See Part I, Part II and Part III

Recommended Reading List

Eim Habanim Semeichah – Rav Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal H”YD, available in
Hebrew and English (translated by Rav Moshe Lichtman). Rav Teichtal was Gadol in Europe before WWII. Initially strongly anti-zionist (politically), he totally reversed himself to be extremely supportive of yishuv ha’Artez b’zman hazeh (settling the Land in our days). He came to change his position during the Holocaust whenhe saw the destruction of European Jewry in WWII and blamed it on the fact that Jews had not gone to Israel. He wrote this book while in hiding from the Nazis, using only his memory as his source for the hundreds of quotes from all areas of Jewish tradition and scholarship. The sefer is aimed to convince Jews to go to Eretz Yisrael, giving many cogent arguments, and proofs why this is the necessary path. Rav Teichtal was killed on his way to the Concentration Camp. May Hashem avenge his blood.

Me’Afar Kumi – Tzvi Glatt H”YD. Available only in Hebrew, but a must read if you can get through it – very source based book. Tzvi was an oleh from America, an anonymous yeshivah student at Mercaz HaRav. He was killed in a terrorist shooting in Chevron in 1980. After he was killed his friends found the writings that made up this book, and published them in his name. The book contains three sections: the history of the relationship between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, the halachic sources for the Mitzvah of settling the Land, and an examination of sources and responsa that give different opinions on the matter. The book is relatively short, but jam packed. (The picture on the front cover is also kind of eerie – it looks like a drawing of the World Trade Center buildings falling down – but it was drawn in 1981).

Torat Eretz Yisrael – Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook, z”tl. From the inside jacket: “HaRav Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook, of blessed memory was the only son of HaRav Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook, of blessed memory. As Rosh Yeshiva of the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, he educated a new generation of Israelis to see the Divine Hand in the rebuilding of the Jewish nation of Israel…This book marks the first time that Rav Tzvi Yehuda’s lectures have been translated into English. His teachings on Torah, Emunah, Ahavah, Eretz Yisrael, Zionism, the Holocaust, Geula, and the Mashiach, bring the encompassing Torah of Eretz Yisrael into unparalleled light. The book’s commentary brings the reader into the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Kook, presenting an intimate understanding of his vision and the unique era of redemption which Rabbi Kook inspired the nation to see.”

Also, check out Hagshamaand Kcholmim