23 July 2020 · A sentence from the teachings of Rav Kook

„Every curse turns into a blessing in the end, and every evil is turne…”

„Every curse turns into a blessing in the end, and every evil is turned into good, for all that is done—everything is counsel from afar from the source of good. The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him deeds are measured. The descent of the spirit of Israel, which greatly harmed Ephraim and the tribes dragged along with it, until that curse was poured out upon them—'Ephraim shall be assimilated among the peoples'—this very assimilation itself prepared salvation for the entire world, and for Israel in particular, in the End of Days that is ever drawing near before our eyes.”From Shemonah Kevatzim, Kovetz VIII, 205

'Ephraim shall be assimilated among the peoples.' In the course of the life of the people of Israel there were spiritual and material downfalls; one of the downfalls is the fall and assimilation of the tribe of Ephraim. After the destruction of the Kingdom of Samaria in 722 BCE, remnants of the tribe of Ephraim remained in the hill country of Ephraim (also called the hill country of Samaria). They assimilated among the foreign inhabitants whom the kings of Assyria transferred to the region, and from them grew the Samaritans—the Cutheans.

Further in the passage (feel free to look), Rav Kook explains that the mixing of blood and families, although of course it is forbidden and disqualified from the outset (Rav Kook calls it a dulling of the heart and an impoverishment of deeds, and of course he in no way sanctions it, neither ideally nor after the fact)—this mixing brings about a rise in the world's readiness for redemption. Both a deed that is disqualified from its root and a corrupted reality are directed from above for the good.

Rav Kook, as is his way, sees in every existing process something blessed, part of a process, part of the long road. In our present situation, in the crisis of all of humanity, perhaps such a view can bring healing and remedy.

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Continue to have a good evening

In memory of Shalom ben Regina

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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.