[Avodah] Rav Kook and splitting off

[Ben Waxman via Avodah]

http://bit.ly/2lAZKXA

Article summary:

Rav Kook on the Orthodox community splitting from the secular/Reform 
communities in Europe. If the chose is between splitting and somehow 
keeping the peace Rav Kook completely rejected the Hirschian idea of 
splitting. Not only did he reject the idea, Rav Kook couldn't even 
understand how anyone could entertain the idea. Such ideas could only be 
the result of the damage the galut has done to us.

Rav Kook brought two stories from the Tanach to illustrate his point:

1) HaMelech Shlomo and the two women claiming the baby. The woman 
willing to have the baby cut in half doesn't really care about the baby. 
That position comes from a "You hurt me, I'll hurt you back" position. 
Taking that position, even if the pain the person may be feeling is 
justified, removes someone from a leadership position.

2) Cutting off from the Am is in Rav Kook's opinion equivalent to 
Amalek's attack on us. My translation: There is no end to the physical 
and spiritual damage caused by splitting the Nation into parts.  . . 
.This imaginary split (me: because in reality we can't be split?) 
undermines the entire holy foundation,  replicating Amalek's targeting 
the weak, refugees from the An'naei Hakavod.

As long as someone or a group of Jews are willing to identify with Clal 
Yisrael, they're still in.

One can argue if Rav Kook was correct in his approach that keeping 
rasha'im in the Clal is a smart or effective way of influencing them. 
However, splitting brings with it its own problems, all of which we see 
today.

I don't want to get too political in an Avodah post but this voice is 
really lacking in much of the OO debates.

Ben