„One who has open eyes sees how sin seals the heart, how it darkens th…”
„One who has open eyes sees how sin seals the heart, how it darkens the soul. He will recognize that, since a great sin damages much and darkens much, even the lightest of the light sins also damages—it seals the pure light, the supreme radiance of the soul.”From Pinkas HaDapim III, 38
When we were children, the kindergarten teacher taught us about sins and punishments. This conception, which is engraved into a person, causes many of us to recoil. When we add to it the Christian apocalypses, it takes on a bizarre and frightening dimension. And in truth, it is not even Jewish...
To my understanding, there is a greater conception—a conception of sin as a life lived wrongly, as a 'missing of the mark.' This conception contains within it the familiar reward and punishment, but they are a result and not an essence. When a person sins, he loses something of his world, of the wholeheartedness within him, of the spiritual wealth he could have attained or that already existed within him. And this missing of the mark creates within him depressions that will never return to their former nature.
When we understand the world this way, our ability to act correctly in the world will be easier. And so too the recognition of the immense, supernatural power of repentance to truly rectify the sin, and even to raise us to a higher place.
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For the recovery of Roza bat Bova
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.