6 September 2020 · A sentence from the teachings of Rav Kook

„Even out of the secular the holy will be revealed, and even out of un…”

„Even out of the secular the holy will be revealed, and even out of unbridled freedom the beloved yoke will come. Cords of gold will be woven and will rise up even out of freethinking poetry. And a radiant repentance will emerge even out of secular literature. This will be the supreme wonder of the vision of redemption. This bud will ripen, the flower will blossom, the fruit will mature, and the whole world will know that the holy spirit speaks within the Congregation of Israel in all the movements of its spirit, and the end of all is repentance, which brings healing and redemption to the world.”From Orot HaTeshuvah, 17, 3

The wondrous words of Rav Kook, who was the poet of repentance, clarify in this passage his unique view of the people of Israel and of the world. Most of us look at things in a judgmental way; the world is divided for us between good and bad, where the good is very clear (to us) and the bad is very clear (to us), and sometimes what appears to my eye as bad may appear to my friend's eye as good.

Rav Kook shows in this passage the ability to contain two parallel worlds within you. Rav Kook knew the problematic nature that exists in a life of freedom and licentiousness; he was familiar with the problems that arise from the souls of artists who do not observe a life of Torah and commandments, and he opposed this in his worldview and in his way of life. But even so, he was able to see in this view a deep view that, when the day comes, will bring redemption. Everything in this world has a place. Rav Kook greatly valued poetry and culture, and in his words he clarifies that even within the licentious secular life there is a great light of holiness.

There is no doubt that we see his words eye to eye in our generation—many artists and people of spirit discover Judaism specifically out of the search and the delving within themselves and within their poetry.

But Rav Kook is not content with this; his statement is that a day will come when secular literature will be a light of repentance. I do not think Rav Kook means that secular literature will begin to deal with the words of the Sages. In my humble opinion, Rav Kook speaks of a deep language that will develop, a language that contains much of the holy through its depth, and this language will develop also from books that are not connected to the words of the Sages and to Judaism directly.

When you imagine redemption, sing to yourselves the passage of Rav Kook—a redemption in which a people does not confront itself day after day, but lives its life as a holy people connected to the beautiful and the good in the world and avoiding all evil.

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In memory of Shalom ben Regina.