Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Me'orot Haratzyah: A Window in the Thought of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook

Orot proudly publishes a set of books culled from the spoken talks of a leading Religious Zionist leader.

Fifty years ago, a young man of eighteen named Hoshea Rabinowitz faithfully transcribed the public addresses of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, in order to preserve his words for future generations. He continued this practice for four consecutive years.
Years passed, and this young man grew both in age and wisdom, and today is known as Rav Hoshea Rabinowitz, a scholar and Jewish educator who served as the Head of the Department of Torah She'beal Peh (Oral Torah) Studies at Orot for seventeen years. During all this time, Rav Rabinowitz lacked the financial wherewithal to fulfill his dreams and properly publish the book.
Hearing about Rav Rabinowitz's dream, Rav Professor Neria Gutel, President of Orot Israel College decided to put Orot College's full support behind the project, in order to finally fulfill Rav Tzvi Yehuda's request to bring his teachings to the wider public.
After three years of great effort and expense, Orot Israel College proudly released "Me'orot Haretziyah" ("The Lights of HaRav Tzvi Yehuda"), realizing the dreams of many of his devoted students. Now, former and future students of Rav Tzvi Yehuda can sit at their Shabbat table and literally study the words their revered teacher. "The talks in the book appear in the language that they were said, such that someone who reads the words and recognizes Rav Tzvi Yehuda and his style can actually hear his voice behind the words," Rav Rabinowitz explained. "We were very careful not to deviate from the Rav's manner of speaking, and only added explanations and source notations at the bottom of the page."
The book carries significant historic value as well. In his talks, Rav Tzvi Yehudah would often allude to current events. He would say that Parshat Hashavua (the weekly Torah portion) is always the Parshah of that specific week, meaning that there is a direct connection between the Torah portion we read on a given week and the events unfolding at that time, be they national, political or even social. Often, the footnotes in the book explain the historic relevance of a specific lecture.
The book was edited by Rav Rabinowitz's son-in-law, Rav Elyakim Zayit, who arranged the book into easily digestible chapters, according to the weekly Parshah and Holidays.

If you are interested in purchasing this sefer, you can buy it online at this link.

1 comment:

Izbitza said...

How could I get a copy in chutz laaretz?