Amidst a time when light and darkness are interwoven and the world stands before redemption or Heaven forbid, oblivion, deep in the hills of the Galilee, a silent revolution has begun. Not a revolution in its normal connotation but rather a revelation of a revolutionary idea to the problems and suffering which have faced man throughout history.

Or Haganuz is a community that was founded by our Master and Teacher Rabbi Mordechai Sheinberger and a group of his students in the early 1990's in northern Israel. Or Haganuz is not an average, community rather it is unique in almost everything about it. The people of Or Haganuz strive to live according to the commandment "You Shall Love Your Neighbor as you love yourself". This commandment, as taught by our Sages of Blessed Memory and as explained in depth by the great kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Leb Ashlag zt"l, is the foundation behind the entire Torah, and that all of the other commandments are  particulars of this basic concept.

One of the preliminary ideas that are discussed in the teachings of the kabbalah is that the definition of closeness and distance in spirituality is dependent upon equivalence in form or change in form. This means that to the extent that two beings have similar desires one to the other, they are considered spiritually close, and to that extent that they have opposite desires one from the other they are considered spiritually distant. G-d has no desire to receive whatsoever, for from whom would he receive. Man, however, in his imperfect form (as opposed to man in his perfected form as in the end of days) is egocentric and only desires to receive self pleasure. Therefore man in his imperfect form is spiritually distant from G-d to the opposite extreme. The kabbalah teaches us that G-d's purpose for creating man and all of existence was in order to bestow goodness to his creations.    The way in which the creation experiences this goodness, is by mans (who is the center of creation) cleaving to G-d, the source of all goodness. In order to cleave to G-d, man must acquire equivalence in form to Him, May His Great Name Be Blessed. This closeness is achieved when man bestows to his fellow in a similar manner that G-d bestows to his creation. This is the understanding of what the Torah requires of us, "and you shall cleave to Him." The Sages z"l ask the question how is it possible to cleave to Hashem since he is metaphorically likened to fire! Rather just as He is Merciful, so to you need be merciful, just as He is Kind, so to you need be kind etc. this being the understanding of the commandment "You Shall Love Your Neighbor as yourself".

Or Haganuz is a society that is attempting to live according to this doctrine and spread the teaching of it throughout the world.

It is our hope and prayer that quickly in our days we will all merit the realization of the verse (Micha chap.4 verses 2-4) … And it shall be in the end of days…and many nations will say, let us go up to the mountain of Hashem and to The House of The Lord of Jacob and they will teach us his ways and we shall go in his paths, for out of Zion there will come a teaching, (Torah) and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem… and they will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning-shears, nation will no longer raise their swords against one another and they will no longer experience war.