„"This is the bread of affliction." It is bread of poverty, for the po…”
„"This is the bread of affliction." It is bread of poverty, for the poverty that precedes the receiving of the Torah brings about the receiving of the Torah. For had they been rich in their own understanding, without Torah, they would have been at the level of...”
"Be careful with the children of the poor, for from them Torah shall go forth." There is greatness in a person coming to the Torah without preconceived opinions. The ability to receive in this way, out of humility and truth, is greatness upon greatness.
The people of Israel became a nation and ate the bread of affliction; in those moments they were redeemed from all the filth of Egypt and from the forty-nine gates of impurity in which they had been sunk. Precisely from this low place, precisely from this impoverished place, they were able to rise to dizzying heights and receive the Torah, for they knew that the Holy One is near to them and desires to redeem them (even though they did not yet know God's Torah).
May we all merit, as a generation of knowledge, to the bread of affliction out of holiness and purity, out of yearning and desire, and out of complete humility and truth.
A good week to all!
In memory of Shalom ben Regina.
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.