Hatred of Evil

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

At its inception, a profound and great hatred of evil must involve a hatred of evil people.

Afterwards, it is mitigated by the power of one’s intellect and it is clarified, until it attains a rarefied state of purity: until it becomes solely a hatred of evil.

And as for those people who possess evil—i.e., evil people—one is filled with compassion for them. “May sins be wiped out, not sinners” (Talmud).

But if from its inception this attitude is already in its ideal form, so that it is directed solely into a hatred of abstract evil, it will never truly become a hatred of evil. The lack of hatred for evil people will weaken that hatred against evil. And then the entire treasury of goodness is placed in great danger.

This has been the stumbling block of many great people. They fell because from the very beginning they made use of hatred of evil in its rarefied state. As a result, their lack of hatred for evil people was afterwards transformed into a love for them. And then, as a result of loving evil people, they fell into loving evil itself.

Thus, a person’s initial thought must possess the content of the trait of judgment. Only afterwards may the trait of compassion come and mitigate it by becoming its partner.

Otzrot Harayah, pp. 1240-1241

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The Righteous Toil

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

The righteous toil with a spiritual toil when their faith in themselves is diminished, and then they believe that they are like the masses of people.

And even if they imagine themselves to be the most refined and learned of them, they will not escape an inner lowliness.

But they must know that the quality of their soul is an entirely different, supernal quality, that yearning for the light of holiness and clinging to the divine is demanded of them at every moment.

And they must constantly influence all souls that draw sustenance from their great and encompassing soul.

Included in the definition of such righteous people are all those whose inner yearning for the secrets of Torah and for the reasoning of holy wisdom in its totality clings to them by their nature.

At times their light is diminished and at times they fall into all sorts of trivial pursuits. But regarding that, the verse states that “the righteous person falls seven times but rises” (Ecclesiastes).

After whatever such a person may go through, he may not remove his faith in the essence of he holiness of his soul, but say with complete conviction, “Know that Hashem has set aside the pious one for Him, Hashem will listen to those who call Him.”

**

A person who is fit for true fear of heaven, for piety and holiness, must know that it is utterly impossible to be like the average man.

Instead, he must toil to keep hold of his unique character.

Orot Hakodesh III p. 214

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Grab Whatever Comes to Hand

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

A person has to begin with purity of deed, then purify his feelings and personality traits, and then rise from that to purify his mind. In that case, matters proceed in proper order. Fortunate is the person who can attain that.

But sometimes it isn’t possible for a person to bring about these rectifications in the proper order. And in such a case, he is forbidden to consider proceeding in this order.

Rather, he must grab whatever comes to hand. When his spirit is ready for an elevation of awareness, he must rise, purify it and broaden it—“make the Torah great and more mighty.”

Even though he may have many demands on himself [for self-improvement] from matters that have not yet been rectified and clarified in regard to the nature of his feelings and deeds (even if these are of the most serious kind—i.e., matters between man and man), he should not abandon his self-elevation and his activity to attain goodness and rise upward in anything that he can achieve.

And that is the case even if there exists an impediment in any area, whether due to a lack of ability or, even, to a lack of desire—for at times a lack of a desire is itself close to being something that is beyond a person’s ability to change.

It is true that we should never use the heretics’ self-rationalization [minimizing] free will, for that is a degenerate viewpoint. Still and all, at times there are purifications that come from that viewpoint, that bring healing to difficult illnesses of the soul. This is related to the principle expressed in three biblical verses [that imply our helplessness in the presence of the evil inclination and mitigate the sins of the Jews, without which] “the feet of Israel would have tottered” (Berachot 32a).

And so the general principle is that in accordance with a person’s greatness in attainment and in his desire for the increase of good, he must increase and broaden his deeds, and not be upset or frightened by any impediment, whether spiritual or physical.

And when people are strengthened and filled with might, the holy power from above begins to pulse in their soul, which proceeds successfully upon all its path.

Orot Hakodesh III, p. 238

The Spiritual Greatness That A Person Feels

by Rav Avraham Yitchak Kook

The spiritual greatness that a person feels while he is serving God is arranged in various levels of gradation.

The level that is appropriate for an intermediate service of God is considered to lack exultation when compared to a higher level of serving God.

And contrarily, that greatness that refines the soul and crowns it with glory when it is involved in a supernal worship of God is like foolish pride during a time of a lower service of God. That pride in Hashem, which is unique to those who gaze upon the chariot, which is the true humility, is in the realm of egotism that arouses the pollution of the coarseness of the spirit when it appears in its measure during normal Torah learning.

And so “the heart of the wise person knows a time and a decision,” of how to take hold of the measure of his spirit, in its elevation and descent.

**

A person who must draw sustenance from the supernal source cannot draw sustenance from a lower source. Simple ethical instruction cannot stand by those who are fit for a supernal outlook. Rather, when they are involved with deep contemplation and a way of life that is appropriate for their measure they must bring their bread specifically from afar, for that from a nearby and small place will not give them spiritual nutrition.

Orot Hakodesh III p. 220

Great Souls Have No Rest

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Great souls have no rest from fear and depression until they reach that level for which they are destined from the essence of their nature and the root from which they are hewn: to be absorbed entirely, constantly, into the divine light, with a great radiance of a lucid consciousness and mighty desire of an exceedingly powerful will.

And whatever is lower than that does not satisfy their hunger, and does not calm their spirit.

**

Such great people must leap [over levels,] in order to enter into great thoughts.

A person must recognize his inner ability, and he must know whether he has been created for great things. He should not be taken aback by the sin of pride insofar as he recognizes the level of his consciousness, and the quality of the direction of his desire. To the contrary, a person must be much more careful about an unacceptable modesty, which oppresses the soul and occludes the divine light in the spirit.

When great people rise in their consciousness, the entire world rises with them—in terms of feeling, in terms of the joined nature of all human spirits.

But in the greatest measure of all, the nature of that joined spirit is active within the Jewish people, who from the aspect of the soul possess an absolute unity.
Orot Hakodesh III, p. 216