„The greatest flaw in the character of the fear of Heaven that is not…”
„The greatest flaw in the character of the fear of Heaven that is not well joined to the light of Torah is that, in place of the fear of sin, it is exchanged for a fear of thought. And once a person begins to be afraid to think, he is going and sinking into the mire of ignorance, which takes away the light of his soul, nullifies his strength, and clouds his spirit.”From Shemonah Kevatzim, I, 267
One of the great gifts given to us is the ability to ask questions, to clarify the depth of the Torah not out of brainwashing but out of deep understanding.
Often, in the face of this attempt to ask questions, to clarify uncertainties and to deepen Torah, small-minded people arrive under the guise of the "God-fearing" and try to instruct the entire world. They turn themselves into a kind of "secretary of the Holy One" and take care at every moment to trumpet how small the world is (and at times this is accompanied, openly or covertly, by an implication of how great they, the preachers, are).
The world's ability to advance, the ability of each one of us to advance, is precisely through the place of clarification and the asking of questions. Clarification not out of a desire to provoke, but out of a desire to know. If we do not ask, we will not know.
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Happy New Year.
For the recovery of Nadav ben Tova.
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.