The Victory of Eternity
„And now, when our national life is renewing itself in the Land of Israel, and a quiet feeling goes on beating within us that the days of Chanukah are returning and beginning to illuminate before us the way of life — those same aspirations, those same aims, that same defense and that same heroism of spirit that we had in the days of the Maccabees are bound to return to us intact.”From Me'orot HaRe'iyah, 'The Hidden Light and the Revealed Light'
The heroism of the present-day Maccabees may be portrayed as merely the heroism of force — as the song puts it, "no miracle happened to us, no jug of oil did we find" — and as a demand to lift our eyes only to the heroes of might. Rav Kook warned against this tendency. The festival of Chanukah combines the immense heroism of the Maccabees alongside the victory of the spirit. A victory that has eternity within it, because its outlook is directed not only at the armed force standing against us now, but at the aim that seeks to destroy the Jewish spirit from the face of the earth. A victory that has eternity within it will be achieved only if we combine within it the power of Judaism, alongside the destruction of the enemy.
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This study is dedicated to the safety and return of Avinatan Or (30), who was abducted from the party in Re'im together with his partner.
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.