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Correspondence

Feb, 11, 1970

Letter to Morton Rossman about Introductory Materials on Kabbalah (1970)

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Note

Notes on R. Kook and Kabbalah

Kabbalah affirms two aspects of God – the Absolute and the Relational, the Unknowable and the Knowable – expressed in the polarity between Kudsha Brich Hu (KBH) and the Shekhinah, or between transcendence and immanence. The Shekhinah is the divine spark that vitalizes all existence. When unacknowledged, it is “silenced” – unrecognized – and thus, as it were, separated from KBH. This condition is termed alma de’piruda – the world of separation. Humanity’s function is tikkun – the restoration of divine harmony, the reuniting of KBH and the Shekhinah into alma de’yihuda, the world of unification. Hence the Kabbalistic intention formula: le-shem yihud Kudsha Brich Hu u-Shechinteih. Shabbat, too, expresses this reunion – symbolized in concepts like onah and in the mystical hymn Lekha Dodi. R. Kook, influenced by Hasidic teachings, extended this principle beyond mitzvot into the realm of reshut (the permissible or adiaphorous). Thus, he envisioned the unification of God through the world and the world through God. Modernity, by contrast, is characterized by fragmentation (pirud) and lack of yihud: division of labor reduces the craftsman to a functionary rather than a whole artisan; professional specialization narrows human identity; literature often reflects fractured experience – with today’s overemphasis on sexuality as one example; and, in the post-Hiroshima world, we witness the fission of man’s soul and the atomization of spirit. R. Kook’s goal was to re-unify the world through God and the whole personality through divine service. While acknowledging the need for specialization, he cautioned against its dominance in formulating a final worldview – it can lead to distorted conclusions. Similarly, in Jewish thought, Halakhah and Aggadah must be integrated; reverence and love, intellect and emotion must coexist. As the vort from Pirkei Avot teaches: Heveh dan et kol ha-adam le-kaf zekhut – judge the whole person, not just fragmented parts.Ask ChatGPT
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Correspondence

Letter about Introductory Book Recommendations on Judaism (1967)

Dear [redacted]: Charles Bacall had spoken to me about you before and I was therefore pleased to receive your letter. I would recommend two books to you, with the added comment that these are both good introductions, but only introductions. After you have finished them, if you find you are still interested, it would be best to arrange for a personal interview. The two books are: 1. "Judaism" by Isidore Epstein (in paper back only) 2. "History of the Jews" by Cecil Roth (this, too, is in paper back). All good wishes on your spiritual adventure. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm
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Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Eckstein about "Metaphysical Drift" (1992)

I am grateful to you for sending me a copy of your new book, Metaphysical Drift: Love and Judaism. I read it through during the Pesach holiday and was absorbed by it. Since you solicit my reactions, let me tell you that I was gratified, angered, puzzled, piqued – all these, but also enlightened and instructed by your book. Because of the unusual combination of philosophical thinking and intimate, uninhibited autobiographical details, I feel that I know you personally more than I ever had before. While I did not at first quite understand your dichotomy between interestedness and intraestedness, in the course of reading I think – if you will excuse the pun as well as the adolescent lingo – I catch your drift. I sympathize with you and relish those rare moments of intraestedness, though I wonder if they warrant new nomenclature and such philosophical weight. I was somewhat taken aback at the passion of your protest against the rabbinic ideal that “all your actions should be for the sake of Heaven,” since the emotional intensity seems disproportionate and perhaps rooted in psychological rebellion against parental control. To me, that dictum is an inspiring agadic ideal rather than a stifling halakhah, and especially in its Hasidic interpretation it can unite all of life’s fragments into a meaningful whole without denying joy, freedom, or intraestedness. In your book, at times you impute to Judaism excessive control where I see little evidence of it, and yet I appreciate the honesty and integrity of your pathos-laden reflections. I especially value your trenchant comments on lishmah, though my address on the issue is secondary to Maimonides himself, and I must add that your occasional tone of faithlessness suggests not finality but a continuing, unfinished spiritual journey – one that I hope and pray will yet bring you back to your origins in a deeper and wiser form. Out of respect for you, your work, and your family, I extend my warm regards, together with thanks for a…
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