To Burrow Into The Smallest Details

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

The greatness of soul that yearns for supernal holiness and for great and exalted things must necessarily also deal with the rectification of traits and deeds, and at times descend into the depths of the life of deed and burrow into the smallest details, in order to rectify them and direct them in accordance with righteousness and straightness, in accordance with the Torah and halachah, and to penetrate into the depths of the traits of the spirit so as to remove from them all evil and all perversion.

But if the heart is directed only an elevated reality and not to the lower plain of purification and holiness, then all of that supernal light can shatter and turn into a stumbling block. The greatness of the soul can be transformed into an alien egotism, and the yearning for knowledge of the mighty mysteries into an illusion characterized a wealth of hues.

The might of the spirit, which elevates the phenomenon of life, can also bring to the fore stormy physical desires. The desire for illicit gain, for honor, and for sensory delights can break through all of their boundaries. And from the height of a powerful angelic, supernal yearning can come the most terrible fall.

And the hidden world is the trait of Leah, whose eyes are weak. She sits at the crossroads and prays not to fall into the hands of Esau. And because of her greatness and her weeping, she attained the foundation of prophecy and royalty, and the portion of Israel.

Orot Hakodesh III, p. 125