(Adapted and translated by Moshe Goldberg)
A. How Do We Perceive Reality?
War is terrifying and dreadful, accompanied by rivers of blood and devastation beyond description. The larger the war, the greater, deeper, and more terrible the pain it inflicts. To perceive how something good - even salvation and redemption - can emerge from such a horrific event requires exceptional insights.
In the first chapter of "HaMilchamah" ("The War"), Rav Kook zt"l lists the qualities required "to receive the exalted content of the Divine light revealed in the wondrous workings of wars." These qualities are: "great da'at (understanding), immense courage, deep and penetrating logic, a yearning for truth, and a clear-minded vision." The last items in this list seem to be clear: Courage is necessary to overcome difficult emotions that appear in a war. Logic is needed for deep understanding. Truth is necessary to avoid accepting false pictures that obscure the event. Reliable vision is needed to understand events as they occur.
But what is the significance of "understanding" - the first quality Rav Kook lists? What makes this unique? How does it differ from the other qualities? Is it referring to a particular intellectual capacity? A special kind of wisdom?
B. "In All Your Ways, Know Him" (Proverbs 3:6)
The Amidah (the central daily prayer) consists of three parts: praise, requests, and thanksgiving. The middle and longest section opens with the blessing "Atah chonen l'adam da'at..." ("You graciously bestow understanding upon man..."). Placing the blessing of da'at at the beginning of the requests led Rabbi Ami to conclude, "Great is understanding, for it is at the beginning of the weekday blessings." (Berachot 33a).
Rabbi Ami noted that da'at was placed at the beginning of the weekday blessings. Rav Kook zt"l (Olat Re'iyah, Vol. 1, on the blessing of da'at) noted this and explained: "The essence of da'at is to use everything - even the most mundane acts - for a higher purpose." Rav Kook explains that "when a person is engaged in matters of elevated holiness," even without great da'at, "it is relatively easy to do things for the sake of perfection," since the very nature of those activities is elevation and holiness.
On the other hand, when a person is engaged in mundane affairs (chol), he requires "proper da'at to subordinate them to a higher purpose." The ordinary, simple purpose of mundane activities remains mundane. A person eats to enjoy bodily pleasures, and he labors to earn a living. But great da'at is essential to redirect mundane matters toward a more sacred goal.
Regarding the verse in Proverbs (3:6): "In all your ways, know Him, and He will straighten your paths," Bar Kappara said: "This is a short passage, but all the essential principles of the Torah depend on it (Berachot 63a)." A person is required to know God in all his ways - even his mundane, everyday affairs must be subordinated to the service of God.
Our Sages formulated this principle in Pirkei Avot (2:12): "All your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven." Rambam elaborated at length on this in the introduction to his commentary on Avot: "This is an exceedingly high and difficult demand, and only a few will attain it - and only after very great practice!" (Shemonah Perakim, ch. 5).
Rav Kook zt"l explains that this is precisely why da'at was placed "at the beginning of the weekday blessings." When engaged in sacred matters, it is not very hard to direct oneself toward holiness, but "when leaving sacred matters and turning to the mundane" it becomes necessary "to precede everything with the blessing of da'at and its prayer." And then "even mundane matters may be holy."
And if great da'at is required even in the everyday reality of mundane life - how much more so in the reality of war, which is not merely mundane but is a reality of disruption and destruction! Therefore, the greatest da'at is absolutely essential to see the light of God shining in the aftermath of war.
C. Did You Anticipate Redemption?
The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) quotes Rava that when a person is brought before the Heavenly Court, he is asked a number of questions about his life in this world: "Did you conduct business honestly? Did you set aside fixed times for Torah study? Did you engage in bringing children into the world? Did you anticipate the redemption? Did you engage in depth of halachic reasoning? Did you derive one thing from another?"
In his commentary on the Talmud, the Ran adds - in the name of the Tosafot - one word to the fourth question: "Did you anticipate the redemption - in your days?" Rava did not mean to ask whether a person believed that redemption would come someday - for one who does not believe this is an apikoros (heretic)! Rava declared that every person will be asked whether he specifically anticipated the redemption in his own days.
Perhaps we can explain more deeply that the demand placed upon the individual is to anticipate redemption through reflection on the events of his own time: Did you perceive, in the events of your lifetime, the progression toward the revelation of the Messiah's light? In every event that occurred in the world during your days, did you watch and hope as the footsteps of Mashiach advanced - step by step?
One who expects the Messiah to arrive suddenly, without any warning, may become frustrated. But when a person's anticipation is active - when in every event he searches for and sometimes even finds the footsteps of Mashiach - he is roused to action! How can he sit idle when the Messiah is drawing ever closer?
In the blessing "Matzmiach keren yeshuah" (He who causes the horn of salvation to flourish) we say: "May you swiftly cause the offspring of Your servant David... to flourish, for we long for Your salvation." Based on Rava's teaching in the Talmud Rav Kook explains that "anticipation includes constant watchfulness, even when there is no outwardly recognizable connection to the redemption."
Rav Kook compares this to a soldier required to stand watch at his post and scan the horizon for any approaching enemy. The soldier cannot abandon his post claiming he sees nothing. He must continue watching every moment, and if he notices even the faintest sign on the horizon he cannot ignore it. He must take every action within his power to properly meet whatever danger approaches.
This is how we are called upon to await redemption in our days. Even if we cannot see the Messiah approaching, we must not abandon our post. We must keep watching, and the moment we notice even a small sign of his coming, we must do everything within our power to advance the redemption. The anticipation of redemption must persist even when nothing is visible - and when even something small becomes visible, we must act!
And if we are called to anticipate and strive to advance the redemption in times of calm and tranquility - how much more so is this necessary in times of war! War is a great storm that signals rapid changes in the world, and it cannot be that such a momentous event has no far-reaching implications for the redemption of Israel.
D. The Motivation Behind Wars
It is important to emphasize that regardless of the external motivations behind any given war, the events of the war themselves affect reality. Therefore, when we witness war, we must look for the footsteps of Mashiach and act to advance the redemption as much as possible. War is like fire: it may ignite from human motivations, but its spread and results are guided by Divine intervention.
Therefore, when a great war erupts in the world, we must anticipate the purging of evil and the emergence of good - even if at first there seems to be no visible connection between the war and the advance of good in the world. Indeed, it may even appear to be fighting against the good and dragging the world downward.
The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 2b) teaches that in the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring forth the Torah scroll, hold it in His lap, and declare: "Whoever occupied himself with it - let him come and receive his reward!" Immediately, all the nations will come, including Rome and Persia. But the Holy One, Blessed be He, will respond: "Fools of the world! Everything you did, you did for your own benefit!"
In the future, it will become clear that in ultimate truth everything in the world was done for the sake of Israel. But the nations did not act from sacred motivations or for the sake of Heaven. They did what they did from self-interest - for themselves, for their own narrow needs. One might expect God to dismiss them and say that the wars were of no benefit! But the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not say this. Instead, He attributes the wars to Himself: "The wars - I made them!"
Clearly, wars take place for human motivations - narrow interests, sometimes even base and corrupt ones. But the spread of wars and their outcomes stem from Divine intervention, in order to advance the world.
E. The Process of Redemption
The benefit that flows from wars to advance Israel's redemption and to bring the entire world to ultimate perfection is always present. But when the Jewish people are in an active redemptive process, it takes on even greater significance. Wars come as completeness approaches, purging the evil that dominates the world and helping reality advance and become refined. Evil fights for its survival - but war vanquishes it and eliminates it from the world!
The Midrash cites in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak: "In the year that the King Mashiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will provoke one another... and Israel will be shaken and frightened... and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will say to them... The days of your redemption have arrived!" (Pesikta Rabbati 37). The term “year" is not a twelve-month period but an era. When the King Mashiach is progressively revealing himself, tremendous conflicts will erupt among the nations of the world - wars encompassing the entire globe.
This brings Israel to anxiety - to trembling and panic. But despite all the pain and suffering caused to humanity in general and to Israel in particular by these wars, there is also consolation within them: they reveal that the days of our redemption have finally arrived!
There must be a great sense of anticipation. Israel has no reason "to tremble and be frightened," because ultimately everything that occurs is for the good of Israel, and within it lies a step forward toward the realization of the purpose of all Creation. "If you see nations provoking one another, look for the footsteps of Mashiach!" We do not initiate wars or seek them - it is far better to resolve international conflicts through peaceful means. But if a great war does erupt in the world, we must learn to recognize the hidden benefit it contains for the process of redemption.