We're Taking Off the Masks, We've Won. Time for Thanksgiving
„The linguistic meaning of the duty of thanksgiving, in the expression”
The moment has arrived, and today, thank God, the State of Israel is removing the masks. It is a time to say thank you to God and to His countless messengers, by whose merit we have reached this state. What is thanksgiving? Rav Kook explains that in thanksgiving there is, on the one hand, the aspect of gratitude, and on the other hand it also contains confession, which includes within it an acknowledgment of reality. In the Hebrew word 'hoda'ah' both of these meanings are found together, and not by chance—to give thanks for all the good and abundance that returns to us, and, on the other hand, to confess and to look reality in the eye. To ask why the plague came (which still rages in most countries of the world) and how one can create an inner immunity that will prevent its roots. Do not forget to give thanks—to celebrate and to create rectification all at once!
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.