|
As we shall discover, sexual purity and the secrets of Torah go hand in hand. Our Sages have repeatedly emphasized the necessity of learning the secrets of Torah at the time of Geula (redemption.) The holy Kabbalist, Rabbi Haim Vital, foremost student of the Arizal, emphasizes in his introduction to the “Etz HaChaim,” that the prolongation of the exile, and all of its sufferings, stem from the fact that the inner secrets of Torah have gone unlearned."
The Gaon of Vilna writes: “This Geula will only come about through the learning of Torah, and the main factor of the Geula depends on the learning of the Kabbalah,” (Even HaShelma, 11:3.)
Throughout all of his writings, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook stresses the necessity of learning the secrets of Torah at the time of Israel’s redemption. He writes:
“The revelation of the secrets of Torah in the last generation, in order to purify the hearts and to fill the minds with noble thoughts whose source lies in the secrets of Torah, is an absolute necessity in the last generation to insure the survival of Judaism,” (Orot HaKodesh, Part 1, Pg. 141.)
In his book, Orot, Rabbi Kook emphasizes the great importance of sexual purity as a necessary foundation for our revival in our land, for the Shechinah (Divine Presence) will not rest in an unholy place, (Orot HaTechiya, 35.) In support of his assertion, Rabbi Kook quotes verbatim two passages from the Torah:
“When thou goest out to encamp against thy enemies, then keep thee from every evil thing. If there be among you any man that is not clean by reason of an impure emission of semen at night, then he shall go abroad outside of the camp, he shall not come within the camp,” (Devarim, 23:10-11.)
“For the L-rd thy G-d walks in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that He see no unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee,” (Devarim, 23:15.)
Elsewhere in Orot, (Orot HaTechiya, 57,) Rabbi Kook stresses the importance of studying the Zohar, as a necessary harbinger of redemption:
“Now, the time demands a greater acquisition of the inner Torah, with holy visions that cannot begin to be heard except through the elevation of the soul and the uplifting of its valor in the light of its purest, transcendental life....
“The book of the Zohar, that breaches new paths, forging a way in the desert, a road in the wilderness, it and all of it bounty is prepared to open doors of redemption. ‘Since Israel is destined to taste from the Tree of Life, which is the book of the Zohar, they will be redeemed from the exile with mercy.’” (Zohar, Naso, 124b) |
