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I. Torah Foundations — The Ever-Living Covenant
ArtScroll Stone Tanakh — The essential Hebrew-English text. Primary focus: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel — prophets of exile and redemption
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, The Living Torah — Clear, modern translation with halakhic and philosophical notes.
Ramban (Nachmanides) — Commentary on the Torah and his ruling on Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael, affirming the eternal command to settle the Land.
Rambam (Maimonides), Iggeret Teiman (Letter to the Yemenites) — Courage, clarity, and faith under persecution.
Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi, The Kuzari and Poems — The classic dialogue of faith and nationhood.
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal), Derech Hashem (The Path of God) — The metaphysical framework of Divine Providence and Israel’s mission.
The Vilna Gaon, Letters on the Return to Eretz Yisrael — A prophetic call to redeem the Land through action.
Megillat Esther and The Books of the Maccabees — Eternal models of hidden miracles, courage, and national renewal.
II. Fire and Faith — The Holocaust and Spiritual Resistance
The Warsaw Ghetto Voices
R. Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (Piaseczno Rebbe), אש קודש (Aish Kodesh / Sacred Fire) — Sermons delivered in the Warsaw Ghetto (1939–1942); the holiest cry of faith under fire, transforming suffering into communion with God
Yosele Rakover, Yosele Rakover Talks to God — A brief, soul-piercing testament discovered in the rubble of the Warsaw Ghetto. In his final moments, Yosleh speaks directly to the Almighty with defiance, love, and unwavering faith. His voice embodies the essence of Jewish protest and devotion — the refusal to surrender the covenant, even when the world collapses.
Aryeh (Hillel) Tenenbaum, Warsaw Diary — A young intellectual’s record of moral struggle, courage, and despair within the ghetto walls.
Faith Reborn in the Flames
R. Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, אם הבנים שׂמֵחה (Eim HaBanim Semeichah) — Written in hiding during the Shoah; a divine call to rebuild Eretz Yisrael.
R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, אורות (Orot) & אורות התשובה (Orot HaTeshuvah) — Mystical foundation of Israel’s rebirth.
R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, “Kol Dodi Dofek” — The voice of God knocking through Jewish history.
R. Menachem M. Schneerson, Talks on the Six-Day War — Providence revealed in victory.
III. Strength and Restoration — Zionism and Jewish Power
Max Nordau, “Muscular Judaism.” — The revival of Jewish physical and moral strength.Theodor Herzl, Altneuland (Old–New Land) — Visionary fiction of Jewish sovereignty.Ze’ev Jabotinsky, “The Iron Wall” & The Story of the Jewish Legion — Realism united with conscience.Rabbi Meir Kahane, Never Again!; Why Be Jewish?; Time to Go Home — Unapologetic defense of Jewish identity and destiny; chronicles of the Soviet Jewry struggle and moral independence.Yoseleh Kracower, Letters and Fragments — Spiritual continuity from the ghetto’s darkness to the pioneer’s light.
Destiny Born of the Deepest Faith
Introduction to the Ohr Chodosh Suggested Reading Curriculum
October 7 was not merely a national tragedy.
It was a mirror.
It reflects the danger of forgetting who we are—and the enduring truth that Amalek strikes whenever Israel grows faint, whenever faith is replaced by fear, and purpose by confusion.
The Shoah taught this brutally.
So does October 7.
From the camps of Europe to the fields of the Negev, Jewish history repeats a single warning: survival without meaning is not life; existence without faith is exile by another name.
The historic title to this Land belongs to Israel as a Divine gift, and its legal claim has been paid for in Jewish blood, sweat, and tears.
“There is no other nation that has been exiled and returned to its land, except for the Jewish people.” — Talmud Berakhot 12b
This return is not merely geographic.
It is a miraculous reclamation of identity, faith, and destiny.
Who else has written, in living history, a second commonwealth—and now, a third?
The story of Israel is empirical proof that history itself can be holy: natural events guided by a hidden hand, miracles clothed in motion.
To be a Jew is to sense that hand—to live with awareness that purpose is real, that covenant is binding, and that without the sacred, there is no nation at all.
Why This Reading List Exists
This reading list is not an academic syllabus.
It is a path back to wholeness.
It was born from the recognition that our deepest wound is spiritual amnesia.
We have raised generations fluent in the world’s wisdom yet strangers to their own.
They know art and science, but not the prophets; they speak of justice but have forgotten the Judge.
The greatest cause of Jewish disunity is not argument—it is ignorance.
Without Torah and history, there can be no shared conscience; without faith, there can be no shared destiny.
Education is not information—it is inheritance.
To study our texts is to rejoin the chain that begins at Sinai and winds through Josephus, through Aish Kodesh in the Warsaw Ghetto, through Herzl and Teichtal, through Goren and Kahane, through every Jew who believed that history itself could be redeemed.
This reading list is meant to rebuild that inheritance:
to restore memory, reignite faith, and reunite the nation through the wisdom of its own sources.
It aims to form leaders who remember, who draw courage from Torah, clarity from history, and vision from the covenant that still binds us.
The purpose is not merely to create thinkers or builders—it is to rekindle a people who know that their life is holy, their history purposeful, and their return no accident.
This is not a course of study.
It is a summons—to remember, to believe, and to build again a people united under one Name.
IV. The Land Before Zionism — Desolation and Revival
Flavius Josephus — Full corpus: Antiquities of the Jews, The Jewish War, Life, Against Apion. Recommended editions: Loeb Classical Library (Greek–English, 20 vols.); Brill Translation & Commentary; Bialik Institute Hebrew editions (Kadmoniyot ha-Yehudim).Study focus: leadership, sinat chinam, national collapse and Divine justice — a mirror of our own redemption.
Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1867) — Eyewitness to Ottoman desolation; a barren land awaiting its people.
Joan Peters, From Time Immemorial — Based on Ottoman and British census records; demonstrates the land’s devastation under Turkish neglect, malaria, and foreign migration from across the empire, while Jewish pioneers restored its fertility and life.
Churchill White Papers (1922 – 1939) — Official recognition of Jewish nationhood and historical rights.
William Stewart (Lincoln’s Secretary of State) — Contemporary Western corroboration of Palestine’s desolation and its Jewish revival.
David Ben-Gurion & Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Eretz Yisrael: Past and Present — Survey of Jewish resettlement and rebirth.
Menachem Begin, The Revolt — The moral logic of resistance and freedom.
R. Shlomo Goren, בגבורות ובאמונה (With Might and Faith) — Halakhic and spiritual insight from Israel’s Chief Rabbi of the IDF.
V. History and Geulah — The Modern State and Its Meaning
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews — Civilizational overview from Abraham to Zion.
Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel — Detailed chronology of statehood.
Anita Shapira, Israel: A History — Modern political and cultural context.
Gal Beckerman, When They Come for Us, We’ll Be Gone — Definitive account of the Soviet Jewry movement.
R. Meir Kahane on Land and Peace — Halakhic and moral argument for Jewish sovereignty.
Wars of Independence, Attrition, Six-Day, Yom Kippur, Lebanon, Gaza — Study military and spiritual sources together (R. Shaul Yisraeli, Amud HaYemini; Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars).
VI. Covenant Among the Nations — Christian Zionism and Allies
Gerald McDermott, Israel Matters — Christian theology affirming Israel’s covenant.
Robert Nicholson (The Philos Project), Collected Essays — Modern Christian Zionist vision.
Yaakov Ariel, An Unusual Relationship — Historical overview of Evangelical–Jewish solidarity.
VII. Witnesses and Builders — Biographies and Primary Sources
Chana Senesh, Poems and Diary — Martyrdom and faith in action.
Hillel Kook (Peter Bergson), Bergson Group Papers — Advocacy for Jewish rescue and statehood.
Mickey Marcus, Cast a Giant Shadow — From West Point to Jerusalem.
Rabbi Hillel Silver, UN Speeches (1947) — Moral eloquence for independence.
UN Resolution 181 (1947) — Primary document recognizing the Jewish state.
R. Avraham Yitzchak Kook, R. Shlomo Goren, R. Menachem M. Schneerson Biographies — Prophetic leadership in modern times.
VIII. Torah Sovereignty — Religious Zionism Today
R. Tzvi Yehuda Kook, לנתיבות ישראל (L’Netivot Yisrael) — Redemptive interpretation of Israel’s rebirth.
R. Dov Lior, עם כלביא (Am KeLavi) — Courage and Torah sovereignty.
R. Shaul Yisraeli, Amud HaYemini — Halakhic foundations for a Jewish state.
R. Meir Kahane, Collected Essays — Moral clarity and prophetic
IX. Reading Path — From Revelation to Redemption
Tanakh and Rishonim: Kaplan, Ramban, Rambam.
Second Temple History: Josephus.Philosophy and Faith: Kuzari, Ramchal, Vilna Gaon.
Holocaust and Faith: Aish Kodesh, Kracower, Tenenbaum.
National Reawakening: Herzl, Nordau, Jabotinsky, Begin.
Land and Revival: Peters, Twain, Ben-Gurion.
Modern History: Sachar, Shapira, Beckerman.
Religious Zionism & Faith: Kook, Teichtal, Goren, Schneerson, Kahane.
Covenantal Universalism: Christian Zionist works.
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Our mission is to harness the transformative power of the arts to unite the Jewish people and shape our collective destiny. Once known not only for intellect but for a shared Jewish heart, it’s time to reclaim that heart—reigniting the passion, spirit, and unity that drive us forward. Through art, music, writing, and film, we will bridge divides, heal trauma, and inspire a renewed sense of pride, identity, and purpose within the Jewish community. By showcasing the richness of our culture, we will change how Jews perceive one another and how the world sees us—emphasizing not just our intellect, but our strength, creativity, and resilience. We aim to create a thriving Jewish future, where every individual connects to their roots, heals from past wounds, and contributes to a unified, resilient people.
Welcome to Ohr Chodosh L’Zion a movement of spiritual renewal through Jewish creativity. We believe antisemitism is a metaphysical challenge, answered not through politics but through holiness, learning, and unity. By awakening both heart and mind, we seek to rekindle a Judaism that inspires, unites, and restores compassion to intellect calling every Jew to rise with purpose, faith, and love.
In an age of fragmentation, Ohr Chdosh's goal is to converge holiness and Creativity Converge in Jewish Destiny, our survival depends not only on defense—but on creation as the offensive. At Ohr Chodosh L’Zion, we renew the Jewish spirit through art, imagination, and faith, fusing holiness with creativity to ensure Jewish continuity and flourishing. We stand at the intersection of a new Jewish destiny, where creativity is the soul work needed to shock the collective consciousness of our people back to our roots as a remedy to mankind's loss of human qualities. The solution is to empower a generation of creatives capable of restoring the light that unites our people across generations and continents. By reawakening Jewish creativity—through music, art, literature, and spiritual education—we heal the fractures of exile and rekindle the unity that once illuminated all nations. The arts become a source to regain our lost prophets, to provide a confident culture to with the tools and courage to make our faith visible as a bridge between heaven and earth.
The Tsunami of Propaganda, While Islamist movements drive the vast majority of political and ethnic violence worldwide, public discourse reflexively deflects blame toward the Jews. Intersectional alliances amplify this inversion, with Qatari and Muslim Brotherhood funding reshaping the ancient “Christ-killer” and Protocols of Zion tropes for modern Western audiences. Every atrocity—from the crucifixion of Jesus to the murder of contemporary figures—becomes fodder for conspiracy. Even when Jews are the victims, as on October 7, or in the recent London synagogue attack by a serial racist named Jihad, social media instantly recasts the carnage as a Mossad plot. So, it is an imperative for Ohr Chodosh asserts the Jewish Trinity Land, Torah and People, because Israel is our sanctuary and fortress against the world’s oldest hatred, a defense more enduring than any plague and more vital than ever. see Trinity - by Randy Settenbrino
Ohr Chodosh — A School of Light and CreationOhr Chodosh fosters unity and imagination by providing a platform for Jewish artists, musicians, filmmakers, and writers to develop their gifts and transmit the messages of our collective 4,000-year journey.Like the ancient schools of prophecy, these creators will be charged with instilling courage, awakening faith, and rousing hope—reigniting passion in the hearts of a generation searching for purpose. Through their art, they will ensure that the story of the Jewish people is told with beauty and strength, inspiring and uplifting the world while rekindling the creative spirit of our people at a time when the Jewish voice is needed most.
Ohr Chodosh- fosters unity and creativity by providing a platform for Jewish artists, musicians, filmmakers, and writers, ensuring our stories inspire and reignite our creative energy at a time when our global voice is needed most.At this pivotal moment, we have the opportunity to reignite the spirit of our people and reclaim our voice.
Randy Yisroel Settenbrino in a raw interview with Patrick Haffner from Austria’s largest media outfit OFN. Patrick ask’s if Jewish victimhood is justification for Gaza?
Supporting Ohr Chodosh L'Zion – A New Light for Zion is more than a mission—it's a call to reconnect with our divine purpose, rooted in Torah, Land, and People. It’s about healing our collective spirit and empowering our narrative to echo across the world, drawing others in and making them irresistibly captivated by our story and inspired by our song. Through this movement, we aim to create a generation whose strength, creativity, and resilience captivate the global stage.
Why Our Mission Has the Capacity to Lead the Elusive Jewish UnityThrough art, education, and cultural engagement, Ohr Chodosh seeks to restore Jewish spiritual confidence, nurture emerging talent, and strengthen the eternal covenant between Israel and the Diaspora.We build bridges with Noahides and all who honor the covenant and the seed of Abraham—reaffirming the shared destiny that binds humanity to divine purpose.Our goal is to cultivate a generation whose strength, creativity, and resilience will captivate the global stage and reflect the light of Zion.The new meaning of the soul is creativity and mysticism—the twin forces that awaken divine imagination within humanity.From them will emerge a new psychological type, and with him or her, a new civilization—rooted in faith, inspired by art, and illuminated by the everlasting light of Zion.
Ohr Chodosh L’Zion — A New Light for Zion
At this pivotal moment, we have the opportunity to reignite the spirit of our people and reclaim our voice.Supporting Ohr Chodosh L’Zion — A New Light for Zion is more than a mission—it is a call to reconnect with our divine purpose, rooted in Torah, Land, and People. It is about healing our collective spirit and empowering our narrative to echo across the world—drawing others in, captivating hearts, and inspiring a renewed Jewish song of faith and creativity.