Nach Daily

In this third class on Rav Kook’s Meimor HaDor, we continued exploring his breathtaking reading of our generation — a generation torn between greatness and confusion, light and darkness, trauma and renewal.

We began with Rav Kook’s raw validation of the pain of modern Jewish history: the silence, the shame, the collapse of dignity, and the deep psychic wounds carried by both parents and children. But in this class, we watched Rav Kook make a gentle, powerful turn — from acknowledging the trauma to showing us the first steps of healing.

Rav Kook describes a generation that is paradoxically very low and very high. A generation filled with humility and chutzpah, rebellion and idealism, spiritual thirst and moral frustration. Children embarrassing parents, norms dissolving, confusion everywhere — not because the generation has fallen, but because the souls have risen and the old vessels can no longer contain their light.

We learned how Rav Kook reframes this inner collision as the birth pangs of spiritual evolution, and how to begin moving forward with compassion, dignity, and vision. We also learned a beautiful supporting source in Orot HaTechiyah 39, which deepens this theme of a generation struggling to hold powerful lights in fragile vessels.

A shiur about trauma, healing, inner greatness, and the complex soul of Dor HaGeulah.

In this second shiur of the My Generation series, we continue exploring Rav Kook’s Meimor HaDor — his lament over the emotional collapse and inner defeat of the generation.

Rav Kook describes a world where individuals, families, and communities are wrapped in emotional pain and existential angst, leading to isolation, despair, and even psychosomatic suffering. Yet beneath the surface of this darkness, something sacred is taking shape — a new light beginning to emerge, and new-old souls descending into the world.

The old structures must decay for something more whole to be born. What appears on the outside as disintegration is, on the inside, the beginning of renewal.

We also learn a powerful piece from Orot Yisrael 5:13, where Rav Kook speaks of the birth of a “new Jew,” one who transcends outdated forms to embody a more complete spiritual consciousness.

All of this, he writes, unfolds specifically in Eretz Yisrael, the spiritual ground of transformation.

Topics:

The emotional pain of the generation

Isolation, despair, and psychosomatic suffering

Rebirth through decay and disintegration

“New-old souls” and spiritual evolution

Orot Yisrael 5:13 – The birth of a new Jew in Eretz Yisrael

In this first shiur of the *My Generation* series, we begin exploring Rav Kook’s *Meimor HaDor*, found in *Ikvei HaTzon*.

We discuss the historical context in which Rav Kook was writing and how he saw light emerging from darkness — even in the spiritual confusion of his generation.

Together we learn the prologue to *Ikvei HaTzon*, uncovering why Rav Kook chose this name, and begin the essay with its opening theme: **the great, subconscious pain of the generation.**

Rav Kook teaches that this deep, unspoken pain is not only psychological but cosmic — a pain that transcends language, reaching toward redemption. He speaks to the struggle of our times and even hints to the inner turmoil that will surface near the end of days.

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**Topics:**

* The meaning of *Ikvei HaTzon*

* The hidden light within darkness

* The subconscious pain of the generation

* Why we can’t yet articulate our deepest suffering

* Rav Kook’s vision for the end of days

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#RavKook #MyGeneration #MeimorHaDor #IkveiHaTzon #Orot #SpiritualGrowth #JewishThought #Emunah #Chassidus #ShayaSussman #PnimiusHaTorah

For Those Struggling | Rav Kook on Teshuva and the Yamim Noraim by Rabbi Shaya Sussman, LCSW

YouTube Description

In this shiur on Orot HaTeshuva, Rav Kook teaches that the healthiest state of the soul is teshuva. Teshuva is not about becoming someone new—it’s about peeling back the extra, external layers and returning to who we already are at our core.

We’ll explore:

How teshuva is the most natural expression of the soul

Why the parts of ourselves that feel broken aren’t our true essence

The teaching that teshuva precedes the world

How there is a tikkun for every sin

Join us to rediscover teshuva as the simple, natural return to a healthy soul.

In this shiur, we explore Rav Kook’s profound teaching that true teshuva begins with self-knowledge. 🌱

We need to have a sense of self in order to draw close to Hashem.

When we bypass our personalities and souls, we fall into false teshuva.

Remember: at our core, we are truly a neshama.

Every person has a Nekudah Tova — a unique point of goodness that cannot be lost.

By discovering our true self, we uncover our soul’s light — and this is the foundation of real teshuva. Rav Kook teaches that when individuals return to themselves, the world is uplifted, paving the way toward geulah and Mashiach.

✨ Join us as we journey into Orot HaTeshuva and discover how finding yourself is the first step in finding God.

What does Rav Kook really think about nationalism? Is secular Zionism just an empty vessel—or part of the Divine plan?

In this shiur, we explore Rav Kook’s bold and nuanced vision: how nationalism without Hashem becomes distorted and dangerous, but religion without a national container becomes self-absorbed and disconnected from reality. Rav Kook challenges both camps and offers a powerful third path—where body and soul, land and light, vessels and spirit come together.

We also dive into how distorted expressions of nationalism still serve a holy purpose in the unfolding story of redemption. And I share a personal story about attending a settler festival with my wife—witnessing a type of Jew that hasn’t existed in 2,000 years.

This is not your typical take on Zionism or religion. It’s Rav Kook’s deep spiritual map for national revival, techiya, and Geulah in our homeland.

At the Nach Daily book launch, Shaya Sussman shared a personal and powerful message about failure, redemption, and the deep relevance of Navi in our lives. From failing through school—and even getting a 32 in Navi—to launching a sefer that brings Navi to life, Shaya reminded us that second chances aren’t the exception; they’re the rule.

This is the story of Am Yisrael: We were in our land. We lost it. And now—against all odds—we’re back. Living in Eretz Yisrael today is living inside a promise fulfilled, a living testament to Divine mercy and faithfulness.

Shaya spoke about how every Sefer in Navi is not just a historical document, but a spiritual stencil overlaying our current moment. Nevuah wasn’t just a past experience—it was the awareness that Hashem is with us. And one day, we’ll meet the Neviim again and recognize how each of us was part of the story of second chances—for ourselves, our people, and the world.

Hashem created the world with light and vessels—a delicate balance between spiritual ideals and the structures that hold them. But what happens when that balance is lost?

In this shiur, we explore how Hashem’s pristine light descends into the mire and muck of this world—enclothed in form, even in darkness—not by accident, but by design. The vessel may look broken, the light may seem hidden, but the descent is purposeful.

We unpack Rav Kook’s powerful warning: when nationalism is severed from its holy source, it becomes a destructive force. But when the nation becomes a vessel for Hashem’s light, nothing is more sacred. The ultimate vision is Am Yisrael as a "goy kadosh", a priestly nation that channels Divine presence into the world.

This class dives deep into the Kabbalistic and spiritual framework of light and form, ideal and reality, showing how nationalism can either reflect the highest holiness—or collapse into darkness, depending on whether the light is present within the vessel.

What do we do when life feels upside down—when nothing is k’seder, and the world within and around us feels like it's unraveling?

In this experiential shiur, we explore Rebbe Nachman’s teaching in Likutei Moharan Tinyana 82 on the battle between k’seder (order) and shelo k’seder (disorder), and how that inner war mirrors the emotional and spiritual chaos so many of us feel today. We then turn to Likutei Halachos, Hilchos Tefillin, for a deep perspective on chizuk, patience, and the hidden redemptive power of suffering.

Rav Kook’s Orot HaTeshuvah 15:10 reminds us that the soul is always whole. When we forget our deeper nature—individually or nationally—we descend into chaos. But remembering who we truly are realigns us with Hashem’s will and opens the gates of redemption.

The class concludes with a short, guided mindfulness practice to help us return to a state of inner k’seder, reconnect with the soul’s quiet strength, and walk forward with more clarity, calm, and Emunah.