The Greatness of the Akeidah – Parshat Vayeira

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Translation: Letters of Rav Kook (Igrot haReiah), Vol. 2 Pg. 43

The idolatry practiced by primitive mankind had the total submission of its adherents. We see this clearly in the phenomenon of parents who suppressed their innate compassion and offered up their children as human sacrifices. [1] This phenomenon, although it was undeniably cruel and regarded with disgust by the Torah, [2] is but a profaned reflection of the realization, buried deep within man’s consciousness, that closeness to God is more important than anything in life. [3] Everything else of value, even one’s children, pales in comparison.

In this regard, paganism had a valid objection against the form of refined monotheism that Avraham sought to introduce to the world. How can an abstract notion of God possibly generate a comparable level of devotion and fiery passion? Granted, paganism enclothed its concept of the divine within ‘filthy garments,’ [4] but can a purified notion of Godliness truly compete with the raw vitality and boundless submission of paganism? Perhaps monotheism is theologically correct in eliminating the tangible reality of idols, but at the terrible cost of confining its adherents to a listless relationship with the Divine. [5]

The Akeidah was Avraham’s answer to this challenge. By passing the test of the Akeidah, Avraham showed the world that his purified conception of God did not lack the slightest in religious fervor and fiery devotion. [6] And in showing that a refined concept of God could indeed penetrate the very depths of one’s heart, without any need for the tangible forms of idolatry, Avraham created a paradigm for future generations and for his descendants. [7] Without the Akeidah, man would have had to choose between the polluted and wild emotionality of idolatry and its vigorous pursuit of godliness, and a lukewarm monotheism devoid of depth and life.

For this reason, the Akeidah is an extremely great and elevated episode [in its impact] for future generations, and is more than just a part of our tefilah or liturgy. [8] As the Torah itself says, “Because you have done this thing and not withheld your only son from Me, therefore I will bless you… and your descendants will inherit the gates of their enemies.” [9]

And how extraordinary is our prayer that G-d recall the merit of our first forefather’s battles against the barbaric delusions of idolatry. Paganism’s only feeble merit was its popular reach, the extent to which it suffused the hearts of the masses. Paganism claimed that culture could not exist without it, that a purified conception of G-d was too elevated and too pure to satisfy the people. Along came Avraham, the “father of a multitude of peoples” [10] and proved them wrong. [11]

[1] See Vayikra 20:2 regarding Molech (which most commentators understand as involving the death of the child) and Devarim 12:31.

[2] Devarim, ibid., refers to child sacrifice as a תועבה (lit. abomination).

[3] Contrast Rav Kook’s interpretation of the motivation behind paganism with:

a) the Rambam’s position (Hilchot Avoda Zara, Chapter 1) that paganism originated in theological confusion between the stature of G-d and angelic forces/other intermediaries; and

b) the notion that paganism is not about submission at all, but is rooted in primitive attempts to control natural forces believed to be controlled by pagan gods.

[4] The notion that sparks of holiness are concealed (or ‘enclothed,’ as Rav Kook puts it) even in the lowest and most corrupted forms of expression is one of the defining features of Rav Kook’s thought. He develops this theme at length in his writings on Christianity. For a similar, but less mystical expression of the same point, see Rambam at the end of Hilchot Melachim.

[5] Rav Hirsch writes about this problem in his Commentary on the Torah (Bereishit 8:21, s.v ויאמר ה׳ אל לבו) – “The danger of getting some corporeal conception of God is by far not so great as that of volatalising Him [i.e. distilling Him down] to a vague, obscure, metaphysical idea. It is much more important to be convinced of the personality of God, and of His intimate relations to every man on earth, than to speculate on the transcendental conceptions of infinity, incorporeality, etc. which have almost as little to do with the morality of our lives as algebraic ciphers.” See also Rav Aharon Lichtenstein’s criticism (Return and Renewal, pg. 73) of the “gut instinct… that crying [in prayer] is for the ignorant and the superstitious; but we are sophisticated and intellectual, and therefore decorous and restrained.”

[6] In passing, Rav Kook emphasizes that he does not mean to downplay the intrinsic superiority of monotheism, and that he is only addressing a discrete, potential shortcoming of monotheism as compared to paganism.

[7] Later in this letter, Rav Kook explains that the devotion demonstrated by Avraham at the Akeidah became part of the Jewish people’s ‘spiritual DNA.’ In this connection, note that during the Crusades, many parents in medieval Ashkenaz killed their children instead of surrendering them to forced conversion, and that much of the literature and liturgy surrounding this tragic phenomenon (including the Kinot of Tisha b’Av) deliberately invokes the imagery and memory of the Akeidah.

[8] I.e. on Rosh haShanah. Many also have a custom to recite the verses of the Akeidah as part of Shacharit.

[9] Bereishit 22:16-17.

[10] Bereishit 17:5.

[11] In the Shemonah Kevatzim (Vol. 2, pg. 340), Rav Kook cites a midrash (Bereishit Rabbah, Lech L’chah, Parsha 39) that Avraham was afraid of his sinful, idolatrous past. In response, Hashem told him “לך טל ילדותיך, To you is the dew of your youth (Tehillim 110:3). Just as dew is a sign of blessing to the world, so too the years that you served idols are a sign of blessing to the world.” Rav Kook explains that Hashem yearned for the days, as it were, when Avraham had been a passionate idolater. God told Avraham ‘I want you to serve Me by returning to your original excitement and self-sacrifice. I do not want you to become a believer whose faith leads to coldness and separation between man and God.’ (I have taken this explanation of the piece in Shemonah Kevatzim from Rav Moshe Weinberger’s Song of Teshuva, Vol. 2, pg. 248.)

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

What are some challenges that make it hard for us to tap into the passion and vibrancy embodied by Avraham at the Akeidah? Are those challenges related to living in twenty first century, or have we always had them?

Rav Moshe Weinberger notes (Song of Teshuva, Vol. 2, pg. 248-249) that many Jews who become ba’alei teshuva were previously sensitive people who enjoyed poetry, music and the arts, but those interests become ignored or even suppressed after they take on greater religious observance. Based on the passage above, what would Rav Kook would say about this phenomenon?

What could I do or take on in order to better embody (in an authentic way) the passionate approach to avodat Hashem that Rav Kook understands as epitomized by the Akeidah? Who is a role model I could look to in that regard?

Do some segments of Orthodoxy do a better job at encouraging the vibrant and passionate dedication that Rav Kook regards as an ideal? How so?

About this Piece

Igrot haReiah is a three-volume set of Rav Kook’s letters on a variety of topics in halacha, hashkafa and other areas of Torah, as well as communal and political matters. It has never been translated into English, although selected excerpts have been translated (see here and here, both unfortunately out of print). An excellent series of written shiurim on Igros haReiah is available from Yeshivat Har Etzion’s Virtual Beit Midrash, here.

The Challenge of Nationhood – Parshat Lech l’Chah

Translation: Midbar Shur (Parshat Lech l’Chah)

“And G-d appeared to Avram and said to him… ‘Go before Me and become complete (lit. תמים). Your name will no longer be called Avram. Avraham will be your name, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” [1]

Our forefather Avraham was initially a citizen of Aram and worked diligently for their welfare, as is appropriate for any citizen of a country. When Hashem appeared to him and said “Go before Me,” He was exhorting Avraham to broaden his horizons and further Hashem’s purpose for the entirety of creation. G-d was telling him “Become complete [2] in going before Me, without a heart divided between special loyalty to one’s nation and lesser concern for others. Seek the welfare not just of your Aramean countrymen, but of all of humanity, for that is My objective.”

After all, there is no fundamentally sound reason for an individual to pursue the advancement of any particular nation exclusively, even one that counts him among its members. However, this does not mean a vigorous and special concern for one’s own nation is unacceptable – only that nationalism should not be an end of itself, but rather a means of benefiting all of humanity.

This is why it is at this specific point that Hashem tells Avraham “Your name will no longer be called Avram,” a name which means ‘father of Aram.’ G-d raised Avraham above the social convention of simplistic nationalism, which arbitrarily dictates a special concern for one’s nation over others, and is not founded upon pure virtue.[3] Rather, “Your name is Avraham, because I have made you a father of a multitude of nations.”[4] You shall be a father to all of them, the entire human race, and are charged with seeking their welfare.[5]

It was precisely through this universal mission that Avraham’s descendants would be definitively set apart from the rest of the world. The Jewish people are separated from the other nations in order to maintain the level of purity required to benefit the rest of humanity. Without this separation, we would not be able to serve as a beacon of Divine light to the world.

Commentary

This is our first introduction to Rav Kook’s views on one of the most important subjects of Jewish thought – the relationship between Israel and the other nations, and the ramifications of G-d’s choice of Israel on the stature of the rest of humanity. Rav Kook writes that every nation is precious in G-d’s eyes. The Jewish people are meant to be a “kingdom of Priests”[6] that ministers to all humanity, serving as a role model and source of spiritual inspiration. Jews and non-Jews alike are all ultimately charged to work toward the same goal, albeit with different tools and different paths.

This position contrasts strongly with the understanding (most strongly emphasized in kabbalah and Chasidut) that G-d’s choice of the Jewish people was and is a rejection of the rest of humanity. Although this is not the forum for a comprehensive overview of the complexities of bechirat yisrael,[7] at the very least this piece in Rav Kook reminds us that things are not as simplistic as we might have thought (or been taught). Choseness and universalism are not necessarily a contradiction. According to Rav Kook, the reason we were set apart is precisely so that we are able to maintain the integrity and spiritual purity of our universal Divine message.

Rav Kook also expresses a strident criticism of simplistic nationalism, i.e. pursuing the advancement of one’s nation exclusively, at the expense of the rest of the human race. This chauvinistic attitude is an ethical failure and a denial of G-d’s concern for all of His creation. This notion was not merely a matter of theory for Rav Kook (1865-1935), who lived in a period characterized by nationalist upheavals and revolutionary movements, and who poured so much of his spirit into Zionism and its revival of the Jewish national spirit. According to Rav Kook, only the Jewish people, given their mission of concern for the rest of humanity, are able to model a healthy and ethically complete form of nationalism.

[1] Bereishit 17:1, 5.

[2] As we will see, Rav Kook understands תמים to mean complete, unblemished. See Vayikra 22:21, regarding korbanot, for a similar usage of the word.

[3] In another passage of Midbar Shur (Parshat Vayishlach), Rav Kook expresses the Torah’s rejection of nationalism far more forcefully. The following is an excerpt from Bezalel Naor’s translation:

The statement of the rabbis concerning Abraham contains a universalist message; it condemns in the harshest terms possible the evil of nationalism. There is a certain convention that has become accepted by practically the entire human race, and that is the right of every nation to aggrandize itself at the expense of other nations. Even supposedly righteous rulers are guilty of having shed blood to bring enhanced material prosperity to their nation, without so much as a thought to the havoc wreaked on surrounding nations. Even though human decency dictates that the individual not pursue success through the destruction of fellow humans, on the national level—so according to conventional wisdom—there is free license to achieve success, come what may. Even those who shun military exploits, are incapable of desiring the success of other nations to the same degree they seek their own nation’s advancement.

The most righteous of individuals would find strange the thought that all human beings be given the same advantage seeing as one God created us in His image. This chauvinist thinking is so ingrained in human nature, that even the great champions of justice defend this notion by saying that the scientific and material development of the world requires that nations compete against one another…. The very thought of nationalism is despicable to God, for He equates all mankind. The goal is to seek the true success of all God’s creations. True justice means that one views with equal concern the advancement of the entire human race.

[4] As Rav Kook understands it, the command to “Walk before Hashem and become complete” is related to the change of Avraham’s name that is delivered several verses later. One might have understood that they are unrelated. See the various interpretations quoted by Rashi on verse 1, s.v. veh’yay tamim.

[5] In Ein Ayah (Berachot 13a), Rav Kook explains that Sarah was charged with the same mission, and had her name changed for the same reason. As Rashi (Bereishit 17:15) explains, Sarai means “my princess,” whereas Sarah is unqualified and means “princess over all.” Avraham was to be a father to all of humanity and Sarah was to be the mother.

[6] See Seforno on Shemot 19:6, one of the primary sources for this understanding of bechirat Yisrael.

[7] An excellent overview of the topic is available here, in the shiurim of my teacher Rav Netanel Wiederblank, and here, in an article by Rav Chaim Eisen.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

When Rav Kook talks about the Jewish people pursuing the welfare of humanity, what do you think he is talking about? Traveling across the world to build orphanages? Serving as ethical role models? Preaching about morality? Some combination of the above?
According to Rav Kook, the Jewish people are set apart precisely so that they are able to maintain their universal mission. What are some of the difficulties involved in maintaining this balance?
The last few years have witnessed a revival of populist and nationalist political movements, both in the United States and overseas. Would Rav Kook understand this revival as healthy? Why or why not?

About This Piece

This piece was published in Midbar Shur, which is a collection of drashot on the parsha that Rav Kook wrote when he was the rav of Zeimel, Lithuania. Unlike Rav Kook’s later works, Midbar Shur is written in normal (i.e. non-poetic and non-kabbalistic) rabbinic Hebrew. Although the drashot were written in the 1880s, Midbar Shur was not published until 1999. It has not been translated into English, but various excerpts are adapted in the works Gold From The Land of Israel, Silver From the Land of Israel, and Sapphire From the Land of Israel, available here, here and here.

Walking Ahead – Parshat Noach

Translation – Midbar Shur, Parshat Noach

The Torah states that “Noach was a perfect tzaddik…Noach walked with Hashem.” [1] Chazal teach that Avraham was on a higher level, as the Torah describes him as walking in front of Hashem. [2] [3] This has to be more than just a play on words. What exactly do these terms signify?

We know that at the outset of Creation, Hashem intended man to achieve his purpose in a straightforward and established manner. Adam haRishon sinned and the order of creation changed. However, G-d’s supernal will did not desire an instantaneous repairof everything that had become broken. Rather, the process of rectification would proceed gradually. Humanity would ascend the ladder of perfection in stages (and sometimes descend to prepare the way for later ascents). Only at a later point in history would the highest level of perfection be reached, when “the entire world will be filled with knowledge of G-d” [4], when G-d will “transform all of the nations…to call out in the name of Lord and worship him of one accord.” [5]

In the interim, G-d, who “assigns measure to the spirit” [6], determines how much Divine inspiration manifests in each generation to spur humanity to its ultimate perfection. As Chazal teach, “Even ruach ha’kodesh rests on the prophets in precise measure (lit. במשקל).” [7] The same goes for every illumination of ruach ha’kodesh and Divine wisdom, regarding how much it is able to express itself and how much its effects are felt in a particular generation.

From the time of Adam’s sin until the Torah was given, humankind was in a lowly spiritual/educational state. The Torah’s light could not be revealed in its totality, but only according to what humanity was able to receive. Even so, the world still contains within it the potential for emerging to a higher state, at a time when it will be able to receive the fullness of the Torah’s light. It follows that there are two possible approaches to the path one charts for himself and others. One is to take measured steps, according to the appropriate spiritual level and situation of the moment in history, without striving to accelerate the world’s movement tothe highest spiritual perfection. The other is to raise yourself and your contemporaries to a level beyond what your generation is prepared for, to lay the foundations for bringing that perfection even closer.

The first level is referred to as ‘walking with G-d,’ and is in accordance with the process that G-d has arranged in nature and history. Although every generation lays the foundation for the spiritual advancement of its successors, this approach is fundamentally focused on the measure of Divine light that manifests in its own specific generation. One who ‘walks with G-d’ is concerned only with his generation’s incremental movement toward perfection.

However, the second level, which is referred to as ‘walking ahead of G-d,’ is concerned with future generations as well. It does whatever it can to accelerate the world’s movement to the highest levels of spiritual perfection.

Chazal are not just making a play on words, but perfectly encapsulating the difference between Avraham and Noach. Noach was תמים בדורותיו, perfect in his generations. He did was was good and upright according to the level of his generation, but was not concerned with advancing the world’s spiritual state. In contrast, Avraham taught righteousness to everyone he came in contact with and did everything possible to bring more Divine light into the world. [8] Perhaps this is why Chazal teach us that “Avraham kept the entire Torah before it was given.” [9] Although the world was not ready for the Torah, which hadn’t even been given, Avraham did what he could to bring the spiritual perfection of the future. He walked ahead of Hashem.

This explains why Avraham, who reached this higher level of perfection and Divine holiness, is the rock from which the עם סגולה of the Jewish people were hewn.

[1] Bereishit 6:7

[2] Bereishis 17:1, 48:15

[3] Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Noach, cited by Rashi on 6:7

[4] Yeshaya 11:9

[5] Tzefania 3:9

[6] Iyov 28:25

[7] Vayikra Rabba 15:2

[8] See Netziv’s explanation to Sefer Bereishit, where he discusses Avraham’s concern for the wellbeing (physical and spiritual) of even the idolatrous members of his generation.

[9] Gem. Kiddushin 82a. According to Rav Kook, Chazal are being very precise when they identify Avraham (and not any of the other Avot) as keeping the Torah before Sinai. It was Avraham in particular who epitomized this trait of walking in front of Hashem. See also Shut Rama 10, who makes the radical suggestion that the other Avot did not keep the Torah before it was given. I am not sure that Rav Kook would go so far.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Who do I know that embodies the trait of Avraham of ‘walking with G-d’, as described by Rav Kook?
What causes and accomplishments are the Jewish people disproportionately known for that reflects our being descended from someone who walked with G-d? (Hint – think Nobel prizes, humanitarian causes and/or social justice movements.)
What does the Torah tell us about Noach that fits with Rav’s Kook’s description of someone not focused on accelerating the spiritual state of his generation? What about Noach’s name supports that description? What about the 7 Noachide laws, as contrasted with the 613 commandments?
What else does the Torah tell us about Avraham that indicates how he walked ahead of G-d, as understood by Rav Kook?
From this piece, it sounds like walking ahead of G-d is a good thing. Could it ever be bad? Is there such a thing as walking too far ahead?

About This Piece

This piece was published in Midbar Shur, which is a collection of drashot on the parsha that Rav Kook wrote when he was the rav of Zeimel, Lithuania. Unlike Rav Kook’s later works, Midbar Shur is written in normal (i.e. non-poetic and non-kabbalistic) rabbinic Hebrew. Although the drashot were written in the 1880s, Midbar Shur was not published until 1999. It has not been translated into English, but various excerpts are adapted in the works Gold From The Land of Israel, Silver From the Land of Israel, and Sapphire From the Land of Israel, available here, here and here.

The Fruit and the Tree – Parshat Bereishit

Translation – Orot haTeshuva 6:7

Our Sages teach that from the beginning of Creation, the taste of the tree was supposed to be the same as its fruit. [1] The means which facilitate any elevated, universal spiritual goal should be perceptible to a person’s spiritual sense, in the same degree of elevation and pleasantness that one feels in conceiving of the essence of that spiritual goal.

But the nature of earthly existence, the instability of life and the weariness of the spirit imprisoned within physical confines – this resulted in a reality in which only the taste of the fruit, of the final goal, the ultimate ideal, is perceived in its pleasantness and splendor. The trees, despite their necessity for the growth of the fruit, have grown thick and coarse, and no longer bear the taste of the fruit. That is the sin of the earth, on account of which it was cursed, along with mankind, for the sin of Adam haRishon. [2]

But every flaw will be ultimately rectified, and therefore we are clearly assured of days to come when Creation will return to its original state. The taste of the tree will be like the taste of its fruit, because the earth will return from its sinful state. At that time, the pathways of practical life will not obstruct the pleasantness of the ideal light, which is supported along its path by proper means that strengthen it and cause its emergence from potentiality to actuality.

When vigor is given to the spirit of righteousness, after the inner spirit had initially been constrained and immersed in the abyss of non-existence, teshuvah itself will cause the inner spirit to stream forth. This teshuvah will give strength to the spirit of idealism, which will penetrate not just the end but the multitude of means as well.

And at every stage, even in instrumentalities, one will taste of the radiance of the ultimate goal. Then mankind will no longer bear the shame of slothfulness upon the path of true life.

Commentary

In this passage, which one commentator has described as “one of the most famous in Rav Kook’s writings, [3] Rav Kook addresses a enigmatic midrash from Bereishit Rabbah, which is also quoted by Rashi in his commentary on the Torah. The midrash records that Hashem commanded the earth to produce trees whose fruit would taste as they did, but the earth rebelled against Hashem and did not do so.

Rav Kook understands this midrash as an allegory, wherein the ‘fruit’ represents the ultimate spiritual goal of reality, and the ‘tree’ represents the means/instrumentalities of attaining and experiencing that reality. [4] According to Rav Kook, the midrash does not mean that the world literally rebelled against Hashem – which would be puzzling and even preposterous. Rather, the midrash means that a certain distance from the ultimate spiritual reality is woven into the fabric of Creation itself. The confines of our earthly existence dim our ability to taste the spiritual sweetness of the ‘ends’ while we are occupied with ‘means.’

This may seem overly abstract, but consider the following examples:

The parent who gets frustrated about being stuck in traffic while driving kids to school, not realizing that this facilitates the chinuch of his/her children and will provide them with the foundation to live Jewish lives and be faithful to the Torah.
The chasan reluctantly dragged along by his kallah to peruse china and tableware, who doesn’t realize that this too will be a part of the home he will build and the Shabbos table he will share with his future wife and children.
The student struggling to understand a difficult passage in gemara, who doesn’t understand that it is precisely these struggles that will lead to the deepest possible appreciation for and connection with learning.

Rav Kook teaches that this disconnect between ends and means, between potentiality and actuality, is an aberration that will ultimately be rectified. The world will be refined and rise to a state in which we will taste the sweetness of destination at every stage of the journey. Rav Kook connects this rectification to the concept of teshuva. This is connected to Rav Kook’s concept of teshuva as a universal spiritual process of refinement and coming close to the Divine – not merely (like so many of us were taught) recrimination and sadness in the wake of transgression and failure.

[1] See Midrash Rabbah quoted by Rashi on Bereishit 1:11.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Rav Moshe Weinberger in Song of Teshuva, Vol. 1, pg. 295.

[4] Perhaps Rav Kook based this interpretation on the notion that the Torah is עץ חיים`.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

What areas of my life are there where I struggle to taste the sweetness of the destination in the journey? How can I change that in some small way?
Chazal (Gem. Sukkah 35a) teach with regard to the esrog that its fruit tastes the same as its wood. How might this connect to Rav Kook’s idea? Is there anything about Sukkot that helps us tap into the higher level of reality Rav Kook articulates?

About this Piece

This excerpt was taken from Orot haTeshuva, which was first published in 1925. In seventeen brief chapters, Rav Kook develops the notion that teshuva is not a somber process of self-deprivation and embittered guilt. Instead, it is a joyful journey back to Hashem and one’s own essence, part of a cosmic process by which the entire Creation yearns for improvement and Divine closeness – hence the title Orot haTeshuva, or Lights of Teshuva.

Orot haTeshuva is available in various English translations or adaptions. In my opinion, the absolute best is the commentary of Rav Moshe Weinberger and Ya’akov Shulman, published in four volumes. This edition combines a clear, accessible translation with a commentary that presents the basic aspects of Rav Kook’s unique thought. Citations from other thinkers and other works of Rav Kook are presented to provide context and develop important themes. Ya’akov Shulman’s translation is also available in a standalone volume without the commentary. Other editions can be found here and here.

For the Hebrew original of this excerpt, please see pages 10-11, here.