authorities rejected this view. If we don't pray for a few days, the "lines of communication" will have been broken. We might not pray after that for an extended period. Getting the feeling back is likely to be difficult. However, the halachah provides for shortening the service. There is often room for compromising the quantity of what we do, in order to preserve quality. A bigger question came in with the early decades of the Hasidic movement. Can halachah be ignored, in favor of spirituality? For many, the answer was a resounding "no". But others felt that the answer was yes. For example, what if I wake up, and I simply don't feel "ready"? There are times set for prayer. For Shaharit (the morning service), that time is ideally sunrise. However, up until one-third of the day, we're still safe (Shema' needs to be said about an hour earlier, or one-quarter of the day). Up until midday, the prayer is still valid. Past midday, according to 99% of rabbis, one has "lost" the morning prayer. If it is nevertheless said, it is a sin rather than a mitzvah. The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, always prayed with the rising Sun, as did most of his disciples. Some, however, felt that a prayer said without proper feeling is no prayer at all, so it's OK to miss the ideal time, to meditate and study inspirational literature, until one felt "ready", even if one could only make the non-ideal time of midday. Some went even further, praying the morning prayer well into the afternoon. It was felt that it was better to really pray, even though the time was completely unacceptable to most halachic authorities, rather than "fake it" at the right time. One can walk into many Hasidic centers, and find people reciting the morning prayer even shortly before sunset. (Besides the few authorities, primarily PRISHAH, who considered all day to be valid for morning prayers, many rationalizations grew up, with little or no halachic justification.) This was a major reason for the excommunication of the Hasidim by their opponents. But many Hasidism felt that Judaism was about connection with G-d, more than obedience to a rule. When, in the mid and late nineteenth century, Hannah Rachel of Ludmir, the "Holy Maid of Ludmir" (1805 to 1888), became the first woman to officially hold a position over Hasidim, her opposition was primarily over fears of what the Mitnagdim (opponents of the Hasidim) would say, rather than over halachic issues. Her followers didn't care, as they were being inspired and uplifted by her. There have been a number of other women who functioned in a similar capacity, but always without assuming the title of "Rebbe". As beautiful as all this sounds, this is a path fraught with danger. Could Judaism become a hippie-like movement of "do what feels cool"? Can lighting a fire and telling a story really be a substitute for Torah study and obedience? That will be my next post.
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