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Surveying the crisis points in the world that we inhabit, one cannot be amazed at the naïve capacity of Europe and the United States in reacting to mortal dangers that will eventually reach them as well. Putin aggressively kills, annexes and blusters, all the while the West clucks and dithers and finally does nothing. Putin is certainly not impressed by Obama warning him that he is "on the wrong side of history." And Hamas does not at all care about the fact that it is responsible for the deaths of so many innocents and thereby illustrates for us its almost genetic lack of good nature. The United Nations’ Human Rights Commission, shamed and debased by its previous Goldstone Report, continues on its merry way of finding Israel as the guilty party committing "war crimes" in Gaza. The makeup of the commission itself is a roster of the worst human rights abusers in the world. But in our unwisdom and good nature we participate in its deliberations and thereby give it a credence that it certainly does not deserve. Iran continues to enrich uranium and build its bomb while the West continues to negotiate. Somehow the world always thinks that if one continues to feed the tiger it will refrain from biting and clawing its victims. Somehow one would hope that by now the necessary lessons have been learned and that we realize that this is not how to be dealing with the tiger. But unwisdom and good nature always seen to win out temporarily until the mortal danger is brought home face-to-face. Then it is much more expensive and costly to deal with the foe. But the foe must eventually be dealt with.
There is no easy discernible solution to the situation that we currently find ourselves in. Crying over spilled milk rarely helps and the rehashing and criticism of past errors is also usually not constructive in the midst of a war. But one lesson can be learned – a lesson that is necessary for the pursuit and success of the current war itself. And that lesson is that we should restrain our good nature somewhat so that we do not fall into the trap of unwisdom and carelessness. The people of Israel has already absorbed thousands of rockets, rioting by Palestinians, worldwide protests that always border on violent anti-Semitism, the fecklessness of Western leaders and the biased reporting of much of the world media. We have withstood all of this because we must do so or otherwise, God forbid, parish. It is difficult to imagine what our fate would be if we were not so strong and resolute in the face of such evil and violence. Being strong and resolute many times does not allow us to be expansive or expressive of our innate good nature. Well then so be it, for the choices and options are starkly clear. We shall not allow our good nature to create for us the climate of carelessness and unwisdom describe for us by Churchill in the opening quote of this essay. Eventually our good nature will win out but only when it is reciprocated by the good nature of others as well.
Rabbis in Midrash
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
