Michtav Mi’Eliyahu, Mesillas Yesharim and many other Torah seforim discuss different spiritual levels.
A ramification of this idea is that different people will be effected by different degrees to various activities such as going to a busy beach, watching TV, or walking through parts of Manhattan. Some people will avoid these activities and some are comfortable with them. In my neighborhood, certain respected Rabbi’s will not enter a mixed gender Kiddush. Many people feel that going to a secular college will be detrimental to their children’s spiritual growth.
What examples have you seen of people on different levels following different practices?
Have you experienced any changes in the things and places you avoid as you’ve grown spiritually?
Have you met or read writings of people who don’t seem to believe that different people are effected spiritually by different situations?
on an english site it’s always a good idea to write everything in English anyway… it’s much more inclusive. unless people want show their hebrew skills!
Sorry I misunderstood. I guess my Hebrew knowledge is still too limited for these discussions.
Re: David_L #3
Nope. I’m talking about the holiness of the dead tzadikim, not that of the kohanim. Otherwise I would have conjugated m’tamei in Bunyan pual, not piel. I think I got that dikduk right…
I think its very dependent also on where one lives – for example here in Eretz Yisrael, 95% of those who call themselves “Charedi” or orthodox, would not host a mixed kiddush… and I don’t think because of exceptionally advanced spiritual levels in most cases – more because it’s just not done…
However we see obvious examples of people who have reached tremendous spiritual levels – ever see Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Rebbe on shabbos? He doesn’t sleep the whole Shabbos and looks like a totally different person. Or the Amshinover? Or Rav Tzvi Myer? Or Rav Yitzhock Myer Morgenstern? All these people are very different from the average person due to their spiritual achievments – but they have worked hard for this.
I personally do find myself far more sensitive to certain things – I do not go to the secular part of town, or into mixed crowds, and I am far from a high level in anything!
I think the more one tries to do ratzon hashem, the more anything against ratzon hashem becomes distasteful to that person…
Re: AMG #1
Should that say “will not visit”, rather than “will visit”?
(I guess I’m an advanced BT now, since I understood all the Hebrew. :)
Any example where the spiritual level – either inherent (in the case of kohanim) or developed effects what a person can/will do is fine.
Some kohanim will visit kivrei tzadikim on the basis that their kedushah cannot be m’tamei. Is that the sort of thing that you are referring to?