{"id":63425,"date":"2015-02-15T09:57:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-15T17:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425"},"modified":"2015-02-15T09:57:17","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T17:57:17","slug":"if-theres-no-opposition-theres-no-holiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425","title":{"rendered":"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &#8220;If there is no opposition,&#8221; said the rebbe, &#8220;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that you get opposition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Then the rebbe got a critical letter about his project and armed with that opposition, he had his students complete the project. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &#8220;If there is no opposition,&#8221; said the rebbe, &#8220;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hasidim"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &quot;If there is no opposition,&quot; said the rebbe, &quot;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luke Ford\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"google-site-verification\" content=\"HMjuOfLRyzTPB-5Z5FG4BHkfZ1fbEij34rmbKM3BkZ4\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Luke Ford - No sacred cows.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &quot;If there is no opposition,&quot; said the rebbe, &quot;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-15T17:57:17+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-15T17:57:17+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lukecford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lukeford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &quot;If there is no opposition,&quot; said the rebbe, &quot;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lukeford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#blogposting\",\"name\":\"If There\\u2019s No Opposition, There\\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford\",\"headline\":\"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#articleImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Hasidim\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=577#listItem\",\"name\":\"Hasidim\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=577#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hasidim\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=577\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#listItem\",\"name\":\"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=577#listItem\",\"name\":\"Hasidim\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#personImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425\",\"name\":\"If There\\u2019s No Opposition, There\\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford\",\"description\":\"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. \\\"If there is no opposition,\\\" said the rebbe, \\\"there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=63425#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"alternateName\":\"No Sacred Cows\",\"description\":\"No sacred cows.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford","description":"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. \"If there is no opposition,\" said the rebbe, \"there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that","canonical_url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"HMjuOfLRyzTPB-5Z5FG4BHkfZ1fbEij34rmbKM3BkZ4","miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#blogposting","name":"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford","headline":"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#articleImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"},"datePublished":"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00","dateModified":"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#webpage"},"articleSection":"Hasidim"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=577#listItem","name":"Hasidim"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=577#listItem","position":2,"name":"Hasidim","item":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=577","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#listItem","name":"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#listItem","position":3,"name":"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=577#listItem","name":"Hasidim"}}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person","name":"Luke Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#personImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1","name":"Luke Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#webpage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425","name":"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford","description":"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. \"If there is no opposition,\" said the rebbe, \"there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"datePublished":"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00","dateModified":"2015-02-15T09:57:17-08:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/","name":"Luke Ford","alternateName":"No Sacred Cows","description":"No sacred cows.","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Luke Ford - No sacred cows.","og:type":"article","og:title":"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford","og:description":"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &quot;If there is no opposition,&quot; said the rebbe, &quot;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that","og:url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425","og:image":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg","og:image:width":800,"og:image:height":600,"article:published_time":"2015-02-15T17:57:17+00:00","article:modified_time":"2015-02-15T17:57:17+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lukecford","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@lukeford","twitter:title":"If There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness - Luke Ford","twitter:description":"A Hasidic rebbe instructed his students to abandon a project (building a mikveh) part-way because there was no opposition. &quot;If there is no opposition,&quot; said the rebbe, &quot;there is no holiness. If you desire to sin, the world gives you no opposition. It is only when you want to do a mitzvah (divine commandment), that","twitter:creator":"@lukeford","twitter:image":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"63425","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2023-05-11 14:17:08","updated":"2025-06-05 06:25:18","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=577\" title=\"Hasidim\">Hasidim<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tIf There\u2019s No Opposition, There\u2019s No Holiness\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog"},{"label":"Hasidim","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=577"},{"label":"If There&#8217;s No Opposition, There&#8217;s No Holiness","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=63425"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63426,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63425\/revisions\/63426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}