Friday, May 03, 2019

Rav Kook's Ein Ayah

Two Days, Two Elements of the Torah’s Gift to the World 

(condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 9:17)

Gemara: The Ten Commandments were given to Israel on the sixth of the month [of Sivan]. Rabbi Yossi says: on the seventh of the month.

Ein Ayah: The special month which was fit to have the Torah given in it counts its days like the days of creation. The Torah, which can be considered the “form of mankind,” i.e., it is the upper thought process, makes a person into a person. Additionally, it is the form of the entire world. After the Torah sets its imprint on man, especially engraving the divine ideals of the true divine doctrine on his heart, it becomes rooted in the midst of the “soul of the universe.”

From the perspective of the first value, that the Torah radiates on man and makes him complete, it is appropriate that the Torah be given on the sixth day of the month. This correlates to the sixth day of creation.

However, there is a broader element of the Torah, of Torah relating to all of existence, which is even more profound than its impact on man, as it completes the form of the whole world, by providing an “extra soul” for man, which elevates the spiritual character of all worlds. In this regard, the Torah correlates to the day of Shabbat, the day when Hashem “rested,” and rest was introduced to the world, giving it its lofty completeness. It is, therefore, appropriate for the Torah to have been given on the seventh of the month.

When there is a coinciding of these two great elements, the light provided to man to set his form with a divine light, and then this being part of having the whole universe enlivened and enlightened, both outlooks can exist. Therefore, there is an opinion that the Torah was given on the sixth and an opinion that it was on the seventh.
Introduce a New Era with a New Moon

(condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 9:18)

Gemara: Everyone agrees that the nation came to the Sinai Desert on Rosh Chodesh (first of the month). It says here, “On this day, they came to the Sinai Desert” (Shemot 19:1), and it says there, “This month is for you the first of the months” (ibid. 12:2). Just like there it was Rosh Chodesh, so too here it was Rosh Chodesh.

Ein Ayah: The renewal of time renews the spirit of man, whether individually or nationally.

The preparations for the Exodus from Egypt, which was a great action of renewing the spirit of Israel from slavery to freedom, was aligned with renewal of time, which occurs with the new moon. For that reason, it was introduced with the Torah section referring to the connection between the Exodus and the new moon.

The same idea was true of the giving of the Torah, which was a renewal of the internal spirit. This also must have been connected to the renewal of time, as [the preparations] were introduced by saying that a new period had come, one which was more glowing, with life that was embarking on a renewal of the spiritual form in a lofty manner. “Just like there it was Rosh Chodesh, so too here it was Rosh Chodesh.”

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