„The trait of modesty brings about much good in the world, and consequ…”
„The trait of modesty brings about much good in the world, and consequently it merits to push aside before it things that were good in themselves—but since, because of the human inclination and its weak power, they would cause a breach in the trait of modesty, which is the very existence of the spiritual and material world. The trait of love and friendship, with all its pleasant signs and words, would fittingly be equal between the sexes; but because of the precious value of modesty, the trait of common decency is pushed from its place, to the point of not even inquiring after a woman's welfare. The modest person recognizes that it is not out of hatred for the other sex that he keeps his distance and makes fences, but rather for the sake of the beautiful general purpose.”From Musar Avicha
Every summer in recent years, interested parties take care to stir up arguments over boundaries and modesty.
In the face of countless hairsplitting arguments on the subject, it is sometimes fitting to say simple things: there are in our Torah things that were forbidden and that contradict common decency—that contradict the spirit of the age at times in the world, and normal human conduct. There are times when it seems to us that the Torah is not normal—that it does not follow the normal way of the world.
Common decency is, for example, to give love to all human beings, regardless of their sex. But the Torah decided to forbid and to maintain distances between man and woman for the sake of the world's purpose—that is, in order to advance other things that in the overall mixture are more important, even though they push aside before them things that are most important.
Rav Kook, in his words here, is not arguing about normality. Rav Kook does not claim that the Torah brings a truth that the fools do not see. He says the complete opposite.
The Torah, in these matters, is opposite to the way of the world. The 'inclination' is the normal one. It is the one that wishes to breach and to attain, and the Torah limits it—limits us.
The Torah gives direction to life; it guides us in the upright path and gives tools for life in the complex world in which we find ourselves. The purpose of the Torah is not to trample the individual but to shape the life of the collective, even if, to our sorrow, along the way there are individuals who are harmed by it.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.