"If Haredim Should Serve in the IDF, So Should You"

IDF Service for Young Jewish Men from America

In short, Israel today is preoccupied with the urgency of drafting many thousands of lacking combat soldiers into the IDF, especially after so many of our best boys have recently fallen or been wounded. Many point the finger at Haredim in this context, especially those who are not really learning Torah full-time, where there is no halachic justification for them whatsoever, not to observe this great mitzvah. On the other hand, it's about time that someone point out that this obligation of Milchemet Mitzvah applies equally to all of the healthy Jewish boys living in America, as well, especially those working or studying in universities. This extremely "readable" yet scholarly article suggests much food for thought, and can potentially be a game-changer for many readers, regarding many issues in this period of Achdut, anti-Semitism and sincere soul-searching & reassessment in the Jewish religious & Haredi communities both abroad and in Israel. Please forward it to as many people as possible!

Did R- Akiva-s Students Die or Were They Murdered in Bar Kochva-s Rebellion

A Nation of 'Wrestlers' and Super-Stars

A Nation of 'Wrestlers' and Super-Stars

"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.

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.