7 January 2025 · A sentence from the teachings of Rav Kook

Emptiness and Fulfillment

„Such sufferings depress the soul and bring hollow arrogance to its end, and then they return the inner gaze back into itself.”From Ein Ayah, Shabbat VI, 37

The prophet Isaiah rebukes Judah and Jerusalem on the eve of the destruction of the First Temple. He sees society as superficial and arrogant, and the punishment for such behavior is leprosy (tzara'at). The Rav explains that within leprosy lies the cure for arrogance (as well as for evil speech and for casting an evil eye upon another). For sufferings come that bring us down and sadden us and empty us out. And then, in the low place where we find ourselves, once the arrogance has departed, the ability comes to look inward and to begin anew.

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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.