Q&A: Breslov
Breslov
Question
I was at a Shabbat groom’s celebration, and there were about seven Breslov people there (with all the clothing and everything), because the groom really loves Breslov and its teachings.
And so, I wanted to ask whether there isn’t a bit of idolatry in this:
They sing a lot in honor of Rabbi Nachman as if he were king of the universe, “Rabbi Nachman, there is none like you in the world,” and so on.
I was in the car with someone, he was looking for parking, and I heard him praying, “Na Nach Nachma Nachman from Uman,” and so on.
Answer
There is no prohibition in the Torah against being stupid, at least not a formal prohibition. And stupidity is certainly not necessarily idolatry. But it is still stupidity. It may also be that they are only praying to the Holy One, blessed be He, through the kind mediation of their rabbi. To say that there is none like him in the world is just plain stupidity, but not idolatry. Unfortunately, there are many like him in the world.
Discussion on Answer
Yes, an expected question. I have written more than once that according to Nachmanides, the basis of the prohibition of idolatry is the prohibition against being stupid. And even so, that is the reason for the verse. Nobody claims that there is a halakhic prohibition against stupidity. Moreover, if that were the definition of the prohibition, there would be no need for dozens of different prohibitions regarding idolatry and its accessories.
There are all kinds of sects that come out of all kinds of places. By that logic, one would also have to declare that Judaism is idolatry, since the sects you describe also came out of it (and Christianity too). Each person and each sect has to be judged on its own merits. You do not judge the groups from which sects emerged by their offshoots.
What about Maimonides’ approach? According to him, the prohibition of idolatry and the prohibitions of sorcery, consulting the dead, and so on are because these are matters of foolishness, and in his view the Torah distances a person from foolishness and stupidity. In other words, there are views according to which it is forbidden to be stupid and to follow vain fantasies. And in their opinion this is even one of the fundamentals of Judaism, and even a person who was mistaken or was born foolish is punished.
In addition, among some Chabad followers and Breslovers there are those who literally seek out the dead, and I have heard that some even anthropomorphize. There are even sects that came out of Chabad and Breslov that actually behave like the Sabbateans.