From the World of Rabbi Avraham Kook
“We have to expand our thinking greatly, by length and width, to the depths and the heights, extending it outward and enlarging it…. And we must move back and forth between the large issues and minutia, between minutia and the larger issues, between individual concerns and concern for the public. We must soar from the noble, from the ideal, to the reality, the material, the practical, and then back again.”
(Orot HaKodesh 1:79)
Rabbi Dov Begon – Rosh Yeshiva of Machon Meir
Message for Today:
Cain and Korach – Past and Present
Cain and Korach both succumbed to jealousy and the love of glory. Both brought offerings which G-d ignored, since their hearts were insincere. Cain did bring an offering, but he was so full of jealousy and hatred that he harbored murderous thoughts for his brother. Therefore it says, “To Cain and his offering, G-d paid no heed. Cain became very furious and depressed” (Genesis 4:5). Cain then turned his thoughts to action: “Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him” (verse 8).
Korach, as well, was blemished with a craving for glory. His jealousy drove him to distraction. True, he burnt an incense offering, and presented himself as a righteous man who viewed the public as being righteous, saying, “The entire congregation are all holy, and G-d is in their midst” (Numbers 16:3). Yet inside he was full of jealousy and hatred for Moses and Aaron. He was therefore punished: “The earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them and their houses, along with all the men who were with Korach and their property. They fell into the depths along with all that was theirs” (Numbers 16:32-33).
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, zt”l, considered the approach and perspective of Cain and Korach, who outwardly exhibited themselves as worshippers of G-d, while inside they were eaten up with jealousy and hatred. He compared them to the flag-bearers of Christianity, rotten on the inside, but outwardly appearing like servants of G-d. They are full of jealousy and hatred for the Jewish People and speak of a religion of “love” – a “love” that we experienced and suffered from for thousands of years (see Orot Lev).
Even today, in this, the generation of the rebirth of the Jewish People, anti-Semitism and hatred for Jews have unfortunately not ceased from this earth, most particularly in Europe. Jealousy and hatred for the Jews still have a foothold, even though we went through the terrible Holocaust, which reached unparalleled levels of destruction, with the murders of a third of our people. Not only did the Christian world, which presumes to represent the religion of faith, not extinguish that hatred, but also in the Muslim world, which claims to worship “Allah”, we hear the cries of “Murder the Jews”, morning, noon and night, in the name of their religion.
The Arab countries neighboring Israel are preparing militarily to liquidate the State of Israel. The blind hatred of Israel’s enemies from both directions cannot reconcile itself to the reality and rebirth of the Jewish People, the nation that G-d chose from amongst all nations to tell G-d’s praises, as it says, “I created this people for Myself, so that they would tell My praises” (Isaiah 43:21).
The Jewish People are as pure on the inside as on the outside. Not only do they believe in G-d’s existence, but they follow in His path and keep His Torah. The day is not far off when all of mankind will know and recognize that G-d is King and Kingdom rules over all, and on that day, G-d will be One and His name, One.
Looking forward to complete redemption,
Shabbat Shalom.
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Rabbi Shlomo Aviner– Chief Rabbi of Bet El
Derech Eretz Precedes Matrimony
My dear friend, if you keep it up, you’ll never get married! And if you do get married, your marriage won’t be happy. You simply do not know how to build up a relationship, and marriage is about relationships. And why don’t you know? Because you lack the natural talent for it and because you never learned how.
There’s a paradox here. Girls have an intuitive talent for building a relationship, yet they still devote much time to learning the topic starting from High School. Boys lack that natural sensitivity. Even so, they don’t study the topic. It’s a case of the proud rooster being a know-it-all.
Therefore, I’m not trying to teach you anything you don’t know, but only to remind you of things that you do know.
Rule Number One is this: derech eretz. Just as derech eretz precedes Torah, so does it precede matrimony.
Derech Eretz means basic upright human behavior. For example, when you’re getting close to proposing, do call her up to say whether you are going to be calling her again. Don’t leave her up in the air. Likewise, after a date, do call up to say whether or not you would like to continue, or say you would like a bit more time to think about it. But don’t leave her in doubt. People don’t act like that, not before the wedding and not afterwards.
Another example: Do offer to buy her a drink, and do pay for it. After all, in the ketuva you undertake to support her, so you’d better start practicing now.
If you have a car, pick her up and bring her back home (obviously, with everything in keeping with Jewish law). If you don’t have a car, then please accompany her to the bus stop (that, as well should remain within the bounds of Halachah, but that is not our topic right now).
Rule Number Two: Gradualism: It is better to develop the relationship gradually, and not all of a sudden. Quite the contrary, if the emotion suddenly skyrockets at the start, you have to clarify whether it’s going to suddenly go bad, like fruit with a short shelf-life, or like burnt chaff.
Just as the redemption occurs gradually, so does the redemption of the individual from his being alone occur gradually. Don’t demand suddenness. Don’t demand lightning perfection from the first moment, just as you don’t demand that the Jewish State be perfect from the first moment, but you wait patiently. The public thoroughfare cannot be perfectly smooth and without bumps in the reality of our day (see Ein Aya on Shabbat 82, Ot 231). It’s the same with getting married.
A boy asked his rabbi: “I met a girl and she’s got the following shortcomings.” “She has a lot more shortcomings,” his rabbi answered. “You’ll discover them after the wedding.”
“Does the Rav know her?” the boy asked. “No,” the rabbi replied. “I don’t even know her name.”
“So how do you know that she has many more faults?” the boy asked.
“I have observed the progress of human race over the past 5,000 years. What you are looking for, my friend, is an angel, and that you will not find. Just a human being. And even if an angel existed, she wouldn’t marry you, because you are not an angel. After all, as the Rabbis said, ‘The blending of fine grapes is a savory, accepted practice’. Girls who are not angels marry boys who are not angels.”
Then the rabbi added something to his astounded student, “The truth is that there was in fact one angel, but I’m already married to her….”
So, please be patient. It takes time to get used to someone different, and when all is said and done, we’re all different. Sometimes there are physical or psychological characteristics that arouse a difficulty within you, yet over time you can process them. That processing takes time.
Rule Number Three: Investment. In this world, you don’t get anything for free (and even the World-to-Come is built on the ground rules of this world). What you get for nothing is worth nothing. You’ve got to invest thought and effort, you’ve got to work on yourself, and you’ve got to collect bricks so you can build the bridge.
Almost the first thing that happens under the Chuppah is that you’ll say, “You are designated to me by this ring, in accordance with the laws of Moses and Israel”. Why is a ring used? It’s so that the groom can realize that he has to invest. The pruta, the bit of money that the ring has to be worth, is very little, but it’s a start.
Yet before the wedding as well you should accustom yourself to investing effort. An effort to understand, an effort to express emotions, an effort to listen to her expressing feelings, an effort to build a bridge, an effort to appreciate, an effort to love.
What a marvelous world G-d gave us! Through our efforts, we can be partners with G-d. Whatever a person invests is all his. Whatever a person acquires through his efforts he will be able to benefit from all his life. And how fortunate he will be!
Rabbi Yoram Eliyahu
Humility – a Jewish Trait
In contrast to the claim of Korach and his assembly against Moses and Aaron, “Why are you setting yourself above G-d’s congregation” (Numbers 16:3), the Torah testifies about Moses that he was “the humblest man on earth” (12:3). That humility finds expression as well in his words in our parasha, “I did not take a single donkey from them! I did not do any of them any harm!” (16:15). Although Moses could have claimed a “company car with expenses” in the framework of his being a communal leader, he did not take advantage of his position, and he used only his private property. That is how he served the public (a lesson for today’s leaders). Our sages taught us that humility is a characteristic of the Jewish People:
“G-d said to Israel: I crave you because even when I shower you with greatness you make yourselves small before Me. I gave greatness to Abraham, and he responded, ‘I am mere dust and ashes’ (Genesis 18:26). I gave it to Moses and Aaron, and they responded, ‘We are nothing’ (Exodus 16:7). I gave it to David and he said, ‘I am a worm, not a man’ (Psalm 22:7).” (Chulin 89a).
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook explains that there are different levels to humility. All three of the personalities mentioned are humble, but the greater the personality’s connection to the collective psyche of the Jewish People, the greater his potential humility. Abraham was not yet a collective… Hence his saying, “I am mere dust and ashes,” was indeed a sharp expression of humility, but “arguably not as humble as the expression used by Moses, who said, ‘We are nothing’, constituting an even greater nullification of reality. The difference stemmed from the fact that Moses was the spiritual equal of the entire Jewish People in the aggregate. The more the nationhood of the Jewish People found expression, the more humility was possible.
“Surpassing them all was King David, who encompassed the Jewish People within him. Within David was embodied and accentuated the political, sovereign reality of the Jewish People. Therefore, his expression of humility was even starker: ‘I am a worm, not a man.’ This is a rejection of his humanity, a declaration of a new reality.” (Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook on Shemot, 289)
Types of Humility
Rav Tzvi Yehuda further taught that “humility exists with two different understandings. There is humility vis-à-vis others, when a person avoids setting himself above his fellow man, when he does not view himself as different from them. Quite the contrary, he is always ready to help out others.
“Yet in contrast to this there is also humility vis-à-vis G-d. Such humility involves recognizing that G-d is the source of all, the root of all. All that we have is not ours, but comes from the Master-of-the-Universe, and we have no reason for pride. The Torah informs us that we possess a Jewish specialness. Is that a reason for us to be proud? We did not make ourselves – we were born that way!” As in the words of Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, “All is from Him, and not from us.” (ibid., Beretshit, page 33)
The Difference between Humility and Sadness
Yet there is one danger involving humility, that it can bring a person to sadness. Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook explains that the two traits are very close to each other, and a person can easily move from humility to depression. Rav Kook likewise taught how to avoid this. He explained that depression originates when a person thinks his worth is exalted and that he is worthy of greatness. Yet, to his chagrin, he then finds inappropriate lackings and shortcomings in himself, and that truly does sadden him. Nonetheless, he has only discovered the truth.
Yet true humility comes about after one becomes aware that he, per se, is not worthy of any greatness, and that any greatness or goodness that comes his way is just a kindness from G-d. That understanding will make him low in his own eyes, but he will not know sadness. He will only rejoice in his lot. For the little bit of goodness he will find for himself, he will give thanks to G-d for G-d’s kindness. (Mussar Avicha, page 30).
This, adds Rav Kook, will encourage him to acquire yet more important virtues and good traits, for once he sees that despite his unworthiness, G-d still rewards him with such goodness, G-d will then certainly enable him to acquire still more virtues, even greater than the preceding. (Mussar Avicha, ibid.)
Let me conclude by pointing out that humility is the foundation to all the good character traits, and the foundation to the true, complete acquisition of Torah.
May we merit goodness and blessing from Hashem our G-d.
Translation: R. Blumberg
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