YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Library-Sifria
- Harav Kook books
- The Art of T'shuva
There is an old aphorism which claims that two things in life are certain: death and taxes. To this, Rabbi Kook would add a third certainty tshuva. Before we begin to explore the multi-faceted world of tshuva, as it applies to the individual and to existence as a whole, it is important to know that the return to the Source is inevitable. Just as the body has a built-in mechanism for self-healing, so does mankind. Tshuva is promised, and tshuva will come. The world will return to its Maker.
The world must come to a state of complete tshuva. The world is not static; rather it progresses and develops, and the true, complete development must inevitably bring absolute health, both physical and spiritual, and this will bring the light of the life of tshuva with it.
Websters Dictionary defines determinism as: a doctrine which postulates that acts of the will, occurrences in nature, social or psychological phenomena are determined by antecedent causes. In Rabbi Kooks era, the theory of determinism was the talk of the town. Darwin theorized that the world was deterministically guided by a course of evolution. Marx declared that communism was deterministic in nature. The Americans claimed that capitalism, not communism, was destined to conquer the world. Zionists said that the Jewish people were deterministically driven to have their own state. Freud insisted that man was deterministically motivated by the events of his past.
The Art of T'shuva (20)
Rabbi David Samson
5 - T'shuva Makes The World Go round
6 - Death, Taxes, And T'shuva
7 - The Joy Of T'shuva
Load More
As if observing the world from the top of a mountain peak,Rabbi Kook wrote that behind all of these social, political, and scientific movements was the movement of movements, the determinism of determinism's tshuva. At the root of them all, the inner force of tshuva was constantly pushing the world forward to make it a better place. When the tshuva force hits a political thinker like Marx, the Communist Manifesto is born. When it hits Herzl, it results in a book, The Jewish State. When it hits a deep,spiritual thinker like Rabbi Kook, it becomes Orot HaTshuva.Tshuva can take many forms, depending on the person, and the extent to which he has purified himself. However, one thing is common to all, whether it be the drive to build a Utopian society;to abolish poverty and disease; to prevent aging and death; to produce healthier foods; to ban nuclear weapons; to protect the environment; and to guarantee equal rights for all minority groups all of these things are driven by tshuva.
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
The comforting words of Rabbi Kook as he passed by the Valley of Hinom in Jerusalem come to assure us that the world is indeed becoming a better place. After all, people no longer sacrifice their children to the gods. There is a deterministic trend in the world toward improvement and progress. While parts of mankind are still gripped by primitive superstition sand customs, world civilization has come a long way since the days of Genghis Khan. The Dark Ages gave way to the Renaissance with its focus on art and literature. With the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, mankind took another leap forward. Where once man lived in fear of forces he could not control, now he felt that his intelligence and reason could lead him to master the world. In modern times, the Fall of the Bastille and the Age of Emancipation, have brought great benefit to mankind. Generally, the world is a healthier place than it was just a few decades ago. This world development is all a part of tshuva.
As we mentioned in Chapter One, not only is mankind destined for tshuva, the animal world, the plant world, even the sun and the moon are all destined to return to their original purity. Our Sages teach that one day the lion will lie down with the lamb; the taste of a trees bark will be the same as its fruit; and the moon will be as large as the sun.
NOTHING IS MORE CERTAIN
One might argue that while the world constantly develops in cultural and material spheres, spiritual tshuva is destined to remain a dream. Individuals, yes, there are always a few oddballs that latch onto religion, but the world? In G-d we trust maybe written on the dollar, but the dollar is worshipped far more.Not only that, but violence and murder are rampant all over the world. And in the matter of sexual purity, man today is not much more elevated than the average Viking of the past. Nonetheless, Rabbi Kook has hope.
Tshuva is ever-present in the heart. Even at the moment of transgression itself, tshuva is hidden in the soul, and it sends out its rays which afterward are revealed when remorse calls out for tshuva. In the depths of life, tshuva exists, since tshuva preceded the world, and before sin occurred, the remedy of tshuva had already been prepared. Therefore, nothing is more certain in the world than tshuva, and in the end, everything will return to its perfected state.
Rabbi Kook continues by saying that the certainty oftshuva is all the more guaranteed regarding the nation of Israel, whose tshuva is promised. Israel stands waiting to return to its original holy yearning for G-d, to express in life the true nature of its soul, in every facet of its nationhood and being,in spite of all the iron curtains which are blocking the manifestation of this mighty inner essence.
In upcoming chapters, we will learn more about the tshuva of the Jewish people. The true nature of Israels soul is kedusha, or holiness. Our Sages tell us that Israel and Torah are one, sharing the same Divine source. While this holiness exist sat the core of every Jewish soul, as its inheritance from our holy forefathers, it is the task of every Jew to make holiness the guiding force of his life. If a Jew ignores this aspect of his being,he simply will not feel it. He wont even know it exists. If he does not develop this most intrinsic part of himself, he will come to identify with the norms of the culture around him. This is like the story of the boy who was raised by wolves in a forest he thought that he too was a wolf. But this, Rabbi Kook assures us, is just a passing phase of our history which will one day lead us back to our roots.
The abandonment and rebellion against the commandments of G-d is a terrible moral regression, which only seizes man through his frightening immersion in the vulgarness of material life. It is possible that for a time, a generation, or a part of it, in one place or another, will become entangled in the thicket of moral blindness, to the point that it wont sense at all the ethical descent inherent in the abandonment of the laws of G-d. But the Divine law does not lose its value because of this. Tshuva is determined to come and to be revealed. For the sickness of forgetting the Divine world cannot hold a permanent place in mans nature. Like a polluted spring, it returns to its purity.
TSHUVA FEVER
Since tshuva is inevitable, it behooves us to get on the proverbial boat. After all, who wants to lose out on a good thing?Once we know that tshuva is the real goal in life, why waste time on pursuing illusory things like money, power, and fame?Simply because they don't seem so illusory. Today, the world is dominated by materialism. In truth, the great leaps forward in technology and science are all leading life toward greater capabilities, but all too often, people get caught up in the race to achieve, to succeed, to consume, to enjoy, and thus they lose sight of loftier goals. In a competitive, capitalistic culture, people tend to live for me and not for us. Things like morality in big business, and in our private lives, can easily be overlooked.While all over the globe, one can find seekers ardently trying to return to their roots, the tshuva movement still does not attract as many people as Disney. But this, Rabbi Kook, insists is destined to change.
The future will reveal the miracle of the power of tshuva,and this revelation will capture the whole world with an incredible fervor, far greater than all of the wonders which the world is accustomed to see in all of the realms of life and existence. And this new revelation will captivate every heart wit hits wonder, and its spirit will influence all people. Then the world will rise to its true rebirth. Sin will cease, the spirit of impurity will be consumed as if burned, and evil will vanish like smoke.
One day the world is going to get turned on to tshuva.Tshuva is going to be the final world craze. Everyone will want to do it. No other fad will come after it. Nothing will ever take its place.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
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.
