Halacha:

Israel 

Machshava:

Mussar,  Rav Kook,  Religious Zionism 

Collections: R' Shvat Rav Kook's: Orot HaMilchama

Description

Rav Kook takes the nations to task for preaching morality, but then "losing it" as soon as it comes to war. He connects this with the unrealistic Christian teaching "to turn the other cheek" and "resist not evil", as opposed to the more realistic Torah approach which gradually raises Israel to a level that even our army is moral. The idea is to harmonize all of the forces of life, rather than conquer them. One who gets into the mindset of "conquering" himself, will probably be unhappy in his constant struggles, may eventually becoming a "Conquerer", which isn't such a compliment.