Parashat Bo

Why did we need bondage in Egypt? Why does the path to personal and national freedom pass through suffering, degradation, and constriction? Rav Kook offers a conception in which reality is one whole process, within which there is a life of preparation and a life of purpose. The bondage in Egypt belongs to the life of preparation. This is a life in which the person and the nation acquire basic powers, sometimes by a hard path, but without which it is impossible to reach wholeness. And so hard times create strong people, because hardship forces a person to encounter limits and to build resilience. Within the slavery there were formed, among other things, traits of submission and inner discipline. And thus the nation of slaves prepares a foundation for its service of God and for receiving the Torah. The Rav does not justify the evil and does not blur the suffering. He recognizes that there are private pains, personal blows, and wounds that have no explanation or comfort. But out of a perspective of the whole, he asks that we know how to see also the broad picture. Suffering creates an armor that enables strength for the continuation of the path.

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