קבל רנת עמך, שגבנו טהרנו, נורא

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הפנים הנשמתי של כנסת ישראל הרי הוא מיוחד בגדולת קדושתו. ואם החצוניות מסתירה, עד שפאר הקדש איננו נראה, הנה הרנה הקדושה, הבעת הקדושה, בשפה ברורה, בנעימה ונגינה, מוסיקלית, חודרת היא ומחשפת את היפי הטהור הפנימי, ומתגלה תכונתה הקדושה של נשמת האומה, השרויה בתוכיותו של כל יחיד ויחיד מיחידי בניה, בכליל גוני אורותיה המזהירים. אמנם יש שהתבטאה החצונית, היוצאת בכח, גורמת, שאחרי ההתאמצות, אשר הראתה בפזרה את חילה, להופיע מן הפנים אל החוץ את קרני אורה, תחוש חלישות שוב בפנימיותה. זהו חסרון אחד, שהרנה תוכל לגרום עם כל מה שהיא מקדשת ומעלה בשעתה את שלהבת הקדש הפנימית. ועוד, כאשר ע"י צהלת הרנה, "רננה מלבר" (זהר), הכחות החיוניים מתעוררים, ויוכלו גם הכחות הבלתי זכים וטהורים להיות נלוים ומתעוררים עמהם , ע"ז אנו צריכים למדתה של היראה העליונה, המגבלת את הכחות, ומטהרת את הרוח מכל סיגים, ותכונת הגבורה שבה מוסיפה אמץ נסתר פנימי, להוסיף שגוב וגבורת הוד במעמקי כל נשמה. וע"ז אנו מתפללים עלינו ועל כל ישראל, בצירוף ההשפעה הכללית של כנסת ישראל על כל ההויה, על כל היקום וכל העולמים כולם : קבל רנת עמך, וגלה בטובך את פנימיות קדושת נשמתם, מתוך אותה ההופעה של רנת הקדש ; ומה שנוגע להכח הנשאב ע"י ההבעה המתגברת, ומה שנוגע להיחש של יתר הכחות המתעוררים בצדדים החצוניים, מצד ההתעוררות הפנימית, שרק קדושת היראה הפנימית היא התרופה המיוחדת לזה, אנו אומרים בשביל כך : שגבנו, טהרנו, נורא 

 

 

Accept the song-prayer of Your nation. Exalt us, purify us, Wondrous One. The soul-interior of the People Israel is unique in the magnitude of its holiness. 

Their external appearance can contradict that, to the point where the grandeur of that holiness is not apparent. However, holy song-prayer, the expression of that [inner] holiness in a clear language, with melody and song, musically, penetrates to and exposes that pure inner beauty. 

It also reveals the holy character of the soul of the nation, which resides inside of every single one of her children, and together they include the complete spectrum of the nation-soul's glowing lights. 

With this prayer-song, she has made a great effort, exhausting her strength to display on the outside the rays of light that are inside. But sometimes, when that external expression happens, when it emerges forcefully, she might then feel weakness inside. That is one shortcoming that the song-prayer can cause while it sanctifies and increases the flame of the holy for a moment. 

Another is that, because all sorts of life-forces are awakened through the expression of the song-prayer - “song-prayer is the outer expression” - it may be that unrefined, impure forces will accompany those life-forces and be awakened with them. 

To address these shortcomings, we require the character-trait of the highest level of fear-awe, which limits those forces, and purifies the spirit from all dross. And the power-restraint contained within fear-awe adds hidden, inner courage, to add strength and restraint-power-beauty in the depths of every soul. 

We therefore pray, for ourselves and for all Israel, along with the overall influence that the People Israel has on all that is, on every living thing, and upon all the worlds: accept the prayer-song of Your nation, and reveal, in Your benevolence, what is inside their holy souls, when that that display of holy prayer-song occurs.

And concerning that power that is drawn forth through this overwhelming expression, and concerning the other powers that are aroused at the periphery when that inner dimension is aroused, for which the holiness of inner fear-awe is the only cure, we therefore say: “Elevate us and purify us, Awesome One!”

 

קבל - “accept” - despite the mixed nature of what emerges

רינת - “the song-prayer” that is the best way to achieve expression 

עמך - “of Your nation” - that inner dimension in which we are truly Your nation. 

שגבנו - “Exalt us” - by refining us through enhancing our awe-fear

טהרינו - “purify us” by ensuring that what emerges when we sing our song-prayer is only what ought to come out

נורא - “awesome One” - Whom we better serve because of the fear-awe that you have given us

RGG EXPLANATION: 

Rav Kook’s writes that "the holy character of the soul of the nation, which resides inside of every single one of her children, and together they include the complete spectrum of the nation-soul's glowing lights.” 

I take this to mean that, at the very depths of us, what we will find, as we dig deeply into who we are and what is authentic to us, is not so much something that is clearly “me”, but something that goes beyond us as individuals. This is the nation-soul. It is some great, shared repository of soul that we share as a nation, that expresses itself differently in each of us, but really is one collective soul. Like water that takes on different shapes when it is poured into different vessels, this collective soul looks differently within each of us, but is the same “water.”

For those to whom this concept resonates, this matters because it gives us a sense of true north, a sense of where to dig in order to find “authenticity.” Rav Kook would say that, if we are digging toward authenticity and we discover that, in fact, the real me is a selfish Zoroastrian, then we have not properly dug. The true me, when I find it, will be committed to the collective (and here is the spot at which we talked about prayer for the nation) and not just to my own kicks or well-being. 

I propose that this is not all-or-nothing, and that the “true me” is genuinely and inherently committed to my family. Further down, it is committed to my friends, and even further, to my community, and ultimately to all of my nation.

Rav Kook’s statement is an ontological one - meaning, he believes that this is inherently true of the Jewish people, and that the specific nation-soul we will find, if we dig far enough, is the Jewish nation-soul. As always, I think it is also useful to consider how this could be true and useful even for someone who does not subscribe to Rav Kook’s beliefs. The concept remains valid and useful as a person considers the networks of relationship that they exist in, and setting the target of “authenticity” not as, simply, “doing my thing.” Rather, authenticity in this context will coincide with the concerns of the “nation” with which I identify.

This is a very different from ordinary concepts of “authenticity.” I imagine many people think that if this “prayer-song” of which Rav Kook speaks were to successfully reach my deepest depths, what would come out would not involve any nation, but rather would invoke me “doing my thing” and me “being true to who I am”, which may or may not include a concern for others.

But this sense of “who I am” as being limited to my concerns for the being who occupies this body, and expressing what that self has inside, is pretty limited in nature. Maybe who I am is in fact defined as part of a family/tribe/clan/nation.