12 November 2025 · A sentence from the teachings of Rav Kook
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The Purity of Childhood
„We must always begin from the beginning, from the earliest thoughts of childhood, to clarify and refine them, and to bring forth the good and the light within them with purity and courage. We must not disparage simple thoughts; it is they that serve to illuminate our path more than all the thoughts we imagine to be lofty and sublime.”From Shemonah Kevatzim I, 351
Our childhood is the time in which our great ideas first sprouted. It is precisely the simplicity and innocence of the beginning that so often yield the greatest and best things. This is true both for ourselves, looking back and examining the innocent ideas of our childhood, and for those who come after us, in a proper attitude toward those at the beginning of their path, in respect for the ideas of childhood and innocence. We may be surprised to discover that it is precisely childlike simplicity and innocence that hold within them a whole world.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.