The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Corporate Raiders

Netanya came to Corporate Raiders, the seedling that became Chulent, through her relationship with Gidon, a"h, a Breslover chasid who was gunned down in Borough Park by New York cops the same year as Amadou Diallo. The fragility of that connection is almost terrifying. And the cross-fertilization that is taking place because of that connection is truly mind-blowing.

This relates to another mind-blowing connection. Over the past two years, some of the interns at the old Elat Chayyim developed a relationship with the Santo Daime church in Accord, which only happened because the church was located 1/4 mile down the road. This has led to a blossoming of shamanistic exploration among a new generation of Yidn committed to Jewish rhythms and rituals and equally committed to the earth. And these circles - the Elat Chayyim/Teva circle and the Chulent circle, are beginning to overlap.

These are the kinds of random connections that lead to such important transformations that it's impossible to imagine them not happening. And yet every first step in such journeys is so fragile, uncertain, unanticipated.

I have no doubt whatsoever that whatever happens to Judaism in the next century will be profoundly changed by the way these paths have grown on their own and by how they are are now beginning to grow together.

The purpose of NeoHasid, if there is one above all others, is to help such connections thrive and expand.

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006