Orot HaMilchamah

How is it possible to see light in war? In order to understand Rav Kook's words, one can look for a moment at nature. A forest that has burned is a difficult sight. Trees collapse, entire lives vanish, the damage is enormous. No sane person rejoices in the fire itself. But nature teaches an additional thing: precisely after a great fire the forest renews itself. The ground opens up, old seeds awaken, and new life grows that could not have grown before. So too in human history. The Rav does not rejoice in war and does not justify its pain, but he says that sometimes, within the great shock, a deep clarification of reality takes place. Old systems are broken, forces of evil and tyranny are exposed, and out of the upheaval a movement of repair and renewal begins. This is what he calls "the awakening of the power of Mashiach."