IDF Soldiers Find Spiritual Connection Amid Gaza Combat

The "Hit'or'erut" (Awakening) organization has launched a project to make the teachings of "Orot Ha'teshuva" (Lights of Repentance) accessible to the wider Israeli public, in memory of Captain Daniel Maimon Tauf, who fell in battle. The complex fighting in the Gaza Strip did not prevent soldiers from the Shaked Battalion from finding time for spiritual connection. Amidst operational missions, preparations, and combat, the soldiers engaged in a joint study of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook's book, "Orot Ha'teshuva."

Captain Daniel Maimon Tauf, who served as a deputy company commander in the battalion, was notably among these soldiers. He fell in battle in Gaza on September 8, 2024, along with three of his soldiers. The shared learning experience on the battlefield became the foundation for a new initiative aimed at disseminating these teachings throughout Israeli society.

As part of this initiative, led by "Hit'or'erut," three-minute videos are being distributed. Each video presents a passage from the book with a simple explanation connected to daily life, making Rabbi Kook's teachings accessible even to those unfamiliar with them.

The 22nd video in the series features Rabbi Tal Shaulian, head of the Hesder Yeshiva in Holon. He discusses the concept of "world repentance" as distinct from personal repentance. Rabbi Shaulian explains that the human desire for a connection with the divine is universal, stating, "God's connection is something we find everywhere. It means all people seek a connection with the transcendent. It is natural for them." He quotes Rabbi Kook, who observed that "all of humanity strives for divinity," and identifies "teshuva" (repentance or return) as the word for this immense aspiration.

"Repentance is not just what I do in the private sphere. There is a global, immense repentance that wants to bring the whole world together in one place, a striving for absolute good and for God. Everything is repentance," Rabbi Shaulian stated. "When you see a building progressing, a country becoming less corrupt, that is repentance. A person can become separated from divinity when they fall into desires. When they repent, they return to harmony, to the one unity," he concluded.