Shalom All:

Deborah (29 Apr 2005) in her post "Article on Rabbi "Elijah""
supplied this link:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/vilnagaon.html

I found this paragraph so very interesting:
"The Gaon was the leading opponent of Chassidus, a movement founded by Rabbi
Yisrael Baal Shem Tov in the 1730s (approximately). The Chassidim instituted
a number of changes in standard Jewish practice and many great leaders viewed
them as a nascent breakaway sect from true Judaism in the manner of similar
movements in the past. The emphasis of Chassidus on mysticism was
particularly worrisome in this regard. Chassidus also placed a very strong
emphasis on fervent worship. While this is well within the boundaries of
traditional Judaism, many of the opponents of Chassidus, called "Misnagdim,"
misunderstood this emphasis as detracting from the importance of Torah study.
(This error was not without basis; unfortunately, many Chassidim (followers
of Chassidus) also fell into this error.) The reasons behind this great
controversy are complex and it is really not possible to do justice to them
in a short essay. To all intents and purposes the controversy ended in the
early 1800s with the introduction of the anti-religious Haskalah movement
which created a need for all religious Jews to form a common front."

Repeat from above paragraph!!!!
"The emphasis of Chassidus on mysticism was particularly worrisome in this
regard. Chassidus also placed a very strong emphasis on fervent worship.
While this is well within the boundaries of traditional Judaism, many of the
opponents of Chassidus, called "Misnagdim," misunderstood this emphasis as
detracting from the importance of Torah study."

Hmmmm .... how similar to what some teach in Christianity!!!

Dianne
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A diagrammed timeline chart of the Revelation Seals:
http://home.centurytel.net/grafted-promise/endtimeline.html