Moreshet Shaul: Inability to Pass on Abandoned Tradition – part I | Various Rabbis | Beit Midrash

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קטגוריה משנית

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In recent generations, the Jewish People saw the rise of movements that strove to separate between principles that are studied and their practical applications. They claim to continue and fulfill the ideas of the prophets in new ways – but these are ways that are totally unconnected to the world of the prophets. A certain portion of our idealistic youth think that this will bring liberation, namely, the liberation of man, by bringing the philosophy of socialism to fruition.
We should admit that socialism has more in common with Israel than with other nations. The concept of equality among people was developed amongst Jews, and it received practical expression in daily commandments to the point that it left a special place in the Jewish spirit, even for those who abandoned the practical mitzvot that developed the concept of equality. Pioneer spirit and self-sacrifice make a splendid page in Jewish history, and kibbutz life contains elements of Judaism, even when its members do not recognize this. However, the [continuation of kinship between Jewish practice and external philosophies] cannot last long. They take out things from Judaism without putting in [proper things within them]. They thereby waste that which was acquired during thousands of years, wasting power and beauty without replacing it by putting something else into the "treasure house."
A person can find his contentment by nullifying his personal interests and integrating his life with that of his community, with concern for communal welfare and social justice. This can make him feel fulfilled. He sees in himself a special uplifting, a certain lofty aspiration that he did not find by his father or grandfather. He saw them as those who pray in a set and rote fashion and act without thought but based on a certain book, like a table that was set by someone else. [He sees in himself something new and special.]
However, he is making a great mistake. A person does not receive things from that which is unowned. Even if an unowned area is full of precious stones, the one who gets them will have some sort of special connection to the area. [So too,] a person inherits his nature and his contentment from his forebears over many linked generations. In the final analysis, that which he sees in himself, he should not attribute to the purity of his spirit without regard to his forbears. If he indeed has something special about his character, he should recognize that this comes from the greatness of the spirit of his predecessors, who bequeathed it to him, sometimes even when it did not fully find expression in them. If one does indeed find something more ideal about his actions and his approach than in his father’s, he should realize that this just means that what was stored hidden in his father’s spiritual storehouses came to the surface in him.
However, the revelation of the positive characteristic can actually be a sign of death. As long as the spirit is involved in creation, it is hidden. When the wellspring of creativity is closed, the character becomes revealed. This is a sign that there is no activity and the spirit is living off that which was prepared in it in the past, and is thus wasting that which was prepared for him.
We will continue next time.