Mishpetei HaRav Kook / Daily Self-Reckoning
„When he attends at all times to refine his soul, to turn the evil into good... he feels and senses all his spiritual pains, and behold, he is lowly in his own eyes.”From Shemonah Kevatzim VI, 254
Continuing yesterday's passage, Rav Kook brings the other side — that of a person constantly occupied with his ugliness, his reckonings, and the improvement of himself. The Zohar calls them "mari d'chushbena" — the masters of reckonings, those occupied with a daily accounting of the soul. Alongside the good in conducting a daily self-reckoning, the Rav explains that balance is needed: not to ignore the evil within us, but on the other hand not to make it the be-all and end-all, and to remember, even as we examine ourselves constantly, that our faces are set toward repair — and to know how to see a full picture, with the good for which we give thanks and rejoice, and with the evil that we labor day by day to improve.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.