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THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND RAV KOOK’S TEACHINGS

Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein

Transforming Baseless Hatred

into Baseless Love

“If we were destroyed and the world was – just as Divine and precious as himself. And self-identifies as the optimal expression
destroyed with us due to baseless hatred, yet, due to the singular nature of each soul, of G-d in this world. Then, he will be con-
we will return to be rebuilt and the world this other soul might seem utterly foreign fused and threatened by the existence of a
will be rebuilt with us through baseless and different. The juxtaposition of the Divin- Divine soul different from himself. In reality,
love.” ity of the other soul and its foreignness can though, G-d is too transcendent and infinite
leave a person feeling threatened. A person to be expressed through any single terres-
Orot HaKodesh 3, page 324
might feel that his very identity and place trial medium.
in the world is being undermined by the
presence of this “other” spark of G-d that Rather, each person should view himself
his aphorism of Rav Kook is fre- as a unique “small spark” of G-d who can
quently quoted during this time of seems so alien and unfamiliar. and must manifest that godliness in this
year. But what did Rav Kook mean The result of this subconscious process world. But as Divine as an individual soul
Tby this statement? is that the person hates the other person might be, it can only capture a certain shade
simply because he is different. One might
Rav Kook explains that when we feel hatred couch this primal feeling of hatred in intel- of Divinity. To draw down the “Great Fire”
or disdain towards other people, there is lectual or moral terms. But at its core, base- of the Shechina into this world, each of us
a human tendency to rationalize and jus- must connect with others who are different
tify these feelings. Accordingly, we often less hatred is a fear and a loathing generated than ourselves and who therefore represent
by the very fact that a person so different
locate the source of our negative feelings from me can exist in this world. a different shade of the Divine picture (Orot
for other people in ideological or behavioral HaKodesh 2, pg. 569 and Ein Ayah end of
differences. With “scientific precision,” we Berachot).
delineate our intellectual and moral claims
against them and thereby feel justified to As Rav Kook once formulated this idea: “The
hold onto our hatred. character trait of baseless hatred will be
fixed” when we realize that “the unique
But Rav Kook argues that many times these To draw down the “Great Fire” hue of another person does not diminish
justifications are but “small indications” of a of the Shechina into this world, [his] own identity” but rather, “enriches the
deeper and more primal force within us. G-d each of us must connect with Jewish people with multiple lights” (Orot
endowed each human being with a unique others who are different than Yisrael 4:6). Each of these “lights” is at once
and singular soul which vivifies the person. unique and distinctive, but ultimately inter-
This essential life force is the foundation ourselves and who therefore linked. Only through baseless love or loving
upon which a person builds his particular represent a different shade other people because of our differences, can
worldview, aspirations and spiritual style. of the Divine picture. we attempt to bring G-d’s presence into our
But at its core, the soul itself transcends all world and rebuild the Beit HaMikdash.
these expressions. The soul is “the treasure If this is the definition of baseless hatred,
of life… filled with impenetrable depths” – a
spark of G-d embedded within a person. what then is baseless love? Rav Kook
explains that it entails a reorientation of
Even as this concept of the specialness of this selfsame realization of the otherness of
each soul is beautiful and inspirational, it another person: “This inclination towards
also contains the seeds of the pernicious baseless hatred contains within it the
problem of baseless hatred. When a person hidden love which is also baseless.” Love
looks and speaks with another human for the other should not only stem from
being, his eyes and conscious mind might an affinity in ideology or lifestyle. Rather,
notice the other’s dress, behaviors and ideol- baseless love means loving other people due
ogy. Subconsciously, though, a person’s soul to the simple fact they are different from
senses the presence of another soul. This oneself.
can be a disconcerting experience.
Elsewhere, Rav Kook elaborates that a Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein is a faculty
On the one hand, the person realizes that the person will only feel threatened by the exis- member of Michlelet Mevaseret Yerusha-
soul standing before him is a spark of G-d tence of a different soul if he subconsciously layim and Yeshiva University.

46 | Background illustration of Rav Kook courtesy of gedolimcanvas.com