Emuna

How can we ever "quiet" our God-given conscience, if we do sincerely strive for improvement, but can never achieve moral & spiritual perfection?! Sounds frustrating, until Rav Kook teaches us in Orot HaTeshuva that the strive for perfection is (!) as perfect as man can be, and that's all God asks. Although it's hard to understand how we can actually erase mistakes that were already done, the sources teach that even when our sages say that in particular cases, Teshuva doesn't help, they're just saying so as part of the test, where if despite that, if one doesn't "despair" & does Teshuva, it's a sign that he's really sincere, his thought of improvement has no ulterior motives & is accepted! It's a lot easier & more natural than we think.

A mini-lecture about why evil exists in this world.

There is a stereotype, that religious people don't mingle and aren't active socially nor participants in communal materialistic pursuits, but rather seclude themselves and just learn Torah. This is a carry-over from other religions that see the physical as contradicting the spiritual, but Judaism, to the contrary, learns from Ya'akov Avinu who, according to the respective opinions, minted a new coin, or built marketplaces and bath-houses. In addition to emotional and intellectual experiences, Rav Kook adds that the Jewish way of getting close to God, is to be similar (!) to Him, in our giving, altruism, activism and dedication to Israel and our communities. The more we are involved and help the broader society, the more Godly we are.

Rav Uriel Tuito of Beit El delivers an important answer to a series of similar but different questions on a critically crucial topic.

We are accustomed to the problem that when we dedicate time or effort to one issue or person, it inevitably comes at the expense of others. Rav Kook utilizes the hassidic/kabbalistic way of seeing the world, & the midrash on Ya'akov being complete in health, in money, and in Torah to analyze and suggest how to harmonize life, in a way that can save us great anxiety in our daily and life decisions.