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Translation (Orot,Orot haTechiya ):[1]
Whatever encompasses existence in all of its levels – by exerting a spiritual, ethical and holy influence – requires utmost purity. This is why we find the greatest emphasis on purity in the context of the Mikdash and the sacrificial order. These areas implicate the most lofty, sublime intellect but also the lower realms of blood and flesh, imagination and feeling. For these lower rungs, connected to the overall totality by a living bond, an exacting purity is required. They cannot be co-opted outright into Divine service.
Conversely, when the service of the Jewish people is more rarified and abstract, the details of practical purity are less necessary. After all, when the intellect is the driving force, Godly consciousness creates a fount of spiritual purity that raises up the lower realms as well. As Yirmiyahu[2]proclaims “‘Is not my word as fire?’ declares the Lord.” From here our Sages[3]derive that just as fire does not become impure, so too words of Torah cannot become impure, and so a בעל קרי is permitted to engage in Torah study.
The relationship between Divine service of the intellect and the lower realms of emotion, imagination and physicality is not static. We know that each individual has different spiritual tendencies, but the same is true of different generations as well. Different times in Jewish history have varying emphases. Latter-day Hasidism[4]turned to feeling and imagination more than to reason and action, and for this reason, stepped up the demand for bodily purity.[5]
Much earlier in Jewish history, when the Jewish people returned to Eretz Yisrael and rebuilt the Second Temple, we find that Ezra enacted a decree prohibiting a בעל קרי from engaging in Torah study until after immersion in a mikveh.[6][This decree was subsequently repealed and is no longer binding.] The timing of this decree was not happenstance. In the nascent period of the Second Temple, Ezra sought to to connect the Jewish people to the realm of the sacred and the Temple, and so purity was stressed.
But the Second Temple was destroyed. Exile impoverished the emotive and imaginative abilities, together with life’s strength and aesthetic peace. What remains is the influence of the intellect, with its abstract spiritual tendencies, combined with action. The place of the intermediate spiritual rungs – feeling and bodily proclivity – remained empty. As one of our piyutim laments,“The holy city, its sites and delights are scorned and destroyed. Nothing remains but this Torah.”[7]
For much of exile, precise purity no longer was obligatory and remained an idealistic longing, a concept of sanctity and piety reserved for individuals. Then modern Hasidism arrived and sought to implant it in the masses. Understandably there is a healthy kernel here that requires expansion and development. It is especially worthy of expansion at the time of the national renascence in the Land of Israel – in conjunction with the expanded immersion in spirituality, motivated by a healthy spiritual thirst to make healthy the whole nation and the root of its soul with all of its living quality, bodily purity being one of its strengths. Indeed, the Torah itself indicates that purity is of the greatest importance in matters of the collective:
When you go forth as a camp against your enemies, keep yourself from every evil thing. If there be among you a man that is not pure by reason of a nocturnal occurrence, he shall depart from the camp, he shall not enter within the camp. For the Lord your God goes about in the midst of your camp, to save you and to place your enemy before you, therefore your camp must be holy, that He see no unseemly thing in you and retreat from you. (Devarim 23:10)
Wherever the collective strength of Israel burgeons, there must immediately join with it a reinforcement of bodily and emotive purity. All these prepare a basis for a living, organic state of being, which encompasses the entire renascence, from the beginning of the highest abstraction to the end of the jubilation of life and its thunderous power. “I will bestow beauty in the Land of the Living [i.e. Eretz Yisrael].”[8]
[1]Largely taken from Bezalel Naor’s translation of Orot (Maggid Publishers, 2015).
[2]23:29.
[3]Gemara Berachot, 22a.
[4]Bezalel Naor notes that Rav Kook’s term for the Chasidic movement founded by the Ba‘al Shem Tov is meant to distinguish it from the movement of the medieval German pietists (most notably R. Judah haChasid of Regensburg), referred to as Chasidei Ashkenaz.
[5]Bezalel Naor notes the emphasis placed by the Chasidic movement on daily immersion in a mikvah. While this is definitely part of what Rav Kook has in mind, I think he is addressing Chasidut’s more general emphasis on conducting all physical activities with a spirit of holiness, and finding godliness in every aspect of being – and not just in Torah study.
[6]This decree was subsequently repealed and is no longer binding. However, there are halachic sources which indicate that continued observance of the decree is meritorious.
[7]העיר הקודש והמחוזות, היו לחרפה ולבזות. וכל מחמדיה טבועות וגנוזות, ואין שיור רק התורה הזאת.
[8]Yechezkel 26:20.
Commentary
This piece from Rav Kook is fascinating on its own terms, but even more so for the underlying premise. Rav Kook understands that avodat Hashem is not static and unchanging. Different periods of history can place an emphasis on different modalities or types of service. In Eretz Yisrael, more of an emphasis is placed on feeling and imagination, and hence the need for purity is greater. Outside of Eretz Yisrael, Judaism is primarily focused on the intellect. Presumably Rav Kook means that Torah study takes on an outsize importance in exile. But it seems like Rav Kook is making a much broader point – in exile, Judaism is impoverished and lacks the healthy, organic vitality that comes with collective living in Eretz Yisrael. It is only in Eretz Yisrael that one’s “emotive and imaginative abilities” can flourish and actualize themselves in every area of life.
While one can certainly disagree with this conclusion, I think it’s undeniable that the balance of the spiritual creativity and vitality in today’s Torah world comes out of Eretz Yisrael. Dynamic individuals and communities in Eretz Yisrael are creating (or at least striving to create) Jewish literature, music and even dance – and not merely literature, music and dance that happens to be created by Jews. They are developing new forms of Torah literature and innovative methods of education. I humbly submit that Jewish communities of Chutz L’Aretzstand much to gain by immersing themselves in the refreshing waters of Torat Eretz Yisraelto the greatest extent they are able. It seems like we spend far too much energy on consolidating our gains, building higher fences or arguing about whether something is ‘Orthodox’ or not. That is not to say those endeavors are not valuable, only that our efforts need to be properly calibrated. There is a wealth of spiritual vitality in Eretz Yisrael, only a plane flight or a few clicks away, and I think we’re missing out.
Also fascinating is the way Rav Kook conceptualizes of Chasidut as a meta-historic phenomenon, i.e. a retreat of the Jewish people from abstract intellectual matters and a renewed emphasis on emotion, imagination and bodily purity. Rav Kook asserts that this tendency is necessary and appropriate for the return of the Jewish People to Eretz Yisrael. If you read between the lines, it seems like Rav Kook is saying that Chasidut and Zionism both draw from the same root, which is a fascinating and provocative notion. At the very least, it can’t be a coincidence that these two movements sprung to life at concurrent periods in Jewish history….
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- Rav Kook understands that different periods of history can place an emphasis on different modalities or types of avodat Hashem. What do you think is the dominant modality of our generation?
- How do we determine what is the dominant form of avodat Hashem in any particular generation? Is the notion of change or evolution in this area a dangerous one, since it could lead to tampering with fundamentals of Jewish law, belief or custom?
- Rav Kook writes that in exile, “what remains [of Judaism] is the influence of the intellect, with its abstract spiritual tendencies, combined with action.” What exactly do you think this means? How does being outside of Eretz Yisrael and without a Mikdash shift the emphasis away from emotion, imagination and bodily purity?
- Do you agree with my contention that Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael is more vibrant? Why or why not?
