New Project Shares Rabbi Kook's Teachings Inspired by Fallen Soldier

The 'Hit'orirut' (Awakening) organization has launched a new project to make the teachings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook's "Orot HaTeshuvah" (Lights of Repentance) accessible to the wider Israeli public. The initiative is dedicated to the memory of Captain Daniel Maimon Tauf, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on August 19, 2024, along with three of his soldiers. While serving as a deputy company commander in the Shaked Battalion, Captain Tauf and his fellow soldiers found time for spiritual study of "Orot HaTeshuvah" amidst complex combat operations in Gaza.

The project aims to disseminate these teachings by releasing short, three-minute videos. Each video features a passage from Rabbi Kook's book, accompanied by a simple explanation connected to everyday life, making the concepts understandable even for those unfamiliar with his philosophy. The goal is to share the spiritual insights gained by soldiers on the battlefield with all of Israeli society.

The fifth video in the series features Rabbi Yehuda Ben Hamo, head of the 'Emunah' Beit Midrash at the Lev LaDa'at Yeshiva in Sderot. He addresses common misconceptions about the concept of "Teshuvah" (repentance or return). "When they tell you, 'Return to Teshuvah,' what do you hear? Not a few people hear, 'Stop, halt, block.' Rabbi Kook says a brilliant principle: Teshuvah is not to block, Teshuvah is to restore," Rabbi Ben Hamo explained.

He elaborated that the internal engine of every bad deed is a positive force. For example, he noted, anger is a bad act, but its driving force is caring. "Teshuvah is not to stop doing something, it is to restore the positive engine so it appears in a corrected form. To express your caring in a different way," he stated. Rabbi Ben Hamo concluded that true repentance involves identifying the good and the bad within a negative action, regretting only the bad, and restoring the good.