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סב" ד

Lifting One’s Spirits & Expanding One’s SpiritsRav Kook on Berachot 57b

David Jay DerovanRamat Beit ShemeshRosh Chodesh Iyar 5769

A First Word

In this world, some things come in groups of two, some things in groups of four(think of Seder and the Haggadah), and then there are things that come in groups of three, like the three

Avot

, Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov. The

Gemara

Berachot

(57b)has a list of different groups of threes. At the end of the list we read the following:

השלשןיבישמותעדלשםדא,ולאןה:לוקהארמוחירו. השלשןיביחרמותעדלשםדא,ולאןה:הרידהאנ,השאוהאנ,םילכוםיאנ.

Three things restore a man's good spirits: sounds, sights, and smells.Three things enlarge a man's spirit: a beautiful dwelling, a beautiful wife,and beautiful clothes.

The above translation comes courtesy of Soncino, yet it is evident that thescholars who labored so long ago to translate the Babylonian Talmud for the SoncinoPress took some liberties. Indeed, the problem facing them was how to translate theword,

ותעד

–

Da’ato

– his

Da’at

. Obviously, a literal translation of

Da’at

as knowledgewould not be correct. Thus, they understood the passage as referring to a person’sspirits or emotions.But what do these statements really mean? They are certainly broad and abstruseenough to allow for various interpretations. In hunting for a deeper explanation of these short statements, I came across the following written by Rav Avraham YitzchakHaCohen Kook, in

Ayn Ayah

Berachot

vol. 2, pp. 169-170. What follows is a translationof Rav Kook’s interpretation. Any comments of mine are in the footnotes. Rav Kook’soriginal Hebrew follows the translation.

äéà ïéò

Ayn Ayah

111. “Three things restore a man's good spirits: sounds, sights, and smells. Three thingsenlarge a man's spirit: a beautiful dwelling, a beautiful wife, and beautiful clothes.”God created a person’s soul straight, happy in its life and finding comfort in itsemotions. So long as a person makes his life congruent and compatible to the overallnatural life around him, he will find joy and happiness of heart.

However, human strife and conflict distance a person from pure, naturalemotions and sully his

Da’at

as well.

Thus, the factor or element that returns one to hisnatural

Yishuv HaDa’at

, calm state of mind, is the overall tranquility that man has incommon with nature – the tranquility that wells up from the goodness of God that fillsall of existence (see

Tehilim

33:5): The songs of the birds as they perch in the trees, theviews of the beauty of the Carmel and of the Sharon with their pleasant flowers, andthe sweet smell of the lilies and the fruit in God’s garden on earth that He gave to all

In its natural state, man’s soul finds basic joy and comfort in being part of the overall, basicnatural world.

Rav Kook uses the word,

Da’at

, in this context in opposition to emotions. Thus,

Da’at

refershere to overall state of mind, namely the mix of emotions, intelligence and awareness.

Lifting One’s Spirits & Expanding One’s Spirits

2humanity. (See ibid. 115:16). They return one’s mind –

Da’at

– to its natural state after being distanced from it by culture and society. And in returning to one’s source innature, the creations of God’s hands, all the natural pleasantness of one’s soul returnsto him, including feelings of sanctity and ascendancy of spirit that connects to theAlmighty, as well as good character. All of this is part of the natural state of a goodperson who has not corrupted himself by leaving the straight path through life.

Indeed, this is not the final goal of a person. The return to the virtuousness of nature is not the limit of the possible ascendance of a person. Rather, a person can stillexpand his soul’s powers and actualize the greatness that is hidden within him anddesire to rise to great heights. These added achievements will not be actualizedthrough general “acquisitions” alone.

A person still has to strive for individual“acquisitions” leading to ascendant heights. The spiritual foundation for creating theseindividual “acquisitions,” which are the usual reasons for expanding one’sconsciousness beyond its natural, set state resulting in spiritual virtues, are theexpansion of knowledge and character that are acquired through the great andwondrous expanded sanctity of one’s soul.

These factors and elements cannot be contained in general things such as sounds,sights, and smells. Rather, they are private, individual matters that are the addedelements in the lives of private persons: A beautiful wife granted by God, a beautifuldwelling and beautiful clothes. Private manmade elements that expand a person’smind are achieved through transcendence above nature, through entrance to boundaries of perfection of intelligence in accomplishment as well as through thetalent for thoughtful acheivement. Their value lies in the spiritual virtues andascendance to personal, glorious heights that do not exist in the human spirit that iscommon to all mankind.The private expansion of one’s consciousness results from the secret of God’sprovidence –

הנוילע החגשה

, as well as His choosing a nation, families and individualsall of whom are unique in their higher, ascendant character, which is the measure of expansion that is beyond the simple measure of return. Nature – even if it gives aperson internal straightness and genuineness – cannot think of urging the wise personto grow beyond its borders and to strive with all his heart and soul for the bettermentof humanity or his nation, and certainly not for the betterment and ascendance of all of God’s Creation, “all His work that God created to do” (

Berayshit

2:3; see

BerayshitRabbah

11:6).

These desires can only come through the individual greatness of man –not only from the return of his

Da’at

, state of mind, to nature, but rather from theexpansion of his

Da’at

, state of mind.

A Final Word

It is interesting to note that Rav Kook does not make reference to Torah and

Mitzvot

as one might expect. He understood the statements in the

Gemara

as referringto all of humanity. And after reading his interpretation it is evident that heunderstands well the very essence of what makes us human beings different from therest of God’s creatures. As wonderful as it is to become one with nature, we all realize

The “straight path” –

םירשי חרוא

– could be a veiled reference to Rabbi Moshe Cha’yimLuzzatto’s book,

םירשי תליסמ

–

Mesilat Yesharim

. Thus, the implication is a path in life that isstraight and good, without diverging into corrupt and evil ways.

The word,

םינינק

– acquisitions, implies all of the things that a person must work hard toachieve on every level of one’s life.

It is not enough to be satisfied and calmed with reconnecting oneself to nature. Mankind wasalways meant to rise to higher, spiritual levels. And it is the striving and achieving these goalsthat result in an expanded state of mind and consciousness.

This is a veiled reference to the Kabbalistic idea of

םלוע ןוקית

Tikkun