On numerous occasions, Chabad chassidim have offered to "learn chassidus" with me. They do that because the Rebbe directed his chassidim to spread chassidus. But that's where the idealism ends. At that point, they just want a chavrusa. What they should do is determine where the invitee is holding in chassidus, with Hebrew, with Judaism in general. What part of chassidus might he like to learn? A first grade teacher does not teach calculus to her students. She teaches 1st grade math. But that's not usually happens when somebody learns chassidus with you. What happens is that you watch him learn chassidus. He just seeks to satisfy his interests, picks something he wants to study, and proceeds as if the other person is his equal in learning. He doesn't want to be bothered with actually working with the other person on his level, with tutoring, with stepping slowly through the Hebrew if they are going to learn it in Hebrew (which is not a requirement actually.) You'll have to pay him for all that. So his chesed wasn't really chesed. It was a shallow offer, an empty gesture. That may not always be the case, but it often is. What they really would say if they were being honest is, "Do you want to watch me learn chassidus?"
Notes and Reflections on Chabad Chasidus -- Dedicated to the members of Congregation Anshe Libowitz of Brownsville, Brooklyn
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