16 September 2025 · A sentence from the teachings of Rav Kook

Ending and Beginning

„When a person feels that much has been demolished in his spiritual life, let him know that his turn has come to build a new edifice, more exalted and sublime, and more enduring and glorious than the first.”From Shemonah Kevatzim VI, 60

There are times when we feel demolished. As if there is no recovery and no future and no chance, and we are fed up... Usually this requires of us a work of repair. In this passage Rav Kook speaks of spiritual ruin, of a feeling in which we do not manage to advance spiritually. What is proposed here is different. A decision on a new path and an attempt to solve the problem through renewal. Sometimes, when the feeling is that reality is already choking us, we must mend ourselves, but sometimes we must simply begin anew.

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