R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin (known by his acronym, the Netziv) led the famed Volozhin yeshiva for almost forty years. He authored numerous works, including Ha’amek Davar, Ha’amek She’eilah, Meromei Sadeh, and a collection of halachic responsa titled Meishiv Davar.
Study a thought from the Netziv: Justice or Peace
As a parent and a child, as siblings who remain bonded, as two young people in love, as in any marriage that stays alive—so we are with the One Above.
One chases, the other runs away. One runs away, the other chases in longing pursuit. One initiates, the other responds. The other initiates, the one responds.
It is a dance, a game, a duet, and it plays as surely as the pulse of life.
Until one falls away. Until it seems the game is over, that all is lost and it is time to move on.
That’s when the other looks and says, “This is not an other. We are one.” And so, they return to each other’s arms.
It is a great mystery, but in that falling apart, there is found the deepest bond.