Haḳdamat Mesilat yesharim, śiḥah 1 -- Mesilat yesharim, śiḥah 2 -- Mesilat yesharim, śiḥah 3.

ʻal ha-mifgash ben ha-adam le-ben elohaṿ.

_ Source: _Volume 25, Issue 2, pp 256 - 278 Rabbi Abraham Isaac Ha-Cohen Kook’s essay “The War” is a text of immense importance with respect to the development of ideological militaristic writing in religious Zionism. The essay was first published in the book _Orot me-Ofel_, edited by R. Kook’s son, Rabbi Zvi Yehudah Kook. In this study, I wish to distinguish the views presented in the notebooks and collected writings of R. Kook from (...) his position as set forth in the edited essay, which bears the stamp of the editor’s interpretation. Nine of the essay’s ten passages were written during World War I, and only the first passage, which bears the theological-militant stamp, does not appear in the collections of manuscripts from which the essay was constructed. My aim is to trace how R. Zvi Yehudah edited the essay and to explore the important influence of this passage. (shrink)

Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook (1865-1935) served as the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Erets Israel during the period of the British mandate. Rav Kook was a polymath, equally talented as a Talmudic legalist and rationalist philosopher, on the one hand, and as a mystic and poet, on the other. Today, we would say that he was both "left and right hemisphere." The present collection brings together in English translation Rav Kook's contributions to the field of Jewish (...) history, though perhaps "historiosophy" would be the better word. Rav Kook joins the ranks of those great Jewish thinkers who preceded him in interpretation of history: Maharal of Prague, Moses Hayyim Luzzatto and Zadok Hakohen of Lublin. If Rav Kook's philosophy were to be summed up in a single word, it would be: Kelaliyut or universality. Whereas most of us are held captive by individual events, Rav Kook has a great gift for the overview of history. He brings this gift to bear in his ability to provide perspective on the modern rebirth of Israel against the backdrop of mankind's ongoing spiritual evolution. In the latter regard, his vision has sometimes been compared to that of Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobido, or more recently Ken Wilber. Contained in this collection are Rav Kook's eulogy for Herzl and Rav Kook's remarks at the opening of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The essays are placed in historic context and provided with copious scholarly endnotes. (shrink)

1. The individual -- 2. Torah -- 3. God -- 4. The meaning of life -- 5. Teshuva and self-growth -- 6. Middot/character traits -- 7. Listening to the inner child -- 8. Prayer -- 9. The spiritual importance -- 10. One's relationship to others (bein adam Le-chaveiro) -- 11. Zionism -- 12. The holiness of the body -- 13. Universal values -- 14. Rav Kook describing his own inner world.

die 13 Kapitel der Schrift "Die Lichter der Tora", die hier in deutscher Erstübersetzung vorgelegt werden, enthalten religiöse Reflexionen und Meditationen über Sinn und Bedeutung der Tora für ein lebendiges Judentum im Lande Israel und im Exil. Die kurzen, prägnanten Texte wurden im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts geschrieben und machten wegen ihrer Verbindung von orthodoxer rabbinischer Tradition und mystischer Kontemplation "Orot HaTora" zu einem modernen Klassiker der religiösen jüdischen Literatur. Der Autor, Rav Abraham Isaak Kook, war vor (...) der Gründung des Staates Israel der erste aschkenasische Oberrabiner in Palästina und gilt als einer der bedeutendsten jüdischen Mystiker des letzten Jahrhunderts. (shrink)

Zionism was a body that needed a soul breathed into it. Rav Kook, would provide such a soul in the form of Jerusalemism.

[1] Pinḳas "Aḥaron Boisḳ." Pinḳas "Rishon le-Yafo." Pinḳas 81 pisḳaʼot (Yafo). Pinḳas "Reshimot mi-London." Pinḳas Yerushalayim, 793 -- kerekh 2. Maḥberot ḳeṭanot, Boisḳ 1-2. Pinḳas ha-dapim, 1-4. Pinḳas 5.

ḳaṿim le-havanat ha-hisṭoriah ha-yehudit ṿeha-ʻolamit.

Midot ha-Reʼiyah -- Seder Ṭohorat midot ha-nefesh -- Ḳitsur Mesilat yesharim.

Liḳuṭe berure hadrakhot midot ḥinukhiyot le-khol nefesh u-livne ʻaliyah.

mabaṭ emuni ʻel ha-temurot ba-ʻam ha-yehudi ba-ʻet ha-ḥadashah.

"אניה פון ברמזן נולדה בדירה קומונלית סוריאליסטית במוסקבה, דירה שבה שמונה-עשרה משפחות חלקו מטבח אחד. בילדותה שרה שירי הלל ללנין, ניהלה בבית הספר סחר שוק שחור של מסטיקים בטעם פירות וערגה לטעימה מהמערב האגדי... ב-1974, כשהיתה בת עשר, נמלטו אניה ואמה לארצות הברית, ללא מעילי חורף וללא אפשרות לשוב למולדת. כיום היא הכוהנת הגדולה של כתיבה על אוכל גורמה... בממואר הטרגי-קומי הסוחף שלפניכם אניה בוראת מחדש שבעה עשורים של היסטוריה סובייטית דרך אמנות הבישול והאוכל. היא משחזרת שלושה דורות של היסטוריה (...) משפחתית שהיא חלק מאפוס היסטורי רחב יותר: המדיניות האכזרית של החרמת התבואה שהנהיג לנין, הרעב בתקופת מלחמת העולם השניה, נימוסי השולחן של סטלין, ויכוחי המטבח של חורשצ'וב, מלחמתו הרת האסון של גורבצ'וב באלכוהול והתמוטטותה הסופית של ברית המועצות. כל אלה נעשים למקשה אחת בזכות שנינותה העוקצנית של אניה, הנוסטלגיה הנלהבת שלה וההבחנות החדות והמדויקות". -- מעטפת אחורית. (shrink)

Orot ha-Torah : 13 peraḳim ʻal ʻerekh ha-Torah, limudah ṿe-hadrakhatah -- Orot ha-teshuvah : 17 peraḳim ʻal ʻerekh ha-teshuvah ṿe-hadrakhatah be-ḥaye ha-peraṭ uve-ḥaye ha-kelal.

ḥeleḳ 1. Ḥokhmat ha-ḳodesh (2 v.) -- ḥeleḳ 2. Musar ha-ḳodesh (2 v.).

Vol. 1, pt. 1: Ḥokhmat ha-ḳodesh, sedarim 1-4 -- Vol. 1, pt. 2: Ḥokhmat ha-ḳodesh, sedarim 5-7 -- Vol. 2, pt. 1: Higayon ha-ḳodesh, sedarim 1-5 -- Vol. 2, pt. 2: ha-Maʼamar ha-rishon ṿeha-maʼamar ha-sheni ʻim sikum u-ferush Dibur u-maḥshavah -- Vol. 2, pt. [2b]: ha-Maʼamar ha-shelishi ṿeha-maʼamar ha-reviʻi ʻim sikum u-ferush Dibur u-maḥshavah -- Vol. 2, pt. 3: ha-Maʼamar ha-ḥamishi ʻim sikum u-ferush Dibur u-maḥshavah --.

Seder ha-teshuvah -- Marpe la-nefesh -- Teshuvah me-ḥayim.

This book is an investigation into authenticity, certainty, and self-hood as they arise in the story of the binding of Isaac. Gellman provides a new interpretation of Kierkegaard with select Hasidic commentary. Contents: INTRODUCTION: Background to the Book; Hasidism and Existentialism; Preview of the Chapters; THE FEAR AND THE TREMBLING: Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; The Problem of Hearing and the Problem of Choice; The 'Ethical' for Kierkegaard; The 'Voice of God' for Kierkegaard; The Resolution of the Problems; THE UNCERTAINTY: (...) Mordecai Joseph Leiner of Izbica; Maimonides, Saadia, and Gersonides; The Existentialist Interpretation; The Theological Interpretation; SINNING FOR GOD: The Teleological Suspension of the Ethical; Averah Lishmah-Mordecai Joseph Leiner of Izbica and Zadok Hakohen of Lublin; Divine Determinism; Repentance from Fear and from Love; Averah Lishmah and the Teleological Suspension of the Ethical; THE DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS: Abraham's Prophetic Utterance; Heavy and Light Double Mindedness; The Fire-Elimelech of Lyzhansk; Judah Aryeh Leib of Gur; Abraham's Double-Mindedness; THE PASSION: Abraham Issac Kook; Hegel and Kierkegaard on Religion and Philosophy; Abraham and Idolatry; The Akedah According to Rav Kook; God's Mercy; Rav Kook and Kierkegaard on the Self; Index. (shrink)

The original work has been a favorite of both scholars and laypeople for its straightforward style, in contrast to other medieval writings on ethics that are largely theoretical and reflective.