Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Ein Ayah
Ein Ayah:The special spiritual power of the knowledge of Hashem to have an impact on a person’s sense of morality is very wondrous. It is true that to know Hashem in a proper way requires great knowledge and wisdom, both broad and deep, and what is the knowledge of lowly humans worth? Nevertheless even a low-level knowledge of Hashem has a great impact in straightening people’s paths and increasing goodness and justice in the world. Therefore, this "small passage" hints to the idea that even if one understands to a small degree, still all the foundations of the Torah are connected to this knowledge.
So impactful is the knowledge of Hashem on man’s heart that even when he finds himself in the dullest form of light, when he has fallen morally into sinful behavior and he is not capable of having a correct and straight knowledge, he is still able to reach some essentials necessary for basic knowledge of Hashem. This weak level of knowledge still works to save him from falling fully into permanent evil and enables him to return to the straight path.
The above is true even when one has deteriorated to the point that he brazenly violates even those mitzvot whose reasons are clear to all of society, such as theft. Still, it is of value for him to call out to Hashem. His flimsy knowledge of Hashem can aid him as well to return to the straight path. Such a thief, who calls out in the name of Hashem, has hope for moral renewal beyond that of a thief who has already thrown off the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the latter case, the last spark in his spirit has died out, and he is in the category of evil people who have lost their path.
The great impact of knowledge of Hashem proves that it is an attribute that is engrained in the nature of man. That is the reason that it is hard to uproot it, for something that is part of the basic purpose of a creation of Hashem does not easily change in its basic form.
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
