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Printable PDF available here. Last year’s post on Parshat Korach, which deals with similar themes but from an entirely different angle (re. Rav Kook’s take on Christianity) can be found here. See also this piece regarding withdrawal and isolation, written at the height of the COVID pandemic.
Rav Kook (Orot ha’Kodesh, 2:28)
The theme of separation is pervasive in Parshat Korach. Korach claims that Moshe and Aharon have no basis to rule over the people, as “the entire congregation are all holy.” The separation of the tribe of Levi also appears to have a role in the controversy. Both the death of Korach/his assembly and the miracle with Aharon’s staff all reinforce the distinct roles of Moshe, Aharon, and the tribe of Levi, roles which are reaffirmed by the laws at the end of the parshah as well.
Separation (lit. הבדלה) is one of two spiritual channels by which each individual and the collective must conduct their affairs. The second channel is that of integration (lit. הכללה).
Separation is more than just physical partition. It expresses itself any time that a person withdraws from the broader world due to an inner longing to perfect his world of spirit, thought, emotion, instinct or action. A sensitive soul understands that he must occasionally withdraw from the noisy superficiality of the world when it seeks to deprive him of the supernal treasure of an elevated life and a pure and joyful consciousness. He must be apart in order to rescue himself from the pale, constricted imitation of life that others regard as “the real world.”
On a broader level, separation expresses itself whenever any group is set aside for a distinct mission. At the outset of Israel’s development, the tribe of Levi was separated from the rest of the nation, and from the tribe of Levi, the Kohanim, descendants of Aharon, were further separated as well. Later in our history, the halacha developed distinctions between pious members of the community and amei ha’aretz, who were unreliable when it came to certain matters of ritualimpurity and tithes. But there are more fundamental expression of havdalah that provide the basic architecture for existence itself – the separation between Israel and the nations of the world; and prior to that, the separation between humanity and the rest of the animal kingdom, through man being endowed with a unique spiritual sensitivity and ethical awareness, which undergird his inner world and enable him to strive heavenward.
But within the very depths of separation is concealed an orientation and a potential for integration. By their very nature, spiritual talents and proclivities are scattered throughout the world. But when a group is Divinely set aside, those sparks can be nurtured into a flame of holiness and reach their most essential and consummate expression. The perfected aspirations of the group do not remain locked within it, but spread an inner illumination well beyond its boundaries, uplifting all of existence.
A few examples will serve to illustrate the truth of this principle. Humanity was separated from the rest of the natural world and raised up as the crown of G-d’s creation. However, mankind’s spiritual stature is not meant for its own aggrandizement. Our spiritual potential was conferred so that we would uplift of all of G-d’s creation and guide the entire world to its perfection.
The unique nation of Israel, the סגולה מכל העמים, fiercely guards its inner uniqueness and separates itself from the ways of other nations, not as an expression of chauvinism, but so that it can retain the ability to serve as a light to the nations and bring salvation to the rest of humanity.
The tribe of Levi is set apart of the rest of Israel. However, its unique path serves to distill a purity and spiritual intensity by which the rest of the nation is blessed. The same thing is true of the Kohanim, whose kedushah is not something foreign to Israel, but rather draws down the supernal revelation of ruach ha’kodesh for the benefit and refinement of the entire collective.
The separation of chaveirim from amei ha’aretz was not an expression of hatred or contempt for less educated members of the community. By living in accordance with unique spiritual aspirations, above and beyond what is expected from the masses, the chaveirim were able to cultivate an intensity of spiritual talents and aptitudes, which uplifted everyone they came into contact with.
All of this is the opposite of the shallow and superficial integration preached by the broader world (lit. ההכללה הגסה), which seeks to erase all differences and combine everything under one amalgamated banner, and thereby plows under every repository of spiritual splendor and refinement. Ultimately, life and clarity of consciousness become coarsened and dark. The unrefined “universal love of humanity” becomes polluted and corrupt. The great unity of shallow universalism disintegrates into resentment, hatred, and even bloodshed. As the holy Zohar teaches, “The forces of evil and negativity (lit. סטרא אחרא) begin in unity and end in separation. The forces of holiness (lit. סטרא דקדושה) begin in separation and end in unity.”
In summary, behind every act of separation lies a more profound goal – that life’s deeper and more sublime dimensions be preserved in their truest form, not to remain permanently constricted and withdrawn, but for the ultimate enrichment of and integration with everything outside of its borders. This is the path of G-d in all matters of holiness – separation for the purpose of ultimate integration.
Food for Thought
The above piece from Rav Kook deals with the profound spiritual relationship between separation and integration. If his insights seem esoteric or hard to relate to, consider the following excerpts from Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch:
Commentary on the Torah (Bereishit 28:22): The sanctity of [Jewish] homes is the necessary condition for the sanctity of the House of G-d, which is not mikdash because it is the place to which kedushah is relegated, but, because from there holiness is to flow out and penetrate all human conditions and places, it is to be their center point. “Let them make a Sanctuary unto Me” it says later on to the descendants of Jacob who are to build out the foundation of this stone into a system of private and national life, “that I may dwell,” not in it, but בתוכם, “amongst them”… and the goal of the development beginning with this stone is as stated in Zechariah’s description of the messianic era, “Every saucepan in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy unto G-d.” (Zechariah, 14:21)
Collected Writings (Vol. 2, pg. 154): Thus our holy periods [in time, i.e. moadim] are not simply an oasis in a desert but are comparable to blessed wellstreams which flow in all directions… over all bordering time spans to spread holiness over all of life.
Commentary on the Siddur: The holy is set apart from the profane only to show that it is from the holy that the spirit of sanctity and sanctification should go out to permeate all the other phases of human life. That which is shut off from the light is so separated only that, under the cover of darkness, it may gather new strength in order then, suffused with light, to be awakened to new life and vigor. Yisrael, too, is set apart from the other nations only so that, through Yisrael, the rest of the nations may be won over to an ever-increasing extent to the truths it has revealed.
Horeb (Pg. 106): From the duty to ponder over the concept of the Sabbath when the Sabbath commences and to affirm that concept when the Sabbath departs [i.e. tosefet Shabbat] there follows this corollary: It is above all your duty not to limit the influence of the Sabbath to the short period of its duration but to let its holiness overflow into the week.
Consider also the following excerpt from the Rambam, particularly the bolded portion.
Maimonides (Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Melachim 12:1): Let no one think that in the days of the Messiah any of the laws of nature will be set aside, or any innovation be introduced into creation. The world will follow its normal course. The words of Isaiah: “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid” are to be understood figuratively, meaning that Israel will live securely among the wicked of the heathens who are likened to wolves and leopards, as it is written: “A wolf of the deserts does spoil them, a leopard watches over their cities.” They will all accept true religion [lit. dat ha-emet], and will neither plunder nor destroy, and together with Israel, peacefully eat that which is permissible, as it is written: “And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
I believe the following quote, from an excellent work of political theory by a non-Jewish author, illustrates Rav Kook’s point about the “shallow and superficial integration preached by the broader world.”
Professor Patrick Deneen (Why Liberalism Failed, pg. 79-80, 82): Liberalism valorizes placelessness. Its “state of nature” posits a view from nowhere: abstract individuals in equally abstract places. Not only does liberalism rest on the anthropological assumption that humans are from no one… but that we are from nowhere. The place where one happens to be born and raised is as arbitrary as one’s parents, one’s religion, or one’s customs. One should consider oneself primarily a free chooser, of place as of all relationships, institutions, and beliefs…This placeless default is one of the preeminent ways that liberalism subtly, unobtrusively, and pervasively undermines all cultures and liberates individuals into the irresponsibility of anti-culture…Larger units than the locality or the region can flourish in the proper sense only when their constitutive parts flourish. Modern liberalism, by contrast, insists on the priority of the largest unit over the smallest, and seeks to impose a homogenous standard on a world of particularity and diversity.
Questions for Discussion
- Was Korach wrong when he said “the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst?”
- What are the possible meanings of “true religion” in the excerpt from Maimonides above? What are the implications of each possible interpretation? And which do you think Rav Kook would agree with?
- Think of some Torah laws that differentiate between different groups of people. Are they more intuitive in light of Rav Kook’s insights? Why or why not?
- How would Rav Kook react to someone invoking the chosenness of Israel to support racist beliefs or comments?
- Can you think of any concrete examples of the process described by Rav Kook, where a shallow “universal love of humanity” degrades into resentment, hatred, and even bloodshed?
- What are healthy ways of withdrawing from “the noisy superficiality of the world?” What are unhealthy ways?

