"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof agaist all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - Herbert Spencer
It's about five and a half years since I was exposed to one of the fundamental teachings of Hasidism and spent 50 hours in total for two months with a group of people who included those who live according to Hasidism. I still remember the initial double shock - I was shocked to discover the depth and breath of this branch of Judaism and realize how I used to relate to it with prejudice based on my ignorance and labeling.
About one year later, in November 2018, I started to take a three-year program in Chabad Hasidism in a special school in Jerusalem. I've also come to socialize with more and more followers of this branch of Hasidism. Since then I haven't stopped being impressed with not only its profound teachings but also how it seems to affect its learners.
These days I can identify with a high degree of certainty who has studied Hasidism in general and Chabad Hasidism in particular, but not as a purely academic area of study but as living life wisdom. The difference is especially conspicuous when I hear people who give public sermons, for example, on weekly portions of the Torah.
I also notice marked differences in speech and action as well as in thought that must be producing speech and action. What characterizes all these three types of the so-called "garments" is what is known as positivity bias vis-à-vis negativity bias, which often seems to characterize those who haven't studied Hasidism as living life wisdom. Those who are positively biased are generally full of joy.
Recently I tried to consult a number of people I know about a certain difficult life challenge I've been struggling with in the past few years. Some of them have studied Chabad Hasidism, and others haven't. The two opposite responses I received from these two groups of people have only verified my assumption about how (Chabad) Hasidism seems to affect its learners. Of course, I'm generalizing a little.
The former group of people tried to encourage me by focusing on solutions, while the latter tried to discourage me by focusing on problems though I know they didn't mean to do so maliciously. When I pointed out to some of the latter what I felt as negativity bias, they themselves seemed rather shocked to realize it for the first time.
The best example I personally know of positive transformation as a result of learning Chabad Hasidism is myself! I was deeply trapped in the darkness of my mind-made prison, and I wasn't even aware of this fact. Since I started learning Chabad Hasidism, my life has been fundamentally transformed.
PS: I have a new webpage introducing basic resources of Chabad Hasidism on my personal website.