HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook (1865-1935)

Rav Kook was born in Griva, Latvia in 1865. His father was a student of the Volozhin Yeshiva, the center of 'mitnagdut,' whereas his maternal grandfather was a memeber of the Hassidic movement. He entered the Volozhin Yeshiva in 1884, where he became close to the Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv). Already in his youth, he was well­known as a prodigy. At the age of 23, he entered his first rabbinical position. Between 1901 and 1904 he published three articles which anticipate the fully­developed philosophy which he developed in the Land of Israel.

In 1904, he came to the Land of Israel to assume the rabbinical post in Jaffa, which also included responsibility for the new secular Zionist agricultural settlements nearby. His influence on people in different walks of life was already noticeable, as he attempted to introduce Torah and Halakha into the life of the city and the settlements.

The outbreak of the First World War caught him in Europe, and he was forced to remain in London and Switzerland for the remainder of the war. While there, he was involved in the activities which led to the Balfour Declaration. Upon returning, he was appointed the Rav of Jerusalem, and soon after, as first Chief Rabbi of Israel (though the state had not yet been been born).

Rav Kook was a man of Halakha in the strictest sense, while at the same time possessing an unusual openness to new ideas. This drew many religious and non­religious people to him, but also led to widespread misunderstanding of his ideas. He wrote prolifically on both Halakha and Jewish Thought, and his books and personality continued to influence many even after his death in Jerusalem in 1935. His authority and influence continue to this day.

 

Central Themes in his Thought

Jewish Nationalism and Eschatology

  • Strong belief in the progressive direction of history towards perfection and enlightenment. Clear influence of Hegelian and Marxist ideas, as well as traditional Jewish Messianism. This led to a conviction that the world would come to recognize and support the Jewish claim to national restoration in their homeland.

  • Rabbi Kook believed that the "secularist" Zionists were performing a religious mission, even if they were unaware of it. He was them as fueled by sincere, altruistic motives, and not as heretics.

  • The traditionalists, who had abandoned full involvement in day-to-day life in favour of narrowly "religious" pursuits, were products of the anomalous situation of Jewish exile, and hence their model of Judaism was as inauthentic as the secular Zionists who desired a physical, national "redemption." Rabbi Kook argued that the approaching stage of Jewish history would include both spiritual and material redemption.

  • The Jewish people would serve as the vanguard of a universal spiritual revival.

  • The religion itself must undergo a spiritual revival. Merely to live according to the commands of Jewish law is insufficient.

  • Zionism must have religious content, and cannot be limited to a narrow, parochial nationalism.

Jewish Law (Halakhah)

  • A tension exists between creativity and adherence to tradition.

  • Judaism strives to unify of the totality of existence under the Divine influence. This involves a conflict with unrestrained individualism.

  • The ideal of religious life is universal, unselfish love (Ahavat hinam).

Mysticism

  • Integration of Kabbalah, Hasidism and other streams of Jewish mysticism.

  • Emphasis on "light" (appears in titles of many of his books).

From his sayings

The righteous and pure of heart:do not cry out against wickedness, They add justice.
They do not cry out against denial, They add faith.
They do not cry out against ignorance, They add wisdom.

If we were to be utterly destroyed and if the world were to be destroyed with us by the hatred that is without reason, we would return to be built up again, and the world would be built up again with us, by the undiscerning love that has no cause.

Better by far to err by the love that cannot see, than the hatred that is blind.

The State of Israel - the foundation upon which rests the Throne of God in this world.