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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Ein Ayah
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- Middot - Character Traits
- Personality Development
Gemara: Abayei said: One who gives his garment to the launderer should give it after measuring it and receive it back after measuring it, for if it is bigger, he damaged it by stretching it out, and if it is smaller, he damaged it by shrinking it.
Ein Ayah: [This piece is a continuation of last week’s, in which Rav Kook based his thesis on the viewpoint that washing a garment can be a parable for fixing one’s personality or actions.]
There is a nice comparison between washing a garment and striving to act in a proper way. When one launders, he should be careful not to harm the essence of the garment. One should understand the same when dealing with his emotional/spiritual side: one should not try to change the essence of his personal tendencies. He will not see success, because his good deeds will come when his spirit is healthy, according to the nature with which his Maker provided him.
There are people with a personality that tends toward power. It is wrong to try to totally change that. Indeed just as there is use for pleasantness, so there is good use for vengeance and hatred, etc. – in the right circumstances. Traits such as angriness and impatience are described as being short (e.g., short-tempered). Such people should clean the blemishes from their personalities, so that they do not use these tendencies to their fullest when not called for. It is good for the world, though, if they can use their tendency to not forgive that which should not be forgiven and to stand up brazenly to the evil who try to harm that which is good. A man with a temper should thus not try to eradicate any trace of anger or other natural personality trait. He should learn how to use the Torah and his intellect in deciding when to allow his anger to be employed.
Returning to the parable, the launderer hints at the feeling within a person to purify himself. One should not give himself over to that good activity without supervision. The measuring one does is the Torah, which tells a person the proper measure of everything that must be decided according to its circumstances. Before starting the cleansing process, he should size up what he should look like at the end of the process. At the end of the process, he should see if there were any undesirable outcomes. For example, if his personality lost too much of its firmness, that is not good.
On the other hand, if he was shortened, that is also not good. If a person tended toward compassion and softness, which is a problem if he allowed the evil to have their way with the righteous, he may want to fix it. However, he should not "let the garment shrivel up," i.e., he should not become an angry, vengeful person. After all, he was created to be compassionate. If he tries to become a different person, he will become an unhappy one. He should just work to remedy the negative ramifications of his personality.
In short, everyone should remain the same "size" as he was originally. "For the spirit will be donned from before Me, and the souls I [Hashem] made" (Yeshaya 57:16). Who is going to go out and change that which Hashem created, as what He does is not to be changed (see Kohelet 3:14). "They are all correct to those who understand and straight to those who find wisdom" (Mishlei 8:9).
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
