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| | Mitzvat Hanukkah (II)
V
MEHADRIN MIN HAMEHADRIN (I)
"Among those extraordinary individuals whose every step is weighed "B'Shekel haKodesh" (lit. "with a holy weight" - meaning, always considered against the measure of holiness which will be brought into the world as a result), to the point where not only their family lives exude Godly holiness but also their personal lives, there are found saintly people whose entire focus in their lives is not for their own benefit - even spiritual (i.e. the World to Come), rather their entire desire is to bring about God's will in His world.
"In analyzing how the miracle of Hanukkah can arouse the hearts of such holy people to bring about this noble desire, there are two general approaches, each of which divides into two particular paths:
"There are great people who look deeply at God's will in this world; and since they recognize that the Master of all Souls created Man as a general being in His image and all creatures in the image of God, He certainly intended to benefit them in their end, that they should rise above the depth of evil and foolishness which surrounds them until they are worthy of the level of the righteous who delight in God and His good. It is true that God prepared Yisra'el to be the recipients of the of Godly light in the world; but only then will the goal which elates the heart of all who are upright be realized, when the goal is completed by Yisra'el to bring all citizens of the world to the light of God and a holy life.
"From the perspective of this approach, the internal tendency which guides the hearts of the upright will be to walk in the path of God according to the Torah not only because it brings goodness to Yisra'el specifically, but rather because of this ultimate and most enlightened purpose, since the good of Yisra'el will eventually bring goodness to all of Mankind. Such a tendency, which is passionate, could lead one to believe that an orientation which singles out the goal of Toraic actions on account of the general welfare of Yisra'el is not the loftiest of tendencies and should be raised even higher to overcome the tendency of love of Yisra'el.
"For such people, national fellowship cannot be the source of their lives, rather the love of God and His Torah - since this ultimate goal can be found within the Torah; a goal which is so lofty that they could only appropriate national fellowship as a means to this end."
Comments and Analysis:
[Although this selection does not conclude Rav Kook's analysis of the Mehadrin min haMehadrin, the language and ideas are abstruse and recondite and it is probably advisable to intersperse a few observations here. ]
Rav Kook is pointing out that although the "Mehadrin" may represent those excellent individuals, whose very lives exude holiness and promote Torah wherever they go, they are usually motivated by self-interest (albeit, of the noblest form). The desire to "grow in Torah", to become an authentic "Talmid Hakham", to increase ones measure of kindness and to develop ever finer character traits is usually motivated by the ambition of personal greatness. There is no question that this is a necessary and praiseworthy ambition - but it is still "self-centered" and lacks the idealistic purity of the "Mehadrin min haMehadrin".
The "elite" described here, who may engage in the same behavior as the "extraordinary", are motivated by a wholly different set of concerns. As opposed to asking "how can I become closer to God?", "how can I become more knowledgeable in Torah?" etc., the question asked is "How can God's Name be enhanced in this world - and what can I do to promote that?".
This ideologically driven person can fall into one of two categories - and only the first has been adumbrated in this paragraph. Such a person accepts several postulates about the world - that God is good, that He created all creatures in His image and that, therefore, God desires to bring all of them (since He is good) to a realization of their potential (being in His image). As such, the ultimate goal - the idyllic vision - of creation is to bring all of creation and all of Mankind to a level of awareness of God and sensitivity to the values by which His world can thrive. Such a person views the life of Torah, the fulfillment of Mizvot etc. as oriented towards this great goal. That being the case, any nationalistic ties we have, any special allegiance we carry for fellow members of Yisra'el, are ultimately a hindrance to reaching this goal and can only be seen in a positive light as a means to achieving this end. The reason that this fellowship is a valid means is becau se Am Yisra'el, as the recipients of the Torah, are uniquely positioned to demonstrate to the rest of the world how a holy people should comport themselves - but that is, again, merely a vehicle for the ultimate goal.
Rav Kook is defending/explaining a school of thought which was very popular in the nineteenth century in Europe (a school most often associated with R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch - although it has roots which reach back much earlier in Jewish literary history). This school views Am Yisra'el chiefly in its role as teachers of the world, who are situated throughout the Diaspora in order to inspire, instruct and illuminate the non-Jewish world around us. This school is fond of the adage of Haza"l:
"R. Elazar says: HaKadosh Barukh Hu only exiled Yisra'el among the nations in order that converts should be added to their ranks." (BT Pesahim 87b)
One final note: Rav Kook does an exquisite job of shedding light on the curious title: Mehadrin MIN haMehadrin. Instead of understanding this as a hierarchical title (i.e. "greater" than the Mehadrin), he uses the language to identify this as an elite sub-group within the Mehadrin.
VI
MEHADRIN MIN HAMEHADRIN (II)
"There is another approach, in which the heart of an extraordinary person will contemplate and reach the conclusion that it is indeed true that self-love is not fitting for the greatest level of profundity, even if it is expanded to include a love for the whole nation. Nonetheless it is appropriate to love the good on its own merit - therefore it is right to accord to the goal of public life the greatest content possible in life. Since the Divine treasure is hidden within Yisra'el, therefore they are certainly qualified to become completed to this degree such that their life should be the desire of any upright person, not because of the self-love of "a man is prejudiced regarding himself"; rather because of the truth and uprightness itself.
"Therefore, the treasure of Yisra'el should be the focus of all spiritual life, and it is upon this that the objective of all of Torah should be built. It follows that there is room in the simple sensitive heart of national fellowship, to make it an appropriate trait in the paths of Torah., since even according to the depth of Divine justice the final objective will remain the purpose of Yisr'ael. [This is] because the final goal should not be based upon the quantity of lives, rather their quality, and the most wondrous quality will e'er remain the legacy of Yisra'el as testimony of the Divine choice and their treasure." | |
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| Mikra, Copyright © 2011 by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom and Torah.org. The author is Educational Coordinator of the Jewish Studies Institute of the Yeshiva of Los Angeles. |
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