Breslav

Hello. Hasidism doesn't speak to me. My impression is that it usually involves vague ideas and poorly defined concepts, which is why a sense of depth is created. Of course, there are also beautiful things here and there, as is the way of the Torah. Although, because these are very associative and vague writings, you can do almost anything you want with them. So ultimately it depends on the Maggid of the shiur. If he himself is a deep and interesting person, then it doesn't really matter who and what he bases his words on (much like in a commentary on poetry or literature). That's why I assume that good shiurs can be found on the writings of Hasidism, and usually the "fault" for them being interesting and useful is the Maggid of the shiur and not the writings themselves. That's why it's also worth paying attention to the extent to which what they say is actually found in the text or is it their invention (completely legitimate). Especially as Hasids, they have a tendency to see that everything is found in the text, and if there is anything good in their words, it must be taken from there. The Breslov Hasids assume that everything is there, as do the Hasids of Rabbi Tzadok and the Harald and Rabbi Kook and so on. In many cases, the shiur adds new aspects or demands the text in a way that was not really intended. If he is talented, then he will always be able to show you with miraculous signs that his words are in the text (this is how you find the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics in the Zohar and in the writings of the Ari, etc.). To be honest, none of this is really important, because one must examine the things themselves, and who knows whether this is the intention of the Rabbi or Rav Kook or not? But as a critical thinker, it is still worth paying attention to this. You can see my complex opinion on the writings of Rabbi Shagar in a lecture filmed from YouTube (on the evening of the publication of his book Tablets and Fragments of Tablets), which also appears here on the website: And also in a review of the early version, Broken Tools, which was released during his lifetime: https://mikyab.net/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%9B %D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%9D-%D7%A2 %D7%9C-%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/ Regarding Yom Tov Cheshin, I didn't know he had lessons. We were in touch a few years ago, as he read my books and commented and asked about them, and we talked quite a bit after that. I was very impressed with him, with his originality and knowledge. But I don't know his lessons. I suppose if he has lessons, it's worth listening to (see my comments above about lesson presenters, and in particular the Hasidim :)).