I Cannot Move from Clinging to the Divine

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I cannot move from clinging to the divine, and so I have to obligation to strive to see the divine light and its pleasantness in all mundane matters, in all speech and in every deed and movement, whether my own or of others, and certainly to feel the revelation of the supernal light as it comes through the conduits of truth and righteousness within the entire Torah, including its simple meaning, halachic discourse and Talmudic disputation.

And that is why I always tend to align such Talmudic disputation with the character of conceptual logic, which includes as well the feeling of the heart.

And it is all out of an inner tendency—the fact that I desire with all my heart that the divine light, with its delight and light, should be revealed to everyone, and that everyone should be refined by it and take delight in it.

And I need constant encouragement not to move from that level, and to increase its light and to stride forth well upon its path, and to incorporate all the paths of learning and [Torah] leadership on this general path, which is the path of the righteous that grows ever more illuminated until the fullness of the day [arrives].

And the effort of proper direction in the essence of the portion of the Torah that belongs to oneself, [an effort] supported by the [natural] tendency of the soul, is the most assured path of going in the direction of the root of the soul, and of guiding it in the manner fit for it.

And even though everyone in whole world may think that he has no connection to this at all, nevertheless there exists within the core of the heart a tendency to shine the light of Hashem in that point where feeling and intellect and every power of life join.

In order to cause this light to shine well, in order for it to truly perform its task, a person must repent fully out of love. And [then,] due to the great value of repentance, the power of [its] influence onto the entire world will increase.

And the path of that repentance must go through everything: [it must be] in deeds and in traits, in speech and in thought. And at any rate one must not push away any good point. And whatever part of repentance comes to mind, one must be lively and bring it into actuality, with mindfulness and joy and trust [in God] and a depth of faith.

Chadarav, pp. 134-136