Israel is more than a landโit is a question, a promise, and a struggle. It stands at the crossroads of history and destiny, where ancient longing meets modern reality. It is the reawakening of a people to its land, language, and responsibility. Yet this return is fraught with moral and spiritual challenges, calling for courage, humility, and an ongoing search for justice.
In Israel, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Emor by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Is holiness something we possessโor something we must struggle to become? True holiness emerges only when we live up to our missionโwithout arrogance, without withdrawal, and even in times of war. But can a nation remain holy while forced to fight for its very existence?
In Israel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Zionism will not hold if it is not deeply rooted in Judaism. But this Judaism must radiate grandeur. In exile, Judaism was strangled and reduced chiefly to the private domain. It could not prove its enormous potential as an all-compassing ethos that included all dimensions of human existence. It is the task of great teachers, Jewish thinkers and Halachic authorities to show the way back to this ethos.
It must have been an extraordinary experience when the Kohanim in the days of the Chashmonaim suddenly realized that a tiny amount of oil which should have lasted for only one day would last for eight days. A solemn terror must have overtaken them. This is the foundation of genuine religiosity; the dawning of awareness that all things cannot be explained by the ordinary. It is radical amazement, which shatters the commonplace and makes us realize that our wisdom is sometimes inferior to dust. And so it is with the Jews. Like the Chanukah lights, they keep on reminding the world that there is exceptionality, which transcends history and ordinary human accomplishments.
After the terrible internal fights that nearly tore apart the Israeli nation, this war has brought our people together as never before. It is as if a Divine voice rang out and said: "Enough! This far and no farther! There will be no civil war in Israel. I will not allow it."
Israel at War
In Heschel, Israel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
The disastrous situation in which Israel finds itself at this hour asks for serious self-reflection on a level unfamiliar to many of us.
In Israel, Yom Haโatzmaut and Yom HaZikaron by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Words on my Grandsons Enlisting in the Israeli Defense Forces. The joy and honor of joining Israel's army relate to 4,000 years of Jewish history, morals, and ethics, and the universal good.
In Israel, Parashat Bereshit, Parashat Bo and Yom Haโatzmaut by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
The fact that Jews survived centuries of exile, outlived all their enemies, and made it back to the Land of Israel is unprecedented and a vexing conundrum for historians and sociologists.
ืืื ืืืื ืื ืื ื ืืชืืงืฉืื ืืื ืื ืืฆื ืืช ืืืกืืจ ืืืก ืืืืืืื ืืืช ืืขื ืืชืืืืช ; ืืช ืืชืืืฉื ืฉืื ื ืืขืืื ืืืืืืื ืฉื ืืขืืื ืืื. ืืื ืืืื ืื ืื ื ืืืืื ืื ืื ืื ืืืื ืืืืืจ ืืืืฆืื ืืื, ืืืืืืคืื. ืืืจืชื ืฉื ืืืื ืืื ืืืคืื ืืช ืืขืืื ืืื ืฉื ืฉืืืื ืืื ืกืืขืจ ืฉื ืืจืฆืืืช, ืืืื ืืื ืืฉืืืข.
Israelโs very existence is the manifestation of divine intervention in history to which it must attest.ย
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai or A.B. Yehoshua?
In Israel, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Yom HaShoah by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Rabbi Yochanan taught us that Jews can survive without Israel, as long as there is Torah, the portable homeland of the Jewish people. But Jews will not survive solely because of the existence of Israelโhowever powerful it may beโif Israel does not incorporate a large percentage of Jewish traditional resources.
In Israel and Yom Yerushalayim by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
A poem in praise of the holy city of Jerusalem, in the wake of the American announcement to designate Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Several recent eventsโthe Olympic Games and the proposal to work on the railway line construction on Shabbatโare excellent opportunities to start a conversation on the role of halacha in the Jewish State. The question is: what form should the conversation take? It should not, I believe, primarily take the form of a formal halachic argument.