Page 47 - HaMizrachi #33 Sukkot 2021 USA

Living Passionately

and Idealistically

Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein

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

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