אורות התשובה, הרב אברהם יצחק הכהן קוק
ו.* התשובה קדמה לעולם, ולפיכך היא יסוד העולם. שלמותם של החיים היא דווקא עם המשך התגלותם על פי טבעם העצמי. וכיון שהטבע מצד עצמו אינו בעל הסתכלות והבחנה- הרי החטא מוכרח הוא מצד זה, "ואדם אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא" (קהלת ז:כ). וביטול עצם טבעיותם של החיים, כדי שיהיה האדם בלתי-חוטא, זהו עצמו החטא היותר גדול, "וכפר עליו מאשר חטא על הנפש (במדבר ו:י"א)". על כן התשובה מתקנת את הקלקול ומחזירה את העולם ואת החיים למקורו דווקא בגילוי יסוד עצמיותם העליון, עולם החירות, ועל שם כך מכנים שם ד' אלהים חיים.
T'shuvha precedes creation therefore, it is the foundation of the world. The perfection of life comes precisely with the on-going process of life’s self-revelation in accordance with its essential nature.
Since nature intrinsically cannot perceive and differentiate, from that aspect sin is inevitable.
There is no righteous person in the world who does good and never sins (Kohelet 7:20)
[But a persons] elimination of the essential nature of life so that he will be sinless is it self the greatest sin. Thus [the verse states] “[the kohen] will gain atonement for [the Nazarite] who had sinned against himself” (Bamidbar 6:11)
Therefore, T’shuvah rectifies the damage and brings the world and life back to its source precisely through the revelation of the foundations of [life’s] supreme essence, [which is] the world of freedom. And therefore we refer to Hashem as the God of life.
Since nature intrinsically cannot perceive and differentiate, from that aspect sin is inevitable.
There is no righteous person in the world who does good and never sins (Kohelet 7:20)
[But a persons] elimination of the essential nature of life so that he will be sinless is it self the greatest sin. Thus [the verse states] “[the kohen] will gain atonement for [the Nazarite] who had sinned against himself” (Bamidbar 6:11)
Therefore, T’shuvah rectifies the damage and brings the world and life back to its source precisely through the revelation of the foundations of [life’s] supreme essence, [which is] the world of freedom. And therefore we refer to Hashem as the God of life.
רַבִּי נַחְמָן בַּר שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן בְּשֵׁם רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן אָמַר, הִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד, זֶה יֵצֶר טוֹב. וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד, זֶה יֵצֶר רָע. וְכִי יֵצֶר הָרָע טוֹב מְאֹד, אֶתְמְהָא. אֶלָּא שֶׁאִלּוּלֵי יֵצֶר הָרָע לֹא בָּנָה אָדָם בַּיִת, וְלֹא נָשָׂא אִשָּׁה, וְלֹא הוֹלִיד, וְלֹא נָשָׂא וְנָתַן. וְכֵן שְׁלֹמֹה אוֹמֵר (קהלת ד, ד): כִּי הִיא קִנְאַת אִישׁ מֵרֵעֵהוּ.
Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuel's name: 'Behold, it was good' refers to the Good Desire; 'And behold, it was very good' refers to the Evil Desire. (It only says 'very good' after man was created with both the good and bad inclinations, in all other cases it only says 'and God saw that it was good') Can then the Evil Desire be very good? That would be extraordinary! But without the Evil Desire, however, no man would build a house, take a wife and beget children; and thus said Solomon: 'Again, I considered all labour and all excelling in work, that it is a man's rivalry with his neighbour.' (Ecclesiastes 4:4).