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- Yom Haatzmaut
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": "עם זו יצרתי לי תהלתי ייספרו" "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 ("אז יאמרו בגוים הגדיל ה' לעשות עם אלה"), and only then we "dare" say that which we always knew, "הגדיל ה' לעשות עמנו".
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:
There’s Something About Israel That Makes People Uncomfortable (by Allister Heath, editor of the British Sunday Daily Telegraph):
"There’s something about Israel that makes people uncomfortable, and it’s not what they say it is.
They’ll point to politics, settlements, borders, and wars. But scratch beneath the outrage, and you’ll 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 there’s 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 world’s worst regimes. They survive wars that were supposed to wipe them out, and win.
The world watches this and can’t make sense of it.
So they do what people do when they witness strength they can’t 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 it’s something else. Heaven forbid it’s real. Heaven forbid it’s earned. Or worse, DESTINED.
The Jewish people were supposed to disappear a long, long time ago. That’s how the story of exiled, enslaved, hated minorities is supposed to end. But the Jews didn’t disappear. They actually came home, rebuilt their land, revived their language, and brought their dead back to life — in memory, in identity, and in strength. That’s not normal. It’s not political. IT'S BIBLICAL.
There’s 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 doesn’t 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 He’s still in the story. Maybe history isn’t random. Maybe evil doesn’t get the last word. Maybe the Jews are not just a people… but a testimony.
That’s what they can’t stand.
Because once you admit that Israel’s survival isn’t just impressive, but divine, everything changes. Your moral compass has to reset. Your assumptions about history, power, and justice collapse. You realize you’re not watching the end of an empire. You’re witnessing the beginning of something eternal.
So they deny it. They smear it. And rage against it. Because it’s easier to call a miracle "cheating" than to face the possibility that God keeps His promises.
And He’s 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 Kook’s archives.
Ein Aya Complete G-dliness Doesn't Weaken But Enhances Natural Drives
Ein Aya Shabat Chapter B Paragraph 50
The Giving of the Torah When Should We Use Facts, Logic or Kabbala in Learning Torah?
Ein Aya Shabbat 4 7
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
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.
