LIGHTS on OROT

The teachings of HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook.

Commentary by Rabbi David Samson and Tzvi Fishman.

Rabbi Kook's (1865-1935) book OROT is one of the most outstanding classics of Jewish thought in our times. In this revolutionary work, Rabbi Kook explores the deepest, most mystical understandings of the nation of Israel, and Israel's role in world redemption.

Rabbi Kook teaches that a proper understanding of the nation of Israel can only be obtained after one first recognizes the significance of the Land of Israel to the Jewish People. Filled with kabbalistic wisdom, the book explains the very real differences between the Holy Land and the rest of the world. The reader comes to understand why Eretz Yisrael is the Land of prophecy, and why the Jewish People can only be a united and sovereign nation in Israel.

Selected Teachings of Rabbi Kook on the Land of Israel:

''Only by learning the secrets of Torah can a person experience the highest levels of holiness and the transcendental uniqueness of Eretz Yisrael.''

''Rooted in kabbalistic literature is the understanding that Hebrew letters are the atoms and building blocks of the soul. When a Jew comes to live in Israel, his small individual letters expand to become the gigantic letters of the whole Jewish nation.''

''Because the soul of a Jew is connected to all of the souls of the nation, the yearning of even one individual for the Land of Israel has a profound, multiple effect on all of the Jewish People. The mercy of G-d is aroused, and slowly, the nation begins to return to its homeland.''