„In everything in which there is some aspect of limitation, one must d…”
„In everything in which there is some aspect of limitation, one must distinguish between will and compulsion. Every free will ends in good, and every compulsion ends in evil, until the will restores it to good. In every existing thing, since there is in it an aspect of limitation, there is in it an aspect of compulsion, and this is the aspect of evil in it. Its perfection depends on its freedom, on its going out from the chains of compulsion and freedom... (Shemonah Kevatzim 5:100...)”
When we live out of a place of compulsion, we miss out on life. Life flows out of will and not out of compulsion.
Together with this, as part of the flow of life, compulsion is bound to be part of our life at certain times.
In another essay the Rav writes: "Compulsion will adapt the hearts to open to receive the great light of the radiance of faith in all the splendor of its glory."
That is, there is an aspect in which compulsion is a necessity of reality; this can be understood both in a general aspect (before a class, before various frameworks) and in a private sense (personal work, commitment, etc.).
Together with this, the Rav says very harsh things about compulsion, about the fact that things come not out of will but because of the need to fulfill a task, a mission, and the like. This reality is not ideal, and it is entirely after-the-fact, out of the aim of fulfilling a higher need.
It is right that a person live his life within a framework that helps him to stabilize it; together with this, we must be very careful of worshiping the framework and forgetting the central matter, which is — the will to live out of truth and will, the will for freedom.
Have a pleasant rest of the day, everyone.
Good luck to the students in the matriculation exams!
For the recovery of Bela bat Rachel.
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.