To Be Built as a Person
„It is a disaster if the nature of the soul is not allowed to spread and to branch out beautifully with its blossoms and its flowers. However, it requires training and guidance.”From Shemonah Kevatzim VI, 162
Every soul has an inner nature, special powers, and its own way of illuminating the world, and it is a disaster when it is choked in the name of education, order, or a fear of Heaven that does not understand the depth of life. But Rav Kook immediately qualifies: nature is not lawlessness. Not everything that arises in a person is already truth, and not every will must burst forth without limit. In order to grow properly one needs training and guidance. And here the Torah comes to reveal the lofty stature within us. Like Rav Yosef, who said of the festival of Shavuot: 'How many Yosefs are there in the marketplace' – without the Torah I would be just another Yosef in the marketplace. The Torah turns a person into himself, truly, in his highest form.
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.