התשובה קדמה לעולםReturn Before Creation

ha-teshuvah kadmah la-olamIn Gamatria ↗

Before the first fall, the way back was already laid.

Drawing on the rabbinic teaching that repentance was created before the world (Pesachim 54a), Kook makes return the world's foundation. Life must unfold by its own nature, and nature does not deliberate, so sin is unavoidable ('there is no righteous person who does not sin', Eccl. 7:20). Suppressing life's naturalness would itself be the gravest sin. So return lies in the depth of existence before any sin, hidden even during the sin. Deed and will form one unbroken chain, so the will can give even past acts a new character. A bad act keeps rolling out harm until the will reshapes it; then it rolls out good.

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