Historical Forces

Hasidism came to celebrate the holiness of character traits, the holiness of faith, a general awareness of the holiness of Israel and its high rank. It came to increase feelings of holiness, which had been slumbering in the heart of nature, by means of increasing appreciation for prayer. It was contested by an opposition deeply concerned that the practical foundation might totter as a result of an intensification of a tendency toward feeling; that the details, which support the totality, not grow blurred by a tendency toward holism; and that the power of imagination—which arouses by means of good, holy and true feelings—not overstep its bounds.

These two forces engaged one another, each one intending to foster the goodness that it saw in the other, but according to its own unique character.

Eder Hayakar, p. 25

There is a love that matures refined souls and prepares them to perceive a most refined and elevated ethics. This is a noble feeling that contains holiness, beauty and glory. Although humanity yearns for this, it cannot yet know it in its essential purity, freshness and natural state. This exalted song and holiness can be expressed only when accompanied in a complete and perfected manner by all aspects of life: physical, ethical and intellectual.

Eder Hayakar, p. 28