Page 39 - HaMizrachi Australia Sukkot 5781

Living Passionately

and Idealistically

Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein

The importance of Ratzon desire for perfection and closeness The Simcha of Sukkot
to G-d. Teshuvah then can help the
s a kabbalist, Rav Kook often inner ratzon grow from a small spark This is why the holiday season of
underscored the impor- to a raging fire, from a subconscious Tishrei concludes with Sukkot. True
tance of a human being’s drive to a conscious and omnipresent teshuvah, as painful as it is, must con-
r
A tzon (“will” or “desire”). organizing principle in one’s life (Orot clude with a sense of joy and vitality.
a
When stripped down to its core, a per- HaTeshuva 9:1–2). The painful contemplation of the gap
son’s essential ratzon is “a small spark between the real and the ideal does
of the great flame of… G-d’s will.” Just not end in despondency but in the
as G-d desires the betterment of the A Unified Personality joyful realization that we are blessed
world and all its inhabitants, so, too, Teshuvah, though, can also have a det- to live in G-d’s presence and have the
deep down, every person has an identi- rimental impact on a person’s ratzon. wherewithal to constantly strengthen
cal burning drive. Our most elemental True High Holiday teshuvah requires that connection (Orot HaTeshuva 16:3).
desire is that each individual and the one to amputate specific external Teshuvah broadens our field of vision,
world collectively live the ideal life of drives that have become appended allowing us to see new spiritual oppor-
perfection and connection to G-d (Orot to the pure soul (Orot HaTeshuva 8:1). tunities on the horizon. This joyful
HaKodesh 3, p. 39). This severing of the less idealistic parts excitement should be the dominant
Due to our complex makeup, this of our identity can negatively affect emotion that we gain through the
primal passion is often concealed. the one doing teshuvah. months of Ellul and Tishrei. And so the
Instead, we focus on more limited apprehensive opening days of Tishrei
goals and desires. We crave fulfilling cannot be complete without the joy
relationships, a good job, or success of Sukkot. Through serving G-d with
in specific projects. As Jews, however, joy, we will reinvigorate our ratzon and
our mission is to constantly analyse passionately pursue an optimistic life
our drives and passions and work to True High Holiday teshuvah of serving G-d.
connect each specific passion back to requires one to amputate specific
our core desire for spiritual perfection. external drives that have become “A tzaddik must believe in himself that
Through a process of “moral toil,” we appended to the pure soul. he is fit to experience joy in the per-
are called to elevate ourselves above formance of mitzvot, such a joy that
the “vicious and narrow cycle of lim- Rav Kook explains that a person – body the entire world is not worthy of it…
ited desires” and consciously realize and soul, mind and heart, yetzer hatov And particularly in the times of joy…
how each of our passions is part of this and yetzer hara – is a holistic entity. If, we banish from our hearts gloomy
“great tapestry” of the general pining before engaging in teshuvah, a person calculations that can cloud a person’s
for perfection (Orot HaKodesh 3, p. 40). spiritual life. Rather, we are happy
was passionate for physical pleasure, with G-d, in the sanctity of His light
the redirecting of these drives can
Ratzon and Teshuvah potentially weaken a person’s general that is revealed in our souls… and we
spiritually connect with [G-d’s light],
Rav Kook highlighted several aspects vitality and zest for life. with the vitality of His sanctity that
of religious life that are ideal oppor- A diminishment of even negative gives life to all” (Shemoneh Kevatzim
tunities for cultivating and revealing desires can leave a person more blasé 2:222).
this elemental ratzon (see, for example, and less passionate than before, or in
Orot HaKodesh 3, 77). One such exam- Rav Kook’s language, with a debilitated
ple is the process of teshuvah. When ratzon.
a person thinks seriously about his
current spiritual state or the state of Rav Kook writes that the beginning of
his family, community, or the world as one’s growth in Yirat Shamayim is often
a whole, he will immediately realize accompanied by a wave of “passivity”
the significant gap that exists between as a person incorrectly associates
the present reality and the Torah’s religious life with “losing one’s essen- Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein is a faculty member
vision of perfection. Contemplating tial ratzon” (Orot HaKodesh 3, pg. 28 of Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim and
this chasm will nourish one’s primal [introduction]). Yeshiva University.

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