During the course of his shi'urim in the Yeshivah on the Kuzari,
Maran HaRav Kook ZTz"L addressed the places of thought and action in general,
and their applications to the concepts of Am Yisra'el and Eretz Yisra'el.
Based on those principles he explained the difference between the Zionism of
Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi and Modern-Zionism. This lecture was first transcribed by
Rabbi Mordekhai Asher Glubman Z"L, and was rewritten with permission.
There is an ongoing argument between the Materialist philosophers
and the Idealists. The Materialists claim that the physical is that which is
important, and that the purpose of ideals is measured by how those ideals
materialize into action. The world progresses as more material is born. The
ideals which appear in every generation are the results of material, and there
is a physical reason for having each of them. A pure ideal without any
connection to action, though, is meaningless. The Idealists (Spiritualists)
claim the opposite. In their eyes, it is the ideals which are important. They
are the living spirit of the human species. Things which materialize are only
of secondary and minor importance compared to the ideal itself, which is the
purpose of the material and all that branches out from it.
At first glance, we who observe the Torah seem to fit in better to
the Materialist philosophy. In truth, many foreign philosophers have
criticized us for this, especially those who observe their religion. They
attempt to degrade our Holy Torah, as appears in Sefer Ha'Ikkarim, "I was asked
by one of their philosophers..." The content of the philosopher's question
concerns the minimal amount of thought/belief-oriented Mitzvot and the large
amount of phyiscal action-oriented Mitzvot. Those criticisms are really the
same: that our Torah is concerned with the physical and material. They forget
that the essential principle, the reason of all reasons, the central point of
the Torah is Divine revelation and clinging ("deveikut") to G-d. That is the
ideal of ideals of the Torah; all the rest of the Torah and its Mitzvot is mere
commentary, outward extensions from the central point.
Even so, our Torah is concerned with actions. The Torah found
the true mixture of the two - the synthesis of the two philosophies
(materialist and idealist) in accordance with the pasuk, "The judgements of the
Lord are true and are righteous altogether." (Psalms 19:10) This is the
greatness of our Holy Torah, which can be described with the pasuk, "A ladder
based on earth...", meaning that it begins with the earthly world, demanding
seemingly material and physical observance, "...whose top reaches Heaven",
meaning that in the end its observance allows one to reach the lofty highs of
the highest ideal, Divine revelation.
According to the outlook of the Torah, the intellect thinks, but
it isn't the thought alone which is important, rather it is the way the thought
materializes into actions. Good actions are the results of good thoughts, and
result in good thoughts; the opposite applies for bad actions. The true life
is the thoughts; the actions are the causes of the life-flow - "...that the man
should do and live by them." (Leviticus 18:5) It is true that action is
limited in contrast to will and desire which are boundless. The will can be
described as infinite, "Thought cannot perceive You at all" (Introduction to
Tikkunei HaZohar, p. 17a) but the will of the heart perceives it. The ideal is
above existence. But we, made of material, connected to the world of actions,
only have the ability to function within the boundaries of the world.
The world of thought consists principly of thoughts, as does the
act of improving that world. But those thoughts do not gain completion until
they materialize through some physical action. The result is that the main
aspect of thought is revealed in the world of actions, and the great and strong
holiness is only the longings which are revealed in the world of thought. We
see that the thirst and longings of man are all-inclusive, and directed towards
the thought/idea portion, not to specific details or the action portion. This
phenomenon is due to the fact that after the "break-down", the world of action
fell from its previous high level, and even though the desire is weak and
minimal in the action portion, still, we see that it is impossible to remove
completely the constant thirst that is in man, unless it is done with
actions.
The longings themselves do not satisfy the will; man's will finds
satisfaction only in actions. This idea is exemplefied by the soul of the
convert, who travels from far, and, upon purification of his soul, begins to
experience longings for holiness. Therefore, the king of the Kuzars, who was a
convert, couldn't satisfy his thirst through intellectual pursuits alone. His
whole desire was directed towards the world of actions - i.e. to know the
action which is desired. This is the basis of the whole book, the Kuzari - to
reveal the greatness of the action section of the Torah. From the action
section one elevates himself to the thought section, and not the other way
(which is the opinion of the philosophers). This is the greatness of our holy
Torah. And at Sinai, when all Israel reached the highest reachable spiritual
level, they perceived all the greatness and Divine light that is in the world
of actions as it was before the sin and the break-down, "the shining of the
first man", and on this level, they said "na'aseh" - "we will do" before
"nishma" - "we will learn".
It is impossible to accept completely the light contained in the
action section of the Torah outside Eretz Yisra'el. This is due to the fact
that the nature of Eretz Yisra'el is not affected by break-down and spoilage.
(Because of this, the flood, which was the result of break-down and sin, did
not occur in Eretz Yisra'el - Zevachim 113a.) In the diaspora, there is only
the shade of the idea of the mitzvot, as they said, "He who lives in the
diaspora is like one who has no G-d" (Ketubot 100b) because in the diaspora it
is hard to perceive the G-dly side of the action-oriented mitzvot. This is the
praise and virtue of Eretz Yisra'el - that the original G-dly shine that was
prevalent throughout the world before the break-down remains in Eretz Yisra'el
even today. There, the senses, the intellect and prophecy all have the same
weight. This is the foundation of the mitzvot that are dependant on the Land,
and the secret behind the Righteous ones' longings for Eretz Yisra'el.
For the Kuzari, a convert, it was hard to understand the advantage
of the holiness of the Land even after the destruction of the Temple, for in
his opinion the Land and the Temple are the source of holiness, and after their
destruction the Divine Presence and Prophecy ceased. Similarly, it was
difficult for him to understand the greatness of Am Yisra'el after the
destruction and its dispersion among the nations during its exile. To explain,
the Chaver tells the Kuzari that if the holiness of Eretz Yisra'el had only
been due to agreement and imagination, then agreement alone would be sufficient
to take the Jew out of exile, similar to how we build synagogues and study
halls wherever we please, and the people who enter them to pray to their
Creator are elevated there from their mundane lives to lives of holiness, due
to the influence of the place. But the holiness of Eretz Yisra'el is not
dependant on outside forces; it lies in its very being. Pieces of its soil are
the most precious non-living creations in the world. This is the meaning of
the verse, "For your servants hold her stones dear, and cherish her very dust"
(Psalms 102:15). Similarly the air and atmosphere in Eretz Yisra'el are the
best that can be found, as they said, "The air of Eretz Yisra'el makes one
wise" (Bava Batra 158:2)
There is a connection between human perception and the nation's
geographical location, between every nation and its land, every people and its
perception and enlightenment. The perception of G-dliness and holy devotion
("deveikut") are connected only with Am Yisra'el and Eretz Yisra'el. The
ultimate purpose is to purify one's belief in the unity from all traces of
quantity, to free one's desires and to become a free man connected only to one
desire, one service, one Creator, as it is said about a person's life, "Someone
in need of human assistance is like someone being judged in fire and water, as
the verse says 'You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through
fire and through water' (Psalms 66:12)"(Berakhot 6b). Similar is the general
goal of Israel, unreachable in exile under physical and spiritual oppression.
This goal is only attainable through the revelation of the Divine Presence
which is only possible in Am Yisra'el and Eretz Yisra'el, as it says, "'For to
Me the children of Israel are servants' (Leviticus 25:55) - they are my
servants, not servants to other servants."
We are not speaking only about the spiritual aspects of Eretz
Yisra'el, but also of the "physical" aspects. The nature of the non-living and
vegetable creations of Eretz Yisra'el also comes from the perfect world of
before the break-down. This is the foundation of the Mitzvot which are
dependant on the Land, concerning which Chazal said, "Why did our master Moses
desire entrance into the land?"; their answer was that he desired to be able to
fulfill those Mitzvot which depend on the Land (Sotah 14a). The meaning of
this is that Moses' perception came from the holy root, from the original
shine, but this was only in the world of thought; he desired to materialize it
into action, which is only possible in Eretz Yisra'el through the Mitzvot that
depend on the Land.
Just as it is insufficient for the Jew to be connected and devoted
to the G-d of Israel and the Torah of Israel in thought alone without action,
one cannot fulfill his obligation of Eretz Yisra'el through thought alone. We
see that other nations experience instinctive desire for Eretz Yisra'el (this
is a sign of its inherant holiness), but the true connection and the soul's
desire of Eretz Yisra'el belong only to Israel, and they are only revealed in
all their purity and glory in someone who is prepared to physically give his
life for it, to leave the land of his exile with all its benifits and pleasures
and live in the Land, even if it means living a life of pain and poverty.
Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi was the first Zionist who perceived through
the depth of his G-dly perception that the G-d of Israel, the Torah of Israel
and the Nation of Israel all embrace, hold and cling to the mighty connection
which will never be severed, and that this connection is only revealed in the
Land of Israel. Only there is it revealed with all its light. He tried to
materialize his deep and great wisdom, the source of his life, notwithstanding
all the dangers and difficulties.
Modern Zionism must, after all its twists and turns, return to the
Zionism of Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi, the creator of the original Zionism. Modern
Zionism, with all its desires, goals and ways, whether physically or
spiritually, must be penetrated with the idea of holiness, its essence being
contained in the statement "The following three are interconnected, the Holy
One Blessed Be He, the Torah, and Israel" (Zohar, Acharei, p. 73a), and all
this is possible only in Eretz Yisra'el. The congregation of Israel must be
connected with and have possession of Eretz Yisra'el, not only in thought but
also in action, in building and rebirth, to revive souls and re-erect ruins in
order to perfect themselves and all the human species and the whole world, as
the Chaver said at the end of the book, the Kuzari, "Through the awakening of
man and the awakening of love of that holy place, the desired will be
materialized, and with it there will be great reward, as it says, 'You will
rise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to favour her, for the set time has
come'(Psalms 102:14)", meaning that Yerushalayim will be rebuilt when Benei
Yisra'el long for it with all the longing possible, causing the stones and soil
to be pardoned.
The awakening of the great love of Eretz Yisra'el in the heart of
the nation, which is necessary for its rebuilding, and the awakening of the
true desire which is necessary for its rebirth - this love and desire is only
possible through Zionism, which took upon itself or was given this holy duty.
And it must be penetrated and full with the idea of holiness, as we already
said; to go to the nation and awaken it out of the lowliness and bondage,
physical and spiritual, with the idea of the banner of holiness, alone. For
only in the idea of holiness lies the power necessary to awaken it to the
rebuilding and to rise to the rebirth.
(Translated by Hillel Chayim Yisra'el. Inaccuracies
are the fault of the translater alone.)
|
Archives |
Publications |
Donations |
Overseas program & RegistrationEmail: mercaz@jer1.co.il
This site designed by Avi Kovacs, and hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page!
Comment's about the design? email me at avik@geocities.com
