In Search of Real Rabbis

Let’s be blunt, and say that one of the biggest reasons that so many of us don’t have a rabbi these days is because we’ve been badly burnt by rabbis who didn’t practice what they preach; or were fundamentally useless in helping us solve our problems; or, who were arrogant, unholy or just plain nasty.
 
What’s going on with that? How are we meant to square all these ‘bad’ rabbis with the notion of finding ourselves a Rav? There’s a Baal Shem Tov teaching on the Zohar that explains a little of what’s going on:
 
“The Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) said to Hashem: ‘You have created me in vain! For this tzaddik that is coming into the world will turn many people in teshuva, and will bring them closer to Hashem, fixing the world with emuna and torah and prayer. And me? I’m just an angel, a spiritual being that can’t be seen, and this tzaddik is in a physical body, and will lead the people in good ways, with fear and love, and who will listen to me?!?!?
 
“And the answer came to the evil inclination: “All men”. For as a counter balance for every real tzaddik, there is another one who opposes him, who possesses no love and fear of G-d, but only confuses creatures. He looks like a tzaddik, and guides the people to different kinds of wisdom and strange beliefs, and he has great strength. And from this comes the free will that people will have to choose between good and evil.”
 
Rebbe Nachman also writes extensively about this. For now, let’s stick to a couple of quotes from ‘Advice‘ (the English translation of Likutei Etzot):
 
(Page 9): “There are people who have an extensive knowledge of Torah, yet they lack personal worth. The teachings of people like this stem from ‘fallen Torah’. Their influence can have devastating effects. It can cause people to reject even the most basic tenets of faith. Those who remain firm to their belief in G-d find themselves under attack and exposed to ridicule and contempt.”
 
(Pg 158): “Those who ridicule and abuse the genuinely religious are under the influence of Torah they have learned from scholars who lack the necessary integrity. These scholars are termed ‘Jewish devils’ (Zohar III, 253) because their Torah is fallen Torah which lacks the power to guide men along the path of truth and goodness. There is nothing to be gained from such scholars. Anyone who associates with them will turn into an atheist.”
 
And this, from Sichot HaRan 126:
 
“It will be very difficult to remain firm in faith, and not be misled by everyone’s mistaken beliefs in the pre-messianic era. At that time, many who call themselves religious leaders will preach falsehood… There will be some truly religious individuals, but they will be few and far between.”
 
So for now, let’s remember the following principle:
 
There are a bunch of ‘fake’ rabbis and teachers and ‘holy people’ out there, what Rabbi Nachman calls ‘Jewish devils’, who are only doing it for the honor, kudos, and power their learning and their position of authority gives to them.
 
They are very dangerous to the people who follow them, or respect them, or listen to their opinions, for a few reasons:
 
* Their torah is bad; not only does it not encourage people to change, grow and improve, it actually encourages us to become heretics and atheists, and to stop keeping mitzvot. (Think of all the ‘orthodox’ rabbis who make keeping their community happy more of a priority than keeping G-d happy…)
 
* They put people off from finding and following the ‘real rabbis’ who’s words and advice heal and help Am Yisrael.
 

Let me throw out three areas where many of the undisputed ‘real rabbis’ of Am Yisrael have come out with rabbinic opinions, which have been ignored / mocked / criticized by a lot of orthodox ‘leaders’, to our great detriment:
 
* The expulsion from Gush Katif – No less a person than the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson said that giving away land can never bring peace. He was – and continues to be – right.
 
* The connection between modesty – or lack of modesty – on our streets and the terrible problems afflicting our nation. Even though 24,000 Jews died in a Divine plague in the desert as a direct result of acting immorally with the women of Midian, many ‘orthodox’ leaders still mock any connection between lack of modesty and personal safety.
 
* The prohibition on having unfiltered internet in the home, and / or  iPhones. How many more stories do we need to hear of young people, old people, husbands, yeshiva students, kids etc becoming addicted to internet porn; or online gaming; or gambling before we’ll finally admit that the real rabbis were right along?