„...Rav Kook, related Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Levin, of blessed memory,”

the rabbi of Pardes Hanna:

I want to tell of one of the things that took hold in my mind and penetrated to the depths of my heart, and left an impression on me for all the years of my life; and everything I saw, heard, and absorbed from him afterward centered around this point.

It was in the first years of the appearance of our master Rav Kook, of blessed memory, in the royal sanctuary of the capital city in Jerusalem, the holy city. I was then a boy of about nine or ten years, and it was on the holy Shabbat of Parashat Yitro. After we had eaten the third meal, my father, of blessed memory, Rabbi Aryeh Levin, said to me: Since this Shabbat is the Shabbat of the giving of the Torah, come, let us go to the Rav to hear his holy words.

I said to him: Father, why should I go? In any case I will not understand his words. My father answered me and said: There are three responses to your words. First, do you not know that at the giving of the Torah our forefathers said "We will do and we will hear," and if you cannot receive the "we will hear" - at least you will have the "we will do." Second, at the giving of the Torah it is written "and all the people saw the sounds" (Exodus 20:18); if you do not hear, then you will see. Third, and this is the main point, I want you to gaze upon his holy and radiant face, and this will instill the fear of Heaven in your heart and wisdom in your mind, for it is written in Isaiah, "and your eyes shall behold your teacher" (Isaiah 30:20-21), and afterward it is written "and your ears shall hear a word behind you..." I heeded him and went with him.

And indeed, what I felt then I shall not forget all the days of my life. The house was full of people, crowded. There was no light, I could not see his holy face, but I heard the voice. And in my small heart I felt the standing at Mount Sinai, and above all - for I also grasped and understood a little of his words. The beginning I understood, for he spoke in a manner so simple and comprehensible to all, and afterward he ascended to supernal worlds, and this I no longer understood at all, but what I heard and understood has remained with me until today, as a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (From a book to be published soon - HaRe'iyah Kook and Shabbat)

Shabbat Shalom!

For the recovery of all the sick of Israel! It is forbidden to cry out on Shabbat, and healing is near to come.