To Love Life
„When one knows life well, one loves it properly. And when the love of life suffices for the aspiration to continue it, there is no need for the fear of death to support the standing of life.”From Pinkas HaDapim IV, 44
Life is beautiful. And we must work very hard in order to believe this. We are liable to live an entire life without living—to be pulsing hearts without the feeling of life, when our whole aim is to flee from death: not to die, day after day, to preserve the status quo... Rav Kook sees people who act only out of the fear of death as those whose lives are bad and hard. Further in the passage he writes: 'When the awareness of life becomes blurred, life becomes hateful, and it is impossible to preserve it except through the fear of death, which is the source of all the ridiculous delusions in which most people are caught.' There are situations in which we preserve only our breathing, and lose our life. If you find yourself there, this is the time for change.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.