„For in truth it is not wisdom and much knowledge that make us happy,…”
„For in truth it is not wisdom and much knowledge that make us happy, but the innocence of childhood. And this is our happiness, that we are bound to the childlike education in the form of our culture... Happy is he who draws from the sap of childhood even when he is a man, even in his old age. Happy is he who becomes like a one-year-old without sin, while he is already burdened with the load of many years of the days of his fleeting life.”From Shemonah Kevatzim, VII, 205
Passover is the festival of education. Some see education and the raising of children as a heavy burden and a worry for another. Rav Kook reveals to us that alongside the immense responsibility placed upon parents and educators, there is also in education an immense reward, and it is the connection to childhood, the connection to the child within us.
On the night of the sanctification of the festival we are commanded 'and you shall tell your child' - we must tell of the exodus from Egypt to our children, but the obligation is that we also tell of the exodus from Egypt to the child within us, that we try to shed from ourselves the adult 'Egypts' (constraints) that at times cling to us, and become a little bit children...
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Have a pleasant day
In memory of Yosef Yosifof ben Bracha
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.