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Still, we are not exempt from trying to understand what we can. We are even commanded to study His ways and seek to comprehend them: "Remember days long gone by, ponder the years of each generation" (Deut. 32,7), as well as, "Whoever is wise will consider these things and ponder G-d's kindnesses" (Psalms 107,43).
This does not mean that we must or can succeed in understanding G-d's ways. In Pirkei Avot (2,16) we learn, "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to avoid it altogether." We are not expected to understand the complete depth of G-d's intentions, for this is beyond our ability. But we are not free from trying to understand that which we can, and to thus recognize the greatness of G-d and His leadership of the world.
Our teacher Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook, of saintly blessed memory, saw the terrible destruction of the Shoah in the context of the great construction of the Redemption. While the Exile was being all but destroyed, while the Diaspora was being decimated – at the same time, the Nation of Israel was being built up in its homeland, the Land of Israel. The Exile was uprooted, and Israel was being replanted in its land. Synagogues in the lands of the Diaspora were burnt down, and new synagogues were being built in the Holy Land. Our Sages taught in the Talmud (Megillah 28b): "In the future, the synagogues outside the Land will be uprooted and rebuilt in the Land of Israel" – and this came true in a shockingly harsh manner. This is what happened, and the words of the Sages were fulfilled.
Ultimately, after 1,800 years of Exile, the negativity of living outside the Land became very clear to Israel. After all, the Talmud says that "whoever lives in the Diaspora is as if engaged in idol-worship" (Ketuvot 110b). This recognition led to a longing by all of Israel to reach the Land of Israel. This was chiefly true for great Torah leaders of Israel, for whom the lands of the Diaspora were foreign; their entire ambition was to return and be rebuilt in Eretz Yisrael.
During the Shoah, the depth of this understanding was revealed most violently in the form of G-d's strong and awesome hand [see Exodus 6 and elsewhere in the Torah], and brought it to the forefront of historic reality. It became clear that the option of living outside the Land was no longer on the table, and that we had to detach ourselves from the Gentiles and their lands. It was time to return and build ourselves in our own national homeland, the inheritance of our forefathers, the Land of G-d.
Rav Tzvi Yehuda saw the Holocaust as a very terrible operation, painful and shocking – but one that was necessary to save the life of the patient, the Nation of Israel. With all the horror and terrible suffering involved, the purpose was to bring us back to health, to stop our deterioration down the slippery slope of Exile, to nullify the entire reality of Galut, and to rebuild Israel anew in the nation's natural habitat.
This was an "uprooting for the purpose of replacing," to paraphrase the Sabbath laws that prohibit removing an item from one domain and placing it in another. We were uprooted from the Exile in order to be re-set in Eretz Yisrael. Uprooting for the sake of replanting.
This outlook does not make light in any manner or form of the severity of the cruel evil of the German Nazis, their helpers, and all those who took advantage of the situation to torture and murder Jews. Their deeds cannot be forgiven, and they will go down in infamy; this is a topic for further study. But looking at the Shoah in this manner is full of Jewish perspective of G-d's ways, and teaches us that the terrible tribulations of the Holocaust are the labor pangs of the birth of the Redemption, the pangs of the Messiah, and through them we will reach our destiny. From the troubles comes the salvation. The Maharal of Prague wrote (Netzach Yisrael, chaps. 26 and 35), that prior to the formation of any new being, there must be a cancellation of the previous being – a nullification for the purpose of renewal.
We are now in the process of establishing and stabilizing our national existence in our Land of G-d; we are rebuilding ourselves, we are coming close to full Redemption, with the help of G-d Who, as we say in our prayers, "ingathers the exiles of Israel and builds Jerusalem."
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
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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.
