УA Time For Peace and a Time For WarФ
Although Rabbi AvrahamYitzhak HaCohen Kook, IsraelТs first Chief Rabbi, was a man of peace, he understood that war serves a positive function in the development of nations.а I quote from Rabbi David Samson and Tzvi FushmanТs commentary to Rav KookТs profound work, Orot:
ааааааааааа УWar deepens a countryТs self-cognizance, identity, and patriotism.а War forces nations to define the reasons for going to war, and to take a passionate stand in defending the cardinal values which make up the nationТs foundations.а Whether it be a fight for survival, for land, for expansion, for honor, for religion, or for freedom, the willingness to die in battle sets these issues in sharper focus.а In peacetime, these same questions are largely ignored.а But with the outbreak of war, to repel an invading army, or to conquer a neighboring people and land, a person needs clear and deep-rooted principles to motivate him to fight.а The war is not merely a battle of soldiers.а It is a battle of values and principles.а In the collision of opposing cultures and forces, each country is compelled to clarify it national aspirations and goals. To overcome the enemy, an nation is called upon to lift up its own cherished flag and defend it to the end.Ф
ааааааааааа The
coming war between Israel and its Arab enemies will define IsraelТs essence and
purpose as a nation.а It will accomplish
what cannot be accomplished by politics or by literary criticism.а It will bury, along with post-Zionism,
political as well as cultural Zionism.а
It will usher in a Zionism based on the Torah:а "For
out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem."
ааааааааааа As a consequence of the coming
war,а Israel will cease to be a secular
democratic state.а This war will teach
Israel how to stand alone and not reckon itself as just another nation.а It will purge Israel of its cheap imitation
of non-Jewish ways.а It will cleanse
Israel of the lies and corruption manifested by its political and judicial
institutions, and by its news and educational and cultural media.
ааааааааааа We are now witnessing the impossibility
of IsraelТs political system.а We see
weak and bewildered politicians, and among them traitors.аа We see judges devoid of judgment, and among
them even criminals who violate Jewish law and Jewish ethics.а We see educators that corrupt youth, that
teach them to be nothing.а The coming
war will terminate this decadence.
ааааааааааа Israel must pay the price for its
betrayal of the six million whose death made possible IsraelТs rebirth.аа But Israel will be redeemed.а There still burns in the hearts and souls of
Jews the power to overcome, with G-dТs help, the enemies of the Jewish
People.а The blood of our people will be
avenged with a great vengeance.аа Israel
will emerge from the contest, will recognize and bless its Redeemer, the G-d of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--and Israel will go on to fulfill its destiny as the
light of mankind.
ааааааааааа