Meditations Before Keriat Shema.Rav Kook

Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935)

One human being sings the song of his own life, finding everything within his self.

Another human being leaves the circle of her self, and sings the song of her people.

Another one expands to sing the song of humanity.

Yet another ascends and sings all these songs in unison:

the song of the soul,

the song of the people,

the song of humanity,

the song of Creation.

They blend within her all at times, resounding in harmony, fusing vitality, making the sound of holy joy.

This is the authentic song of Judaism: inclusive, whole, and holy - God's song.

(Abbreviated from the Hebrew)

Abraham Isaac Kook

I'm deeply in love with God.

I know that what I seek and love cannot be called by any name.

How can anything be called by a name if it exceeds the Good, Reality, and Existence?

But I love, and say: I love God.

The light of the Infinite dwells in the articulation of the Name,

in the articulation of God,

and in all the names and appellations that the mind of the human being can conceive and think,

when the soul ascends higher and higher.