„The Assembly of Israel knows, with a clear inner knowledge, and holds…”
„The Assembly of Israel knows, with a clear inner knowledge, and holds it as a received tradition of firm strength, expressed from every side of its being and from all the worlds that touch it in any manner of contact, that all the progress of the world and of humanity, from the time its crown fell, when its holy Temple was destroyed and honor was taken from the house of its life, is nothing but external, technical progress, something that in truth has no standing and will not bring life and the broad expanse of existence to the goal of its being... The Holy One has sworn...”
By nature, as time passes, memory grows dim. This happens on both the individual and the national plane.
The people of Israel have merited that when they forget, the nations of the world come and remind them of their treasured status and of their fitness for the Holy One, for the Torah of God, and for the land upon which the eyes of our God rest.
When Jerusalem is lacking, something in existence is lacking; when there is no Temple, honor is taken from the nation of God.
The Holy One's oath that He will not forget stands before us, and we too must remember every day the power we lack in the absence of the Temple, a lack that radiates upon all of our life, both on the individual and the national plane.
Today, Arabs march across the world for the sake of Jerusalem. This is like a man who married a woman, and she bore him sons and daughters, and many years passed between them. Because of the ravages of time and poor maintenance of the relationship, the husband no longer saw his wife's uniqueness. When men around him saw this, they began trying to persuade him to divorce her so that they might take her, and they praised her beauty and good heart. When the husband saw this, he understood the great treasure he had at home and mended his ways. And even though he did not understand this properly, but only on account of the other men, he merited to renew his bond with his wife and to rebuild it anew.
May it be His will that we too understand the privilege that has fallen to our lot, and merit, God willing, to the building of the Temple speedily in our days.
Shabbat Shalom!
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.