54) KEEPING THE PRIMARY, PRIMARY:

It is sometimes very difficult to know from whom to receive guidance. 

So we turn to the ‘pious’.  

But every teacher has an agenda. 

The problem is that it’s impossible to know which agenda is closest to the truth.

The Kotzker Rebbe said regarding the ‘pious teachers’: “They turn the Secondary into the Primary, and the Primary into the Secondary.”

You know you’ve found your teacher when you walk away with the Primary remaining Primary. 

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52) KOTZKER TRUTH:

The Kotzker Rebbe says; “What was the sin of the spies? They spoke the truth (about what they saw. How is speaking truth considered a sin)?

However, ‘truth’ does not just mean speaking what you see. That would simply be ‘not lying’.

‘Truth’ (in a religious sense) means that if one understands what it is that G-d wants, then one must exhaust oneself to find a genuinely truthful way of expressing (or explaining) G-d’s word.”[1]

There is no value in promoting G-d’s agenda, as noble as it may be, through holding back on the truth or suppressing or censoring it. 

Rather one needs to ‘exhaust oneself’ to find a way to reconcile G-d’s will with absolute unadulterated truth and with substantive facts as we know it.

Truth is its own witness and any tampering with it, even to fulfil a righteous religious agenda, is no longer considered ‘religious’.

This is why Kotzker truth is so hard to attain. -Because it is not always easy to reconcile G-d’s truth with ours.

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[1] Amud HaEmet p. 80, par 1

29) People Should Never 'Change':

The Kotzker was very wary of people who claimed to have changed for the better. He feared they may delude themselves into believing they could change into something they were not.

He brought biblical precedents showing that Moshe and Aaron did not change[1] even when they were elevated to a higher service.

But he did say; “The only change people should ever make is to go back to their essential true selves and become who they really are.”

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[1] See here.  

20) No Need To Change:

So many people seem to undergo a degree of ‘character change’ after a religious encounter. They no longer keep their old friends and sometimes become unrecognizable even to family members.

The Kotzker Rebbe encourages us to always be true to ourselves. Any personality that actively ‘changes’ can only be living a lie no matter how noble the cause, because real people don’t change.

The Kotzker explains; “After Aharon was made the High Priest (the most noble of causes), the Torah says; ‘He was Aharon’ – he remained exactly the same personality as before his elevation.”

And; "When Joseph was reunited with his brothers he said; 'I am Joseph' - he remained exactly the same personality as when his brothers sold him as a slave."[1]

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[1] Amud HaEmet p. 35, par 4

4) The ‘Truthful’ Nay Sayers:

Nay sayers always bring a very negative and unhelpful energy to whatever situation it is that they want to oppose.

But sometimes even perpetual objectors and cynics may appear to be truthful and appropriately forewarning.

The Kotzker Rebbe, however, takes a different view and says: “Even if an objector is justified and suggests in the name of Truth, that something should not be created, developed or constructed – know that he is not representing Truth.”[1]

In Kotzker philosophy, the battle is to always find a way for real Truth to be compatible with the positive energy of creation and progress.

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[1] Amud HaEmet p. 12, par.4. This teaching was said in connection with the Medrash on Genesis describing how the aspect of 'Truth' opposed the creation of the world, and was then 'cast to the ground'.