Shabbat Parashat Korach 5785

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Worse on the Outside, Better on the Inside – #332

Recipient and Background: Rav Duber Milstein. Rav Milstein repeatedly requested Rav Kook’s guidance on dealing with his sons, who had rejected traditional Judaism. Rav Kook advocated showing them love and understanding and presented the following appraisal of the phenomenon of heretical beliefs at that time in Jewish history.

Body: [The gemara (Avoda Zara 17a) that learns from Mishlei 2:19 that whoever embraces heretical ideas will not be able to “return” disturbed Rav Milstein.] [I am optimistic because] after so much time that that the Torah’s sanctity has sweetened the “air of the world,” the “shell’s” power is weakened so that it can no longer prevent those who strayed into heresy to return. The reason for this is one of the loftiest ideas, with sources in the holy secrets of the Torah, to which I will hint in brief.

The world’s continual deterioration is only regarding its external perspective, e.g., that the actions and character of individual souls fall short of previous generations. However, for the internal side, which relates to the nation’s spiritual strength, as Knesset Yisrael, every generation builds on the preceding one, as sanctity accumulates. Actually, the sanctity from the recent generations’ small amount of Torah and good actions increases light even retroactively. In contrast, sins do not have “fruit” or accumulate (“All who will act with iniquity will be separated” – Tehillim 92:10). Therefore, the nation is internally more full of Hashem’s light than it was in the past, just that this is not revealed to the eye until Mashiach comes, when it will emerge from “the hall of the bird’s nest” (a Kabbalistic concept). In other words, all potential sanctity will be actualized – “all live creatures will see together” (Yeshayahu 40:5).

When we were far from the “liberation,” the shell could be strengthened by bad beliefs, such as idolatry and witchcraft. Heresy is a bad belief, the worst part of idolatry. When it “swallows” a spirit, it surrounds it with traps and sucks out all of the soul’s spiritual lifeblood. This resembles a spider holding on to the walls with its hands (see Mishlei 30:28). However, as liberation approaches, the shell cannot create bad beliefs; rather, it weakens the light of belief in weak hearts. While those trapped in this state view it as heresy and believe they are trapped in an inescapable net, they are actually only missing understanding and the light of intellect and emotion. So, as soon as they are shown the light of Hashem’s path, based on the ways of good intellect and emotions, the light impact them so that they will return to proper behavior. These are the ones who return from sin within Yaakov, upon whom the Liberator will come (see Yeshayahu 59:20).

We should be certain about Hashem’s kindness. He remembers the kindness of our forefathers to bring liberation to their descendants and [help] all of our children, even those who appear lost, become learned in Hashem’s ways. The pasuk says: “You will remember me at a distance, and the children will have life and return” (Zecharia 10:9). This is because their bad side is only external, and their inner soul is all good and holy. Therefore, they are inspired to some thoughts of rectitude and justice, although they wander onto wrong paths. Many of them cling to the nation and are proud of being Jews, without knowing why this is. Although they imitate other nations to whom they feel kinship, still the root of Eisav is wildness and bitterness. It is the source of evil, bloodshed, and destruction. The root of Israel is holy and good, ready for rectitude and justice, as Hashem intended for the world.

This is the secret behind “a poor person riding on a donkey” (Zecharia 9:9), which the Tikkunei Zohar says applies to the generation that precedes the Mashiach, which is “good on the inside and bad on the outside.” This is the secret behind “it all turned white, it is pure” (Vayikra 13:13). Although a donkey has more signs of a non-kosher animal than non-kosher animals that have one sign of kashrut, internally it has sanctity, as it has the holiness of a firstborn, albeit very hidden sanctity that is revealed through the redemption process.

These things cannot be fully explained except orally at the correct time for those who “sit before Hashem.”

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