Radical Honesty: The Sayings of the Kotzker Rebbe

A rebbe has been compared to a geologist, one who points out where to dig beneath the earth to find diamonds and precious stones. He’ll tell you where to dig and what you’re likely to find, but you must do the digging yourself to find the treasure within yourself.

“I don’t have your treasure,” he’d say. “You have it, not me.”

A rebbe is a teacher, master, spiritual guide, and so much more.

A rebbe’s followers come to him for all kinds of reasons. Some go to get advice, or receive a blessing, plead for a miracle, or sometimes just to have someone bear witness to their torturous journey.

I sought out a few rebbes myself when I was in my twenties and living in Jerusalem, where meeting such people was just a bus ride or a door knock away. I was lucky to briefly meet Rav Asher Freund and learn Torah with the Amshinover Rebbe. These experiences were so life-giving, they got me curious about the rebbes of long ago, in particular the Kotzker Rebber, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgenstern (1787–1859), a 19th-century Hasidic leader renowned for his sharp intellect, radical teachings, and unwavering commitment to truth and authenticity in Judaism.

I’m not alone. Over a hundred books have been written about the Kotzker Rebbe— although he wrote no books of his own. He wrote down his Torah thoughts by day, then destroyed them by fire each evening. But he couldn’t burn what his followers remembered about him. Over 1,200 sayings are attributed to him. Here are a few gems.

Kotzker Sayings:

Everything in this world can be imitated except for the truth.

There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.

One should dance on the roof of the highest building and on a razor’s edge.

Man must guard himself and his uniqueness and not imitate his fellow, neither in thought or deed… for initially man was created ‘in his own image’, and only afterwards in the image of God.

You don’t love fish. If you loved the fish, you would not have killed it and cooked it on a fire.

Do not take pride in the fact that you are humble. Be humble in your humbleness.

There are three inns that a person visits during one’s earthly journey: The Inn of Jealousy, the Inn of Desire, and the Inn of Glory. I managed to leave the first two fairly quickly and have never returned. But the third, the Inn of Glory, I struggled mightily to leave, until I felt that my very veins were snapping.

Whoever believes in miracles is an imbecile. Whoever does not is an atheist.

A Good Jew Is Allowed to Think

A hassid of the Kotzker Rebbe once poured out what was troubling him. “I think and think and can get no peace of mind.”

The Kotzker Rebbe asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m wondering if there is a Supreme Judge who deals with this world justly.”

“What does it matter to you?” the Rebbe replied.

“If there’s no judge or justice, then all of this world doesn’t matter or make sense!”

“And why does this matter to you?” the Rebbe persisted.

The hassid sputtered, “Because if there’s no Judge or justice, then the Torah doesn’t make sense either.”

“And why does it matter to you?” insisted the Kotzker.

“Rebbe, how can you say that? Surely it matters to me! What’s the point of it all?”

Whereupon the Kotzker Rebbe replied, “If you are so concerned, then you must be a good Jew. A good Jew is allowed to think. It will do you no harm. Nothing bad will ever come from thinking.”

What strikes me is the Rebbe’s almost blasé attitude toward the hassid’s seemingly blasphemous questions. It’s as if the Rebbe is saying, “Nu, so you have some heretical thoughts? Nu, you think God can’t handle them? Relax.”

In the above story the Kotzker Rebbe comes across as pragmatic, understanding and flexible. But he possessed a whole other side, ascetic, demanding, perfectionistic, even severe. He walked around in a tattered suit and recoiled from money as though poison. He kept his home wide open to all, even animals. (According to one source, he forbade his followers from even setting mouse traps.)

He never gave eulogies at funerals because he abhorred the flattering lies and exaggerations one feels compelled to heap upon the deceased. He called sameness a sickness and routine a paralysis of the spirit. He demanded of his followers—and of himself—a freshness, to never pray today as they had prayed yesterday.

More Sayings:

Not only is the one who hates his fellow called wicked but the one who hates himself is also called wicked.

Know why you want what you want.

To listen agreeably to the foolish talk of a fool is also a deed of charity.

Joyfulness is the outcome of holiness. That is why the holiday of Sukkot follows Yom Kippur.

If love is not bread then it is the wine of life.

“And you shall be a holy people unto Me.” (Exodus 22:30) Let your holiness be humane, reasonable, and acceptable to others.

If I am I, because you are you, and you are you, because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you. But if I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you, and we can talk.

More important than writing is erasing.

A great generation can make do with petty leaders. But a lowly generation needs great leaders.

No majority in the entire world can decide what is truth.

Write Your Own Ideas

Before his death the Rebbe of Kotzk made sure to burn any loose page or manuscript. He left behind no book. One has to wonder why.

My hunch is that the Kotzker didn’t want his hassidim to read and follow what he had written, but rather to write their own books and arrive at their own unique vision or approach to life.

After all, he believed they all could be rebbes, too.

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