„There are such great people, whose course of spirit is li...”

The commandments are a very complicated yoke in our world. The question of the relativity of the commandments to the Divine is a question with which the sages dealt extensively - do the commandments have a status of their own, or do they have a purpose, namely to bring a person closer to the Holy One?

This question has a very strong implication, namely how important are the acts of the commandments in themselves, and whether there is a situation in which one may nullify a commandment because we have understood the principle...

The answer to this is very complex; the Rav does not deal with the question itself in this passage, but he deals with the principle.

There are people with very great souls for whom the details of the commandments and their observance cause a burdening of the connection with the Holy One. Seemingly, says Rav Kook, if the whole world were on their level, commandments would not be needed. These people, who have within them a true and independent good, enter into the world of the details of the commandments and feel a bit small, and at times this engagement saddens and depresses them.

If you sometimes feel this way, Rav Kook has counsel for you. If you feel that the commandments are too small for you - do not observe them for yourselves; observe them for the collective, for the understanding that there is an all-encompassing process of which we all must be part.

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Have a good day

For the recovery of Dalia bat Julia

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