What does this mean, its a quote from the Kotzker.

I think it means when there is an issue you should take a side and have an opinion. There is no great chochma to say that you are neutral and not taking sides, any donkey can do that.

Awesome quote.

What was your take on it?

i would assume Sacrilege got it right.

where is this quote from? i would like to see it.

Sacrilege and WellInformed have put it exactly. The satmar Rov ztzl Rabbeini Yoel said. By us at home (Hungary/Romania) animals walked in the middle of the road. Menschen walked on the sides. Same concept.

WIY – Oh I like yours!

We had a teacher in HS who was the granddaughter of R’ A. Miller ztz”l and she had tied a current events issue into her lesson. So a girl in class said she didnt know about that because she doesnt follow the news (yes, super greasy BY) so my teacher said “It doesnt make you frum to have your head buried in the sand, you have to know whats going on.”

IDK, this kind of reminded me of that.

“It doesnt make you frum to have your head buried in the sand, you have to know whats going on.”

Another great quote. Didn’t we used to have a whole thread for this?

The Kotzker did not mean mixing ruchnius and gashmius. The first explanation is closer to what he meant but not exactly. If you read some books on the Kotzker, you will have a better understanding of what he meant by gaining a better grasp of his Derech. He was very against doing things because everyone does it or because this is what I did yesterday, or this is what my Rebbe told me to do. The whole difference between an animal and man is the intellect. Always know what you are doing and do your own actions because YOU understand this should be done. (Many of the Kotzkers points are hard to understand unless an effort is made to understand it, and it can take some time..).

Based on my readings, the Kotzker Rebbe had a penetrating insight into human nature and his admonitions forced students (and us) to face facts honestly and without evasion. The Kotzker’s encounter with truth is brutal; there is no equivacating. The statement about donkeys in the middle and people taking sides is an example of this: confront the issue, and determine where you stand.

I’m going out on a limb here, but I thought the Kotzker might be refering to the “donkey” as in Yissoschor, who can only tread the path of Torah. The “people” are the Zevulins of the world, but need to choose a side, meaning are they going to defer to the Yissoschors, or are they going to manipulate them?

Or, choosing a side might mean, as a Zevulin, you need to choose a profession, but make sure you choose wisely.

Thoughts?

(I was also mulling over the donkey of Pinchas Ben Yair, but could not delevop a trail, so I’ll go with the Yisoschor track)

I know.. but the chossid in me always tries to read between the lines (Like the R’ Nachman stories)

Sacrilege

That’s a good one as well. His sayings are all really deep and powerful messages.

Rav Mendel of Kotzk (The Kotzker Rebbie) was an incredibly wise and intuitive man. His sayings are spiritually deep and have great integrity.

80- LOL!

I am a girl and I definitely heard about him!

The Kotzker has many Vehrtlach checking true concepts taken too far. We all know of the Rambam about going B’derech Hamemutza. However, as with all great rules, this too can be overdone. We’ve all heard of those that complain about frumkeit or about learning most of the day.

I thought of a great Mashal: one extreme is to fast, and the other extreme is to eat all your waking hours. Therefore, the middle road is to eat for 8 hours, right? Well it depends on your sights, what is your right end and what is your left end. So, one extreme is to learn all my waking hours and the other extreme is to learn a minimal amount.

Anyhow, he is saying don’t be so proud that you think Avodas Hashem is extreme and that you are going in the middle of the road. The donkeys go in the middle of the road.

The fact that the Satmarer Rebbe said it over is proof to my interpretation.