CHARACTER TRAITS
Tolerance
When tolerance of points of view comes from a heart that is pure and cleansed of all evil, that tolerance is not liable to chill the flame of holy feelings containing simple faith-which is the source of all life. Instead, that tolerance broadens and magnifies the foundation of heaven-directed fervor.
Tolerance is armed with a very great faith. Ultimately, it realizes the complete impossibility of a soul being emptied of all holy life. This is because the life of the living God fills all life. And so, even where actions come out in a destructive fashion, where points of view collide into heresy, there still must be-in the midst of the heart, in the depth of the soul-the living light of hidden holiness. And this is apparent in the good aspects that we find in many corners, even on those ravaged avenues touched by heresy and corroded by doubts.
From the midst of this great, holy knowledge and faith comes tolerance, which encircles everything with a thread of kindness.
"I will gather up all of you, Jacob" (Micah 2).
Midot Harayah, p. 84
Modesty
The trait of modesty brings about many important aspects of goodness in the world. Because it is so worthwhile, it sets aside other things, even though they are intrinsically good. A person's drive and weak self-control could destroy the trait of modesty, which maintains the world, both spiritual and physical.
Love and friendship, with all their pleasant characteristics and words, should really have been equal between man and woman.
But the great worth of modesty takes precedence. And so politeness is set aside-even to the point that a man should not inquire of another how his wife is doing (Kiddushin 70a).
A modest person realizes that it is not disparagement of women that leads to this distance and these boundaries. It is rather the focus on the ultimate, worthy goal.
We see something similar in our exposure to ideas. We maintain a fitting distance, with an almost instinctual sense, from ideas that would damage our sense of ethics. It might at times appear that we are rejecting freedom of thought. But when we are aware of our goal, we will recognize the great worth of our self-limitation and accept it lovingly.
Midot Harayah, p. 90
Praise
by Simcha Raz
Rav Kook used to carefully and repeatedly read the honorific titles given him in the letters he received.
Once, a Jerusalem scholar asked him about this.
Rav Kook explained: "I have a special reason: it is so that I will learn what I have and what I lack. And it is also so that I will know how to strive and improve myself, until I truly possess those traits for which I am being praised."
Malachim Kivnei Adam, p. 292
The Supernal Lights Of Torah
When a person is close in his spirit and ideas to the Torah, the supernal lights shine upon him; then his character and all his traits are elevated and rise. They are filled with the radiance of supernal life; then illuminated conduits of the richness of holy life pour their radiant flow onto him, as refined feelings of the closeness of God impel him.
And thus every pious person should pray and take care in all his ways, deeds, words and movements not to be the cause of any error and to cause no transgression or sin, so as not to bring about a barrier between himself and the supernal light which sends a flow of true life, which constitutes the paths reaching to the supernal happiness, which no eye has seen but that of God-that which he does for those who wait for Him.
Orot Hatorah 11:5
Do Not Fear
Exaggerated fear removes the radiance of life from people and from any creature that can experience feelings. There is nothing in the world, no matter how evil and cruel, that is quite like it. It magnifies all evils beyond comparison to what they really are, and it darkens the brightness of all good things, for it burrows beneath their foundations and excessively claims that evil is hidden beneath the obvious good. The source of all weakness and all feebleness, whether physical, ethical, or intellectual, solely a fear that crosses beyond its proper boundary. Such a fear terrifies a person so much that he will do nothing to save himself. He will not even lift a finger to help himself, because he is afraid that he might be hurt, he is afraid that action may bring an evil that he cannot escape. And finally, this fear weakens and enfeebles him so much that out of his inertia and inaction, he falls prey to every evil.
The most damaging fear is mental fear. This falsity casts a delusion upon the most sensitive and beautiful members of the human race, people who stand as a banner, who serve as luminaries that will brighten the paths of life for everyone. Shadow always follows light, and so the more a person is able to understand and grow wise, the more does his delusional fear, resulting from his thoughts, increase.
[Various] nations have the ability to grow wise, to gather together and connect everything of an elevated and holy nature that was scattered and separated into one inclusive bloc, with counsel and knowledge in matters that stand at the apex of the world. But superior to all of them is the people of Israel. They are the one nation that carries the flag of the most raised thought in the world, the thought that contains all that wisdom stores within itself: the thought of oneness. "God is in the heavens above and upon the earth below; there is no other."
Indeed, [we] must always broaden the boundary of consciousness to an infinite degree-with a brave heart, without fright, without any recoil and fear at all. Fear "due to the oppressor who prepares to destroy" (cf. Isaiah 51:13) has lowered the universal spirit of our nation, which is girded in might, until it recoils from and fears every thought and idea-and thus [it recoils from and fears] every action and any great and inclusive act. And since the essence of the foundation of [our nation's] might is the strength of God, when it is spiritually weak, it grows very weak and feeble. At such a time, the most honorable help for our nation is removing from its heart this fear that comes from spiritual delusion, and demonstrating, as clear as the sun, that it has nothing whatsoever to fear.
Let the nations that boast of their idols fear that the general power of delusion that affects their communal society will shatter. Let every evil government fear that the light of truth and honesty will show that the goal of all their longings is a willful criminal fist and perverted justice. Let it fear that when the light of pure thought gains strength, it will show how disgusting that government is. And thus the universal chains will snap, and their national strength will fall totter.
But why should Israel fear? We are the nation whose strength and refuge is the most elevated light of the purest and most uplifted thought, whose glory and beauty, hope and desire, is the purest and most unalloyed justice. We need only to rise, only to grow wiser and wiser, with that which is already planted in us and gathered in our innermost essence. Only then will we be filled with salvation and light. Then we will see our great worthiness, and how degraded are those who trample upon us with the foot of pride. And the more our nation's thought grows and is broadened, the more will we recognize our nation's soul and the beauty of its glory, until it will rise and ascend to show everyone the treasure of life hidden within it, until all the inhabitants of the world will recognize and see that our nation's spirit is the spirit of God, and the soul of the Almighty is its soul.
Divine inspiration and divine light can come upon Israel only when the evil and wild fear that clings to it like an encompassing wound, that extends days of exile and the persecutions of our degraded, evil enemies, is removed from within its soul.
God's Presence only rests upon a person who is wise, mighty, and wealthy (Shabbat 82a), and only in a place of joy (ibid 30b). Since this is true of an individual, how much does it apply to the entire nation. "Wealth" can be read in its simple meaning: a present from God given from the heights, usually only this-worldly effort. "May Hashem your God bless you in all that you do" (Deuteronomy 15:18). But there is [also] a wealth of consciousness, when a person knows how to rejoice in his portion. This too can be experienced by an individual or by the entire nation. But as for might-and joy, which is its consequence-that can come only by means of a rectification of the spirit, a rectification of consciousness and thought. And in regard to that, we have been assured that "If a person says, 'I toiled and I did not find' or 'I did not toil and I found,' do not believe him" (Megillah 6b).
In the end of days, in the [age of the] "heels of the Messiah," when the divine light stands behind our walls, the first of all preparations is the removal of fear, the excrescence of thought, from the general spirit-in particular from the spirits of outstanding individuals, those people who are graced with a good mind, with a talent for holiness and justice, for it is they who are most affected by fear and weakness.
The impetus to accomplish this is provided by its opposite force: the force of arrogance, which must grow stronger at such a time-for where there is arrogance there is no fear. [It is true that arrogance] comes from a degraded place, from a place of intoxication and confusion. As great as the distance from the heavens to the earth, so is the distance between arrogance and the might that results from the heavenly blessing of the wealth of the soul and the strength of its righteousness. Nevertheless, we act utilizing the strong power of arrogance in order to take the good from it, the sparks of holiness, the innermost core: the cease of mental fear. And that is due to the strength that is promised, that is hidden, in the treasury of our lives.
Then, might will become a part of the weave of holiness, and thought will blossom.
"Do not fear, for you shall not be shamed. And do not be abashed, for you will not be shamed, for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and the shame of your widowhood you will no longer recall" (Isaiah 54:4).
Hador, pp. 119-121
Precision
To the degree that we gain clarity in [our understanding of] Jewish laws as we perform them and cause them to shine, we gain joy from them.
[If we] lack clarity, if we do not possess a clear knowledge that clings to our soul, then we will associate adhering to Torah law precisely and in accordance with all its details with a feeling of heaviness. This can lead to a trembling weakness that will [ultimately] result in disgust with the Torah (heaven forbid).
If we possess a broad mindfulness, we will not find the [Torah's] precision-a precision of breadth-to be in the least oppressive. To the contrary, [we will see that] this precision is a consequence of perfection-just as the precision of grammar indicates the perfection of people's speech.
The value of the elevated nature of the conceptual [world] and purity of the innermost foundation of true Torah corresponds to a great precision whose details, which are expressed in action-like branches extending from their root-are many and broad. A person of understanding and perception takes these all in with one broad glance.
If that precision in action is lacking, then a clear image of the elevated nature of the value of the divine Torah, the elevated nature of its rules and laws, and the preciousness of their worth will totter.
Then the loss that will in consequence affect the entire spiritual burden borne by the soul of all Judaism for humanity in general and for Israel in particular is beyond measure.
Therefore, we have the great responsibility that, when we clarify halachah, to learn Torah for its own sake: [seeing to it that what we learn will be as free from imprecision] as a garment is bleached [of stains]. Then learning the precise details (in their breadth) will be the outcome of the pleasure in understanding a supernal concept and its joyful state.
This is one way-it is a glorious way-to learn Torah for its own sake. It is one of the forty-eight paths by which the Torah is acquired: in joy and purity. An inner knowledge of clear understanding certainly leads to the strengthening of this path.
Orot Hatorah 9:4
