Monday, November 06, 2023

Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: Ever Growing Spiritual Aspirations

(based on Berachot 2:66, 67)

Gemara: When the rabbis would take leave of the house of Rebbi Ami … they would say the following to him: "Your world shall you see in your life, your end in the life of the world to come, and your hope for generations to come. Your heart shall contemplate with wisdom, your mouth shall speak wisdom, and your tongue shall utter songs of praise. Your eyelids shall be straight before you, your eyes shall see the light of the Torah, and your face shall shine from the glow of the heavens. Your lips shall express knowledge, your kidneys shall be joyous in straight ways, and your feet shall run to hear the words of the atik yomin (One Who has existed for an infinite number of days).

Ein Ayah: There are different stages that are the ultimate shleimut (completeness). There is shleimut that can be grasped in the present, and there is shleimut that will come in a higher state. However, with every conception there must be an accompanying hope for something more special than that which is grasped, which makes life more pleasant. If someone reaches an unsurpassable peak, he begins to decline. There must thus be an unending shleimut, so that one will always aspire for further achievement. Therefore, in regard to the present, the gemara's blessing is that one will see his world in his lifetime with the greatest shleimut in deed and in conception. At the same time, one's end he should see in the world to come, for then there will be an even more powerful shleimut that cannot be described in this world. One's hopes will always be for something higher, so that for generations it can be striven for. This is because as time goes on and the hopes are fulfilled, it will be possible to hope for even greater, infinitely wonderful attainments, allowing constant hope and life. 

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