The Pain of Redemption

The times we are passing through are not simple at all. It is evident that the world's hatred is growing, and there seems to be no way out. Rav Kook speaks of the difficulty, as is his way, as a path to breakthrough and renewal. In the language of Kabbalah there are lights and vessels. And when the vessels are small and the lights - that which is within them - grow ever stronger, the vessels shatter. This shattering is destructive and painful and terrible, but it is also the way to building new vessels - larger and better fitted to the might of the new lights. It is important that we understand the period in which we find ourselves, that we seek lights along the way as well, and that we remember that it is in the power of each and every one of us to change and advance the situation by illuminating the world with the small lantern in our hands.

*

The study is dedicated to the safekeeping and return of Bipin Joshi (23), who was abducted from Kibbutz Alumim.