Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, is renowned for his profound spiritual insights and leadership in Religious Zionism. Reflecting on the Passover seder and the prophet Ezekiel's allegory, Rav Kook explores the paradox of the Israelites in Egypt: a people who grew in number and potential, yet remained spiritually and morally impoverished.

He identifies two 'jewels' within the Jewish people: an innate longing for spirituality and a unique collective spirit aspiring to a national destiny. However, these precious qualities were likened to jewels on tattered clothes, as the people lacked basic ethical conduct. Rav Kook warns that without foundational morality, even the loftiest spiritual aspirations can appear hollow, like extravagant adornments on a beggar's rags.