Q&A: The Purpose of Creation as Self-Perfection
The Purpose of Creation as Self-Perfection
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In the fifth notebook you argue that it is reasonable that there would be revelation and that it would reveal to us the purpose of creation. But what about Rabbi Kook’s idea of perfection and self-perfection? That too could be a purpose of creation even without revelation—self-perfection. Something like what the Chazon Ish wrote: A person’s duty in his world, as long as the soul is within him, is to strive to keep growing. You don’t need revelation or commandments in order to fulfill this duty.
Answer
Self-perfection itself requires that there be commandments through which we perfect ourselves. Perhaps the principles of morality are also enough for this? Possibly. But still, without revelation it is not reasonable that morality would be a commandment.
Why does the Rabbi go through all that lomdus there and not like here? After all, if the Rabbi argues that we need to fix something,
it’s simple: we need revelation in order to know what it is. That’s all.
And then all the questions from morality (and the answers, like that there needs to be some external repair, otherwise He could simply have not created us, etc.) are in any case irrelevant.