A Tzaddik Is Not Perfect
„There is one who wishes to be a complete tzaddik, and every moral flaw and every slight sin is felt within him as a partition wall between him and his Father in Heaven, and because of this he is liable to fall and to grow distant.”From Shemonah Kevatzim, I 438
When a person truly wants to be good, truly pure, truly close, every small deviation is experienced not as a stumble but as an essential failure, and when this occurs in the spiritual world, the feeling is of an impervious wall built between him and the Holy One. Rav Kook points out precisely that heightened sensitivity and the aspiration to perfection may generate an inner pressure in which the fear of falling is so great that the fall itself becomes almost inevitable. And therefore he mentions a foundation that must be said again and again: "And one must always take to heart that God is near to all who call upon Him" - closeness does not vanish because of a lack of perfection, but is tested through continuity, through perseverance, and through the ability not to cease rising, praying, and seeking connection even after falls.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.