Everything happening today in Israel is a tangible, concrete expression of the moral, spiritual and ethical doldrums in which the State of Israel finds itself.
Rectification of this severe crisis in values will surely come about by means of a cultural, educational and ethical change transpiring in Israeli society. It will take place in the life of the individual, the family, the society and in the way that the country is run.
Eighty-seven years ago (1918), Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook already foresaw that the Zionist movement that had engraved on its banner that it had no connection to religion would lead the people and the State to a spiritual and moral crisis in values. Today, we see that this has happened. Already then, he called for the establishment of a political and spiritual movement that would influence the process of national rebirth. That process would be influenced by the holy, and that would make our national rebirth what it truly must be.
In other words, through us would be fulfilled the promises previously made to Abraham: "I will make you a great nation, and you shall be for a blessing.... Through you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3) Also fulfilled would be G-d's pronouncement to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, that we are "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6) whose purpose it is to shower light upon the world.
It is not, as the thinkers of the Zionist movement conceived, that we are meant to be a nation like all others. Those thinkers longed to establish a country like all other countries, whose purpose would be solely to eat and to drink and to rest in peace from the troubles of the exile, and nothing more. It was such thinking that brought us to the present moral and spiritual crisis.
Rabbi Kook called his movement Degel Yerushalayim [the Banner of Jerusalem], because Jerusalem is the tangible spiritual expression of the Congregation of Israel in all its unity and glory. In fact, it is in Jerusalem that the global mission of the Jewish people is increasingly being revealed: "For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of G-d out of Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3) Unfortunately, Rabbi Kook's call to establish such a movement with the purpose of sanctifying and exalting the process of rebirth in our land has not yet been fulfilled. It is still on the shelf.
Today, the call of the hour is to advance the plans of Rabbi Kook's Degel Yerushalayim from potential to actual use. The nation is in great need of unity. That unity will surely come about, but only if together, we attach ourselves to the Jewish values and roots from which the Jewish people have always drawn their sustenance.
The social and political crisis that has beset our country requires a national reassessment. If until today, existential issues, security and economics stood at the top of our national priorities, the call of the hour is to place values and ethics at the top. We can and must change the country's mood through our people's returning to themselves. They must recognize their own worth and lovingly return to their Jewishness. This mission falls upon every single Jew for whom the welfare and unity of our nation are precious.
Let us be strong and courageous on behalf of our people and on behalf of the cities of our G-d. Looking forward to complete redemption, speedily in our day. Amen.
Rectification of this severe crisis in values will surely come about by means of a cultural, educational and ethical change transpiring in Israeli society. It will take place in the life of the individual, the family, the society and in the way that the country is run.
Eighty-seven years ago (1918), Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook already foresaw that the Zionist movement that had engraved on its banner that it had no connection to religion would lead the people and the State to a spiritual and moral crisis in values. Today, we see that this has happened. Already then, he called for the establishment of a political and spiritual movement that would influence the process of national rebirth. That process would be influenced by the holy, and that would make our national rebirth what it truly must be.
In other words, through us would be fulfilled the promises previously made to Abraham: "I will make you a great nation, and you shall be for a blessing.... Through you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3) Also fulfilled would be G-d's pronouncement to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, that we are "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6) whose purpose it is to shower light upon the world.
It is not, as the thinkers of the Zionist movement conceived, that we are meant to be a nation like all others. Those thinkers longed to establish a country like all other countries, whose purpose would be solely to eat and to drink and to rest in peace from the troubles of the exile, and nothing more. It was such thinking that brought us to the present moral and spiritual crisis.
Rabbi Kook called his movement Degel Yerushalayim [the Banner of Jerusalem], because Jerusalem is the tangible spiritual expression of the Congregation of Israel in all its unity and glory. In fact, it is in Jerusalem that the global mission of the Jewish people is increasingly being revealed: "For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of G-d out of Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3) Unfortunately, Rabbi Kook's call to establish such a movement with the purpose of sanctifying and exalting the process of rebirth in our land has not yet been fulfilled. It is still on the shelf.
Today, the call of the hour is to advance the plans of Rabbi Kook's Degel Yerushalayim from potential to actual use. The nation is in great need of unity. That unity will surely come about, but only if together, we attach ourselves to the Jewish values and roots from which the Jewish people have always drawn their sustenance.
The social and political crisis that has beset our country requires a national reassessment. If until today, existential issues, security and economics stood at the top of our national priorities, the call of the hour is to place values and ethics at the top. We can and must change the country's mood through our people's returning to themselves. They must recognize their own worth and lovingly return to their Jewishness. This mission falls upon every single Jew for whom the welfare and unity of our nation are precious.
Let us be strong and courageous on behalf of our people and on behalf of the cities of our G-d. Looking forward to complete redemption, speedily in our day. Amen.