Orot Hamilchama

"Not Without My Son (or My Father)!"

Why could Christianity think that they can replace Am Yisrael after Israel was sent to exile? Why the national redemption of Israel is necessary for the redemption of mankind, and the higher expression of "Shema Yisrael". Why is the World to Come almost not mentioned at all in the Tanach? What is Tikun Chatzot about? Rav Kook suggests very beautiful & innovative answers explaining why the son (Israel) & the Father (Hashem) need to both play important & active roles.

Mankind is Ready and Searching

The crises of war bring a longing of mankind for a "New World Order" and hope for a better way of running the world, especially in the war against Hamas, where the good fights the evil. Real Jewish nationalism (recently strongly rejuvenated by the war in Israel), through the common denominator of the Tanach is the ideal answer, revered by secular Zionists, Christians and the world in general.

"Rav Kook on Modern Warfare, Technology & Culture"

Orot HaMilchama part x, ch. 8

Rav Kook's holistic & complex thought praises modern technology and culture in many places, but he warns here in Orot HaMilchama, that modern warfare shows that without a strong base in Torah & the Godly Morality and a Jewish State of Israel as a modern Light for the Nations, mankind can and will misuse these Godly gifts in a destructive way that the world will greatly regret. The class relates to the spiritual "upgrade" referred to in Rav Kook and as seen in Israel following the 6 Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and presently the war after the Hamas Simchat Torah attack, where the religious-Zionists are beginning to lead the way back to nationalism, Tanach and the original & appealing Torat Eretz Yisrael, the effective way to keep the unity & consensus in Israel even after the war.

"The War to be Ourselves"

Rav Kook's Orot HaMilchama- part ix, chapt. 7

Rav Kook writes that an essential part of being happy as an individual and as a nation, is to be one's self, to be free from external pressure and laws which run against our nature. Part of the national renaissance of Israel is to have our own independent Jewish army, society, culture, creativity and spirituality, which help us get in touch with our Godly selves, and which are surely worth fighting for and protecting

War Reveals our Essence - Israel Reveals Mankind

Rav Kook's Orot HaMilchama (part viii)-ch. 6

As all extreme situations, war reveals the essence and personality of the individual & the nation. Similarly Am Yisrael was dispersed in all of the countries of the historical super-powers, and includes, unites and is meant to harmonize all of the aspects of all nations & movements. In this classic paragraph, Rav Kook discusses the need for Israel as an eternal nation. serving as a "control group" for comparison, and eventually, the gathering of the exiles and the "sparks", showing how all the various world cultures are meant to work together in Knesset Yisrael. History has shown that all ideological movements are represented in Am Yisrael and our Torah.

World Peace & the End to Anti-Semitism

Orot Hamilchama part V chapter 4

During our war bitter with Hamas, we must deal with the question, how realistically, can we ever achieve the messianic dream described in the prophets, of world peace? Rav Kook excels at bridging the gap between ideal and reality, and here as well, he pragmatically presents the road to the end of anti-Semitism in rational & historically logical terms. It's very interesting!

Orot HaMilchama part IV- Wars & Selflessness- Part of the Process of Geula

The Tanach teaches us that wars are part of the process of redemption. Rav Kook explains from several different aspects, why this is so, for one may have thought that redemption would just involve peace! This chapter is especially important today as Israel is at war with a cruel enemy, and many innocent and righteous people have been killed, on the other hand, the unity & solidarity we see today in Israel & throughout the Jewish world is staggering.

Orot Hamilchama- part III