The loss of tzaddikim has an effect on the world. "Save, O Lord - for the pious are gone; for the faithful have vanished from among men" (Psalms 12,2). That is to say, when a righteous man passes away, the world suffers a loss of emuna and trust. Emuna diminishes because tzaddikim help ensure that it remains strong, and when they leave, it becomes weaker. Rav Tzvi Yehuda was a great man of emuna, and his loss left a great vacuum of emuna in the world.
What stood out in Rabbi Kook's thought that could not be found in the thought of his contemporaries was a clarification of the issue of the unique chosenness of the Jewish people, a broad and deep examination of the profundity of the Nation of Israel.
At present, Rachel the Matriarch continues to offer supplication on behalf of her children, Israel. Though they have returned “from the land of the enemy,” they have yet to returned to their borders. Rachel is weeping, and her children weep with her.
R' Tzvi Yehuda taught us that the State of Israel is not just some formal body designed to preserve the nation. Rather, the very existence of the State has divine worth; it embodies a significant stage in the redemption as envisioned by the Prophets.
Rabbi Kook's love for the Jewish people was not the product of mere human compassion. Rabbi Kook's love for the Jewish people was the result of penetrating and divine insight into this people's true essence.
Remembering Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda.
We find ourselves once again faced with the question, how is it possible to educate others concerning the importance of the completeness Land of Israel, while at the same time stressing the importance of the complete unity of the People of Israel?