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- Operation Protective Edge
However, this Gaza war feels far different to me. I don't know why that is and I cannot even define or explain how it feels. But take my word for it, it feels very different. It was and is full of surprises and twists and turns. A war that began with the kidnapping and murders of three young Israeli yeshiva students and has since then escalated into a large number of deaths and untold property destruction, seemed to have a magnetic force all its own. No massive deterrent force was able to prevent the arrival and escalation of the war. Cease-fires were proclaimed a number of times only to collapse in the rubble of hate and indiscriminate rocket fire. Hamas infiltrated Israel a number of times using a labyrinth of tunnels that it had developed under Gaza and Israeli territory over the years. Thousands of rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel. Almost all of them were either shot down by Israel's Iron Dome defensive system or fell relatively harmlessly in open areas. In the Second Lebanon War Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets to the Israeli north with apparently far greater effect on the Israeli population than the thousands of rockets that Hamas has fired at Israel in this last war. We have suffered many dead and wounded amongst the forces of the Israel Defense Force. The bravery of the soldiers themselves has been matched by the tragic stoicism and inspirational demeanor of the families of the dead and wounded soldiers. Almost everyone seems to realize that this time we really had or have no other choice but to fight for our survival and security.
There are very few illusions left in Israeli society about the world that we live in and the surrounding neighborhood where we exist. Only the very hard Left, the radical nihilists that somehow always seem to exist in a democratic society and really worked to destroy it, still demand that Israel commit national suicide so that the rest of the world will finally be rid of ‘The Jewish problem." Though there are still differing opinions regarding the conduct and eventual outcome of the war – and certainly about "the day after" – I have never experienced a sense of common purpose and a will to deal with the consequences of this war whatever they may be as exists today in Israeli society. It may be a sad commentary that it took the murder of three innocents and a bloody war to achieve this common feeling that we are all in this to the end. But I feel that this is the case and our fortitude and grim determination, which is now clearly present in Israeli society, will see us through to better days and greater achievements. It is never easy to recover from a war, not for the soldiers, civilians and nations involved. But out of the wreckage of this war perhaps the destruction of the Gazan tunnels will be the light at the end of our own tunnel that can lead to a better time of security and calm.
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
