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Rav Kook explains (Ayn Aya vii, 41, Orot, p. 157) just like the prophets often suffered for saying uncomfortable G-dly messages, similarly Am Yisrael historically had to pay the prices as "the conscience of mankind", and the way Hashem is seen to the world. Israel is called "the nation of prophets".
I heard Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt"l on several Yom HaAtzma'uts, and each time he would mention the central theme until it "sank in": "ืขื ืื ืืฆืจืชื ืื ืชืืืชื ืืืกืคืจื" "This nation [Israel] I created for Myself; they shall say My praise" (Yishaya 43, 21). G-d is not commanding us to "PREACH" about Him, but our very HISTORY testifies His creation of the world and its destiny.
On Yom HaAtzma'ut we sing (Tehil. 126, 2), first the nations proclaim that Hashem did great miracles for Israel ("ืื ืืืืจื ืืืืื ืืืืื ื' ืืขืฉืืช ืขื ืืื"), and only then we "dare" say that which we always knew, "ืืืืื ื' ืืขืฉืืช ืขืื ื".
Just like the greatest praises of Am Yisrael in the Torah apparently must be said by some objective and respected gentile (e.g. Bil'am), similarly today: first more and more gentile leaders publicize that which many Jews are embarrassed to say. Many don't like Pres. Trump for various reasons (some of them objective!), but one cannot deny that he was elected head of the world super-power & his stands regarding Israel can be now considered "politically correct". Trump is not an eloquent philosopher or analyst, but it's unquestionably worth your while to read the following by someone who is:
Thereโs Something About Israel That Makes People Uncomfortable (by Allister Heath, editor of the British Sunday Daily Telegraph):
"Thereโs something about Israel that makes people uncomfortable, and itโs not what they say it is.
Theyโll point to politics, settlements, borders, and wars. But scratch beneath the outrage, and youโll find something deeper. A discomfort not with what Israel does, but with what Israel is.
A nation this small should not be this strong. Period.
Israel has no oil. No special natural resources. A population barely the size of a mid-sized American city. They are surrounded by enemies. Hated in the United Nations. Targeted by terror. Condemned by celebrities. Boycotted, slandered, and attacked.
And still, they thrive like thereโs no tomorrow. In military. In medicine. In security. In technology. In agriculture. In intelligence. In morality. In sheer, unbreakable will. They turn desert into farmland. They make water from air. They intercept rockets in mid-air. They rescue hostages under the nose of the worldโs worst regimes. They survive wars that were supposed to wipe them out, and win.
The world watches this and canโt make sense of it.
So they do what people do when they witness strength they canโt understand.
They assume it must be CHEATING. It must be American aid. It must be foreign lobbying. It must be oppression. It must be theft. It must be some dark trick that gave the Jews this kind of power. It must be blackmail.
Because heaven forbid itโs something else. Heaven forbid itโs real. Heaven forbid itโs earned. Or worse, DESTINED.
The Jewish people were supposed to disappear a long, long time ago. Thatโs how the story of exiled, enslaved, hated minorities is supposed to end. But the Jews didnโt disappear. They actually came home, rebuilt their land, revived their language, and brought their dead back to life โ in memory, in identity, and in strength. Thatโs not normal. Itโs not political. IT'S BIBLICAL.
Thereโs no cheat code that explains how a group of people return to their homeland after 2,000 years. There is no rational path from gas chambers to global influence. And there is no historical precedent for surviving the Babylonians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisition, the pogroms, and the Holocaust, and still showing up to work on Monday in Tel Aviv.
Israel doesnโt make sense.
Unless you believe in something beyond the math.
This is what drives the world crazy. Because if Israel IS REAL, if this improbable, ancient, hated nation is somehow still chosen, protected, and thriving, then MAYBE GOD ISN'T A MYTH AFTER ALL. Maybe Heโs still in the story. Maybe history isnโt random. Maybe evil doesnโt get the last word. Maybe the Jews are not just a peopleโฆ but a testimony.
Thatโs what they canโt stand.
Because once you admit that Israelโs survival isnโt just impressive, but divine, everything changes. Your moral compass has to reset. Your assumptions about history, power, and justice collapse. You realize youโre not watching the end of an empire. Youโre witnessing the beginning of something eternal.
So they deny it. They smear it. And rage against it. Because itโs easier to call a miracle "cheating" than to face the possibility that God keeps His promises.
And Heโs keeping them still."
Rabbi Ari Shvat
Lectures at various yeshivot, michlalot and midrashot. Has published many books & Torani articles and is in charge of Rav Kookโs archives.
The Giving of the Torah When Should We Use Facts, Logic or Kabbala in Learning Torah?
Ein Aya Shabbat 4 7
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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.