War and Peace:The Teachings of HaRav Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook

Rabbi Kook reveals that great wars quicken the footsteps of Mashiach and advance the Redemption of Israel. The uprooting of tyrants, and the triumph of good over evil, prepare the world for the great light of Israel.

Often startling in its condemnation of Western civilization's moral decay, Rabbi Kook's writings on war reveal a little-known side of his giant Torah personality. Written during the height of World War One, his essays read like prophecies heralding the rebirth of The Jewish nation in Israel, a miracle which began to unfold in the aftermath of the war.

To balance Rabbi Kook's essays on war, the book's commentators have compiled a selection of Rabbi Kook's writings on peace. True Shalom, he explains, can only be achieved when the nation of Israel is united and guided by Talmidei Chachamim and by the light of Torah.

When one understands the the Redemption of Israel is the goal of world history, one can discover a new spiritual dimension in all of the world's revolutions and wars.

Our heroes of the past, Abraham, Moshe, Joshua, King David, and the Macabbees, were complete in their spiritual binding - mighty in Torah, mighty in holiness and mighty in war. our identification with them, and our desire to emulate them, awakens our inner potential.

There are times when Israel is forced to adopt the politics of war, not from a lust for killing and conquest, but to put an end to all war.

Modern western culture, with all of its immorality and falsehoods, will disappear from the world, the holy culture of Israel will be established in its place.

While the general outlook on peace maintains that man's inner peace will come only after world peace is achieved, the opposite is true. Peace begins at home. this is especially important for the nation of Israel, which is destined to lead the world to Shalom.