„At times a person does not recognize his own worth, and turns away to…”
„At times a person does not recognize his own worth, and turns away toward a Torah that is not his own, and desires to be specifically a scholar, out of some habit or learned reasoning, in the manner of 'expound and receive reward.' Then begins the anguish of descent, to darken the world of these great but weak ones.”From Arpilei Tohar
This passage appears immediately after the passage we studied yesterday.
The Rav says that a person's descent and fall come very often because the person tries to imitate someone else and not to behave in the way the Holy One created him.
The example the Rav brings is people whose spiritual power is not scholarly but a different power (as we noted yesterday), and their attempt to be and to appear as scholars may bring them down to low places.
It is important to say that the intent is not to encourage laziness, so that each person would say, "It suits me to be lazy," and so forth... Rather, the matter is that a person must think about how he uses the gifts the Holy One gave him, and how with them he serves God.
A pleasant day to all!
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.