OROT is one of the most outstanding classics of Jewish philosophy in our times. The "Lights on OROT" series is designed to make Rabbi Kook's writings accessible to a wide English-speaking readership. The publication of this second volume, "War and Peace", is of timely importance, illuminating Rabbi Kook's teachings on these two profound and controversial topics. 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 the Torah."
by Rabbi David Samson and Tzvi Fishman