„For some time now I have been waging an inner war, and a strong spiri…”
„For some time now I have been waging an inner war, and a strong spirit pushes me to speak about repentance, and all my thoughts are concentrated only upon it. Repentance occupies the greatest part of Torah and of life; upon it are built all the personal and communal hopes. It is a commandment of God that is, on the one hand, the easiest of the easy - for a stirring of repentance is already repentance - and on the other hand, it is the hardest of the hard, for it has not yet come forth into full actuality in the world and in life.”From Introduction to "Orot HaTeshuvah"
Rav Kook, who was Chief Rabbi of the land of Israel and occupied himself in his life with Torah study and leadership, writes that all his thoughts are concentrated only upon repentance.
The Rav grasped repentance as an immense reservoir of life, as advancement and development, as choosing the good.
The decision to be better, to advance and develop, is a decision of a moment - what could be easier than that? But such a decision requires of us a daily, unending labor.
Every moment in life we choose; every day holds within it a test and an opportunity to be better or, God forbid, to fall. Repentance is a decision about a path, but the path is long and winding; the path of repentance never ends.
A pleasant day!
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.