3 Chizuk Lessons from Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook for Iron Sword by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

good morning everyone book gerov and um it's nice to see everyone thank you for joining joining the learning from uh from the OU from OU Israel and uh I hope everyone is well we'll begin with a capital to hm this morning for our what I'd like to share with you are three ideas from R cook and three ideas that I think are very uh very worthwhile and hopefully inspirational for all of us as uh as we're beginning beginning our week this Monday morning here in y here in arel there is a gamar that is quoted by rev cuk and it's a well-known gamar found at the end ofos and that is Ku 112 and it speaks about RAB ABA when he would come to the land of Israel as he would make his way up on the shore of AKO that he would pick up the Stones The Rocks of AKO and he would kiss the stones and Ru cook has a a beautiful comment on this gumara and by the way this is something that we're somewhat familiar with especially those that came to Israel years ago coming off the LL flight and you'd come to the tarmac as you would reach the ground and many people had the custom of kissing the uh the Earth kissing the the stones of of arus real so R cook says the following he says it's interesting that the gamarra points out that he kissed the stones of er Israel the stones as opposed to the the ground to the Earth of er Isel and there's an interesting contrast there comparison and he says when we think about the ground of erel the earth of er Isel we might think about the Mitzvah that areat those Mitzvah that are connected to the land of Israel and we would think about ER Israel in terms of the Mitzvah the the many Mitzvah that one can only perform in the land of Israel but that's not what RAB ABA did RAB ABA picked up the stones of Israel the stones itself there's no Mitzvah per se and what that represents is a love for erit Israel just for the sake of er Israel that embedded in the land of Israel the rocks of Israel the very existence of the land of Israel is kadua that Hashem has embedded has injected kadha within erisel and we love erisel just because it is erisel it is a gift of Hashem it is what we just read in that this is the land that will be your land the land for Generations given to abam and given to every Jew throughout the generation so that is the kadus of er Isel which is which I I find something really interesting and um you know this this story in the gamar of kissing the stones of er Isel we actually find it in a Hal work in the Mish Torah the ra writes in the great rabbis when they would come to the borders of Israel they would enter erel that they would kiss the stones of er Isel interesting that the ramban brings this in his work and we know that the rambam does not bring generally does not bring a god he's not interested in telling stories from the gamar in his work and some point out that well this is part of the itself part of the AL of is the is the love that we have and that we that we are aware of the intrinsic kadha that's found in AR Israel and that we have a tremendous love for the land of Israel and the rambam is not just mentioning the story but the rambam is is bringing the story as a as a comment and that is that part of what it means to be connected to Israel is not only the Mitzvah of erel but to feel a deep love and to feel a deep yearning for erel so that is lesson number one from ruk in terms of uh reaba kissing the Rocks kissing the stones of erell two other lessons that I want to share with you and they both come from the work orot and they come from a section called H Ru cook begins his work and this is considered to be one of his most important the classic work of a where he speaks about errell he begins talking about the significance of erell actually the topic that we just touched on is how he opens the section and right after that he moves to the section of mil which is about war and uh it seems to me that RI cook was already aware of the fact that to be in erit Isel to return to erit Isel is um is the reality is going to be that we're going to face Wars and that's part of part of the challenge of being here and part of our challenge right now that all of us are facing to be a part of this to be living with it and uh Ru cook addresses what war is all about the lesson that I want to share with you is actually the second piece that's found in am and R Cook highlights the following idea which I think is a very very very beautiful and inspiring idea and that is that when we think about war often we we think about war as not necessarily being a a uh a Jewish thing and it certainly is not a Jewish thing it's not something that that we want to engage in it's the very last last thing that we want that we want to see that we want to uh that we want to experience but there are times that there that there is war there are times that we need to go to battle and he says that the truth is this is very much embedded within the um the very DNA of the Jewish people if we look at the great leaders of the Jewish people going back to the time of the Torah itself and we just read about this is Babas in terms of Abu we think of Abu as a person of which he Wasim in terms ofuna in terms of faith in terms of kir in terms of discovering Hashem all of that is true about Abraham but there is another aspect of the life of Abraham and that is that he was a warrior that he was a commander that he went to war that he led a battle and this is what Rook writes in this is the second piece in I'll just read one line we look back and we look at the earlier Generations the stories that we all know from the Torah itself when we study the works of the prophets we see that many of those personalities were great personalities who were also engaged in war these are the great personalities these are our role models sh we connect with them we think about their lives we think about how our lives are connected to their lives we think about them in an intimate way that ainu is not just a person in the past but someone that that very much influences an impact as if we're living with Abu in our day as well KES and the great holiness of those personalities so we think about those personalities and we look up to those personalities part of what we should remind ourselves of and that we should know and deep in our souls and deep in our hearts to know that they were great warriors and that's part of what it means to be a Jew and that's what it means to be a Jew at this time those that are on the battlefield and all of us as well to have the to have the strength to be Warriors to know that that we are on a mission and that uh that we are here to be victorious for the sake of Hashem he ends the paragraph with the following line and these great Souls the great Souls of ofu of people that went to war they are still living in us that we have a peace we have a spark of their courageousness that they were warriors that we have that characteristic IC as well and when I read this piece it reminded me of a of a piece from Rin from the ru from his commentary writes that the mishna says thatu that he that he passed 10 tests and on that mishna writes why does it say abrahamu it could just simply write Abraham and he says the following that he is aru because we are very much connected to our father and to our forefather that we have the spiritual DNA within us and all those great characteristics of Abu imuna but also this characteristic as well that R cook is highlighting the The Bravery the courageousness the ability for us even though we're people of Peace but when when we are forced to do it to go to war and and to defend our people and to be victorious in war so this is what it means to be a descendant of Abraham ainu as well and that we should take inspiration we should think about as well and to take kuk knowing that we are descendants of Abraham descendants of DAV def descendants of of great personalities great warriors of our people one other idea from uh from ru cook and this is actually the first comment that R cook makes and the first idea that he shares in terms of what it means to go to war what it means to be in War for the Jewish people and Riv cook is always The Optimist if you read Riv cook all the writings of Riv cook somehow he is able to find a a spark of of light and of goodness in everything and even when it comes to war and as we said a moment ago it is the very last thing that we want to be a part of it is something that uh that brings with it great suffering and great pain and yet there is some positive value that R cook says that we are to see in uh in whenever we engage in war and he writes the following these are the words of Rook he begins and this is the first the first line in his first teaching about war in the section of a called when there is a great war in the world there is a power of mashia that is awakened he quotes from shim and the quote says that this is a Time Of Z there actually again hard to imagine that this is uh that we can speak about war in terms of in terms of song but it's a time of where we can be uplifted as well and Z means song but Z and he's going to say Z zir also means to cut down to destroy they were destroying those evil people in the world we wipe out evil from the world and the world becomes the fragrance of of goodness and of Hope and of Peace begins to be that is the fragrance that we can that we can sense in the world and there's a song of the dove that we can hear in our land a very poetic a very beautiful piece what is roke referring to I think what Rook is referring to is something that that all of us are are experiencing in a very very positive way and and it's been comment on I think by just about everyone by every Rabbi and anyone here in Israel that's going through this and that is the unity that we're feeling the love that we're feeling for one another the empathy that we feel for one another how everybody is looking for an opportunity for a way to make a difference to volunteer to make a contribution to Davin to learn and rev cook says that when there is war there's also the kak mashiach that there's that there's a strength that there's a there's a potential for mssiah and we talk about mashiah what are we referring to when we speak about Messianic times Messianic times means a time where there isn't evil in the world when we wipe out a mik and that is what war is about that's what this war is about evil to stamp out to destroy that which is evil R from from the world from ER Israel and from from the entire world around around us and the other part of Messiah when we talk about Messianic days the other emphasis is the idea of Peace the idea of caring for one another that there's greater in the world that there's greater concern that there's greater care that there's a a sense of Serenity between people where we look at others in a different way where we see the best in one another that is what we mean by Messianic times so R cook says and so beautifully and again we should be inspired by this idea to take this idea and and maybe most importantly as everybody is speaking about as well is to take these feelings and this Awakening The Awakening to spirituality and toed and to amuna and to and to carry it with us from these days and beem to see to see a different Jewish people and to see a different world after after this war R cook writes the following I'll just and I'll close this piece of cook and make one last comment he he closes out this first piece that he writes about uh about war that we are to accept we are to take advantage of this opportunity it's an opportunity as well right this new light that's coming into the world right amazing things and people are talking about how amazing how remarkable um the Jewish people are to see the strength of the Jewish people to see the kindness of the Jewish people to see the the soldiers the secular soldiers that are hugging the the that are that are providing food those that want to enlist in the Army right thousands of people that are asking from the sector to be a part of the army right to take this or Hashem to take this new light and uh and to run with it to take advantage of it and he and he closes with the following which is a quote that we say every single day in daving and maybe we can bring a new cavana to that as we say it right before kma we say that is that Hashem oversees that he's the master of mil when there is war it's also war with with the Providence of asem that God is overseeing this War Z but in planting there are there is a planting right now of Seda of righteousness and of justice that this is the beginning we hope the flowering of a Redemption of Yeshua of a Salvation so this rev cook says is something that we should very much be that we should be aware of something that we should be thinking about and that we should grab onto the opportunity yes the difficulty of war the torment of War um how how difficult these days are but also to see Rook is always teaching us how to see the light right how to see the positive how to take the good from it and there's so much good along with the along with the suffering to see that and to be inspired by that and to continue please God all of us on an individual basis and in terms of Isel to continue down that path and to take this opportunity the opportunity that we have of the more and the more volunteering the more learning the more daving the more toim and to take that with us and to bring am Israel to Greater Heights one uh one last idea I'll share with with you and then we'll conclude with Yu and uh this is also a teaching that is connected to Rook you know whenever we study R cook one of the questions that's asked is who is the inspiration where does r cook draw his teachings from and one of the great Inspirations to for ruk and his writings is the maral of Prague and the maral of prag also talks about Eric cell in terms of the loving relationship that we are to have the Deep connection that we are to have to erel and in one in is he speaks about two words and and the maral prag is very sensitive to to language and to words and to the to the Hebrew language and he speaks about the two words one word is gal or G which is redemption right we're thinking about that in terms of Salvation redemption in a time of war the other word which is very similar is the word galut or Gala gim which is exile the Jewish people outside of the land of is Israel and he says the two words are connected and really interconnected the idea that there is galut also means that there's going to be a g but he compares the two words the word Gaal let's look at that word for a moment the word gal and they're very similar the word gal has an Alf in the center giml Al Lam and the ALF in the center represents one it represents the Oneness of Hashem it represents the Oneness of am Israel the Oneness of am Israel in the land of Israel so there is the AL in the center G and that's where it needs to be that is the ideal and that is what G gal is all about Hashem the Oneness of hasem the oness of am Isel the Oneness of am Isel in AR Isel but then we have the word Galah G and here we have the giml the lamid and the he the alif is no longer there and we have the same letters but then the he is at the very end the hey at the very end IS F point that point of Oneness the point of the Oneness of hem the Oneness of Isel and and even when we're spread all over the world we know that there is that point to return to right the point of er Israel to return to ER Israel so that's what we're praying for today a Oneness of Amel there is a great Oneness of Amel here in erel there's a great Oneness that we're feeling with Jews all over the world I know here at the OU there's a mission of about 40 rabbis that are coming literally in a few hours and representing communities from All Over America and Jews everywhere are praying for AR Israel so there is that sense of Oneness that sense of Oneness here in AR Israel Jews throughout the world are all feeling connected at this time and asra cook said before how important the idea is that what we're feeling now and we're feeling in these days of War the positive side of that that's something that we should hold on to that we should grab on to and that we should continue to build from that place of Oneness we should be uh we should Merit uh in the coming days to have uh yesu and that we should see salvation we should feel a sense of that God should help us get through these difficult days those that are experiencing great difficulty those that have had losses in their families those that are suffering in terms of being injured and all of us all of us on some level are suffering through these days that Hashem should bring all of us and we should see yeshu we should see salvation and great Miracles and wonders uh in the coming days so I thank you for uh for joining us this morning as I always say it's a great just seeing one another being together with one another is already uplifting and we're M just by getting together for the few minutes we'll conclude with and everyone is welcome to join in with this everyone should be safe and be well look forward to seeing you soon back the OU Center call to have a good day everyone