The Sun Rises and the Sun Sets | Rabbi Haggai Lundin | Beit Midrash

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קטגוריה משנית

When a great leader of the caliber of Rabbi Druckman zt"l leaves the world, a huge vacuum is created, which can sometimes lead to the realm of despair. These days, voices are being heard – some with sadness and some with joy – talking about the passing of "the last figure who led religious Zionism". Approximately 150 years ago, Richard Wagner, a German composer, composed an opera called "Twilight of the Gods", with the pessimistic message that at the twilight of great characters ("gods") – the world comes to an end.

The Jewish approach is opposite and optimistic. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook writes an idea that can be called the "Law of Preservation of the Spirit": despite dwindling of spiritual giants ("the decline of the generations"), their "spiritual energy" is transferred to the general public, which simultaneously is increasingly improving ("the rise of the generations"). Today we do not have figures like Maimonides, but the average person possesses an intelligence and spiritual potential immeasurably greater than Maimonides' neighbor, who could barely read or write. In contrast, we do not currently have leaders of stature such as Ben Gurion, but the bottom line is that the situation of the State of Israel is infinitely better than in 1948. The rise in the quality level of the public is also the reason why social regimes in today's world are democratic and not royalist.

Just as decades ago, the great rabbis of Israel, such as Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, left the world, and the leadership passed on to Rabbi Druckman's contemporaries; this is also the case now – there is still hope – the leadership will pass on to the next generation. Naturally, there will be some decline, but the bottom line is that the broader reality will progress. Quantity will generate quality: strengths that until now have been less expressed will now take the stage. Religious Zionism is not falling apart nor disappearing; on the contrary, it has never been greater and more diverse; and it is precisely the quantity and diversity that grow the leadership of different righteous people who complement each other. Our Sages expressed this in the words: "the sun rises and the sun sets" – " the Creator does not let the sun of a righteous person set, until He already lets the sun of another righteous person rise."