Victorious Through Unity

Rav Kook describes a reality in which, specifically within the process of redemption, the danger of brotherly hatred erupts. Not a dispute for the sake of Heaven, not differing opinions out of responsibility, but factionalism that turns to havoc, to division, to an abysmal hatred that gnaws at the heart of the nation and hinders its growth. In recent years we have all seen the immense power of that which divides. We have seen how political disputes become a burning fury, how differing opinions become walls, how inflammatory language and rigid positions erode the very sense that we belong to one another. We must remember that an essential part of our ability to inherit the land stemmed from our having become a people. Precisely in the depths of exile, out of impossible situations, the beginning of redemption sprouted. Not as individuals but as a collective, as a community, as one body.

The more we deepen factionalism and division, the more the poisoned air will enter deep within, into every home and every home and into every group and every group, and blur our vision. On the intermediate days of Passover, amid days of redemption, we are invited to look inward and to choose the way that connects.

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