Letter to Our Son, the Soldier
In a world that lives by the sword, Israel must take up the sword too, not sit and pray for miracles
To the Leaders of Diaspora Jewry – Come on Aliyah!
Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal was one of the respected leaders of Orthodox European Jewry before World War II, the head of the Beit Din in Budapest. Witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, he discarded his fierce anti-Zionist ideology, and wrote a brilliant scholarly treatise on the vital necessity for Aliyah, titled "Eim HaBanim Semeichah."
Rav Kook’s ‘The Caged Lion’
Like the lions in Rabbi Kook’s poem, may we also find the longing for freedom.
An Etrog Tree Doesn’t Grow in Brooklyn
If it did it would die. Just the way the Diaspora is destined to die. The etrog tree doesn’t belong in Brooklyn. The climate isn’t right for it. It’s the same with the lulav, hadasim, and aravot. The four species which we are commanded to take for ourselves on the Festival of Sukkot are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, just as the Torah is indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, and the Jewish People are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael. We belong in Eretz Yisrael. All of the holidays are intrinsically connected to Eretz Yisrael. The Torah was designed and fashioned by the Almighty to be observed in Eretz Yisrael.
Israeli Chief Rabbi Rav Avraham Shapira – On His 12th Yahrzeit
He replied in a loud, irritated voice, "Why do they ask me a question that every child in cheder can answer?!"
The Secret of Making a Living after Making Aliya
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook said it was like a girl who was set up on a shidduch with a guy whom she knew wasn’t for her. But she didn’t want to embarrass him. So she dressed up in dirty, smelly garments so that he would feel turned off. While he thought that he was rejecting her, in truth, she was rejecting him... Surely, aliyah is the most difficult and challenging mitzvah – the true test of a Jew’s faith in God. But hundreds of thousands of new olim have made it, and so can you.
Fighting For 70 Yesha Communities
If you wanted to give the kids showers, you turned on the boiler and switched off the refrigerator. If you wanted to bake a cake, you turned off the heater.
The Israel Defense Forces is a Mitzvah from the Torah!!
When Moshe led the war against Amalek, he didn’t just pray on the mountain – he sent Yehoshua to lead the soldiers of the Molech Israelite Army to fight down below on the battlefield. Yehoshua didn’t merely blow shofars in conquering the Land, he cut off the heads of the enemy. And who was a greater scholar than Rabbi Akiva? To defend the Land of Israel from the Romans, he closed his Gemorah, rushed to the battlefield, and accompanied Bar Kochba into battle!!
Graveyard USA
Even before the Beit HaMikdash is rebuilt, the return to the Land and Nation rebuilding, even in its outwardly secular stages, revives the dry bones of the Jewish People
A Jewish Hero Grows Up in Brooklyn
“The non-observant Jew knows. Deep in his heart he knows. He knows that the path [he treads] is a false one, that the Judaism he professes is a mockery.... His moment of truth lies within him. His is the power to call it into being. Let him but dig deeply into his Jewish resources and draw from them the traditional Jewish qualities of courage, determination and sacrifice."
Rabbis! Lead the Way in Battle!
The Rabbis of the religious Zionist community serve in the army; why shouldn’t Haredi Rabbis also be brave examples for their students?
Don’t Ask What Israel Can Do For You – Ask What You Can Do...
The thought that Eretz Yisrael is an accessory to Judaism, and not a central pillar in itself, is a tragic distortion which was caused by the nearly 2000 year exile of the Jewish People from the Land of Israel. After years of wandering - scattered among the gentiles, separated from our homeland- our orientation to the Land of Israel became distorted and confused.
Living Under A Pandemic: A Glimpse Of Life On One Settlement
My wife, who works harder than I do, wants me to emphasize the positive changes that the health crisis has inspired.
Here Comes ‘Shovavim’
According to Kabbalah, the period of "Shovavim" is especially conducive to rectifying sexual transgressions.
The Concert to End All Concerts
The warnings came true: Among the 1000 released terrorists, many returned to terror activity
An Artist In Love… With The Land Of Israel
When Rav Kook became the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, he visited the Bezalel Academy of Art, and encouraged the students to use their talents to paint landscapes of Eretz Yisrael to arouse a yearning for the Land in the hearts of everyone who viewed the paintings.
Two Settler Leaders React To Israel-UAE Deal
I believe Kushner more than I believe Bibi.
Night of the Living Dead
And so it was, every 9th of Av, the men would enter the mass grave for the night and another 15,000 would perish by the morning. The night of the living zombies. 15,000 men for 40 years. In the 40th year, the remaining men entered the mass grave but nothing happened. They remained there through the 15th of Av, when they realized that nothing was going to happen. The decree of the plague had ended! So they climbed joyously out of the grave. This was on Tu B’Av.
Hiroshima on My Mind
These “civilians” are not “innocent.”
I Love Hevron
As part of our effort to attract our beloved, Diaspora readers with honey, rather than to smash them repeatedly over their heads - in the next few blogs, we will travel the length and breadth of Eretz Yisrael, just like our forefather Avraham did in obeying God’s command, “Arise, walk about the Land through its length and breadth! For to you I will give it!”
Can Gedolim Make Mistakes?
How can it be that outstanding Torah scholars in Europe, before the Holocaust, and even after it started, were against the Zionist movement and told their congregations not to uproot themselves from where they were and flee to Eretz Yisrael? Even today, there are Torah leaders who tell their followers that the time has not come to go to Israel. The question arises – can Gedolim err?
Do We Have An Excuse For Living In America? (Part I)
People don't make aliyah because they are in love with the exile and don't want to give it up.
Be Happy, Now!
Rabbi Kook explains that this misplacing of priorities between the means and the goal stems from the sin of the earth during the days of Creation. By understanding the depth of this teaching, we can learn to be happy, not only when we finally attain our goals and ideals, but also at every moment of our lives.
‘They Can Destroy Our Homes, But Not Our Spirits’
How do you explain to a child that a Jewish government in the Jewish homeland destroyed the homes of Jews?
Warning! Xmas!
If you think that living in a Xtrian land doesn’t affect you at all, it’s because your brain has been so saturated with dreams of white Christmases.
Every Year, This Auschwitz Survivor Marks The Holocaust By Eating A Falafel
Over the weeks, we saw thousands of children taken away from the ramp where the trains arrived and marched straight to the crematorium. No one ever walked out of those buildings.
I Love Jewish Women!
Our sages teach it was the women of Israel that saved the nation from Egypt.
God is the Biggest Zionist of Them All
Yes, the Ribono Shel Olam, the Master of the World is a Zionist. So was Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabeinu, Yehoshua, King David, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the Macabbees, all the Prophets of Israel, including Ezra and Nechemia who led a seemingly motley crowd of sinners back to the Land of Israel from Babylon to rebuild the Holy Temple.
When Tevye Healed the Muktar’s Daughter
An excerpt from this week's chapter of Tevye in the Promised Land.
Why Celebrate the Circumcision of Jezeus?
The history of January 1st should make Jews think twice before they celebrate New Year’s and take part in its heathen festivities.