The Kook political legacy

The Jerusalem Post ^ | March, 06 2002 | David Newman

[Phil V.]

The Kook political legacy

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David Newman

March, 06 2002

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(March 6) - This week marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook. He may only have been the "son of" Rabbi Abraham Kook - the first chief rabbi of Palestine and considered the spirit of religious Zionism - but he turned his father's abstract and somewhat metaphysical teachings into a political ideology, which serves as the basis for the right wing and settler movement.

For the first 19 years of statehood, religious Zionism was not very influential. Its representatives in the National Religious Party were, for the most part, not interested in issues relating to the territories; they were more focused on maintaining the status quo in religious affairs.

Kook, the son, was not known for his own original teachings or writings. But he did manage to attract committed students who created the core group of teachers, political leaders and rabbis who viewed the Six Day War as a miraculous divine intervention on the path to the resumption of Jewish sovereignty over the whole of Greater Israel. During the 1970s, these disciples demonstrated their determination to hold on to every centimeter of this "liberated" territory through the establishment of settlements, which today number approximately 200,000 inhabitants.

In the mythological literature surrounding Kook, much attention is given to a speech he is supposed to have made at his famous yeshiva, Merkaz Harav (named for his father), at the Independence Day celebrations just a few weeks prior to the outbreak of the Six Day War. According to those who were present, Kook bemoaned the foreign rule of Jewish holy sites such as the Western Wall and Hebron, and said that the day of their liberation would not be long in coming.

The fact that these precise events actually took place just a few weeks later made him a prophet in the eyes of his pupils. Kook's disciples - most notably Rabbis Moshe Levinger and Haim Druckman, and former MK Hanan Porat - were the founders of the Gush Emunim movement in 1974, actively promoting settlement in direct contravention of the policy championed by then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

At that time there were few in Israel, including religious Zionists themselves, who believed that nearly 30 years down the road, these disciples would have had such an impact on political life. This impact has gone way beyond the establishment of settlements per se, and has developed into an entire religio-political philosophy educating (some would say indoctrinating) another two generations that have progressively become more religious and more irredentist, and that unfortunately have departed the middle road of religious Zionism.

At the political level, Kook's beliefs and ideology were spread by the then "young guard" of the NRP - Zevulun Hammer (a long-term minister of education until his death four years ago) and Yehuda Ben-Meir (now a religious Meimad dove) - who were soon outstripped and left behind in the irredentist zeal of the religiously inspired next generation.

I recall Kook's funeral procession winding its way through the streets of Jerusalem on the way to the Mount of Olives, followed by thousands of religious Zionists. Though the procession went through some of the haredi neighborhoods where he had lived, it was not followed by the haredi community. Neither was it followed by many secular Jews, although his philosophy had always been to reach out to them - unlike so many of his followers, who during the past two decades have established their own new ghettos.

The funeral was held up a few hours to allow some prominent religious Zionist leaders to leave the settlements in northern Sinai to attend - settlements which at that precise time were being forcibly evacuated by defense minister Ariel Sharon in accordance with the Camp David agreements with Egypt. After the funeral they were allowed to return and continue their anti-evacuation demonstrations in the face of the army orders to remove them.

Kook's legacy was essentially political, disguised in the religious and theological teachings of his father. He was, without doubt, a charismatic personality who commanded a faithful and committed following. But in doing so, he removed his father's teachings from the public realm and transformed them into a specific political-settlement philosophy, which has become rooted at the very heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

(The writer is chairman of the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.)

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[Texaggie79]

[Phil V.]

Sorry for this Kooky bump . . .

[jmp702]

Abraham Kook

For a moment there, when I saw the name Abe Kook, I thought the article might be about 'Honest Abe' Foxman

[Phil V.]

Thanks for dropping by. At least now I can refer to the settlements as a "kooky idea" and not be fatally posted!

[Thud]

Thanks, Phil.

And ping to Dark Wing.

[Phil V.]

And a special good evening to you, Ben!

[Free the USA]

Check the Bump List folders for articles related to the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.

[Phil V.]

Good morning, snookums!

Hey, do me a favor please. I gotta run off to work, and I will not have an opportunity to "pump" this enormously popular kook thread. Please, ping all your kook friends and invite them to drop by for drinks and a little chit chat. Kooks are so fun - dangerous, but fun.

Please do not ignore me like BenF does. I still mourn the lose of Ben's and my close friendship . . . all because I tactfully invited Ben to look in the mirror and ask himself the "first question of therapy" (with respect to our dysfunctional relationship), "What is my part?"

Ben won't talk to me anymore. So please, Roni, be nice.

[steve-b]

I thought this thread was going to be about claims that you are not required to pay income taxes to support the government's dealings with space aliens to impose UN One-World Government.

[Nachum]

Abraham Isaac Kook (Rav Kook)

Abraham Isaac Kook (Avraham Yitzhak Kook, Rav Kook) (1864-1935) was the first chief rabbi of Palestine after the British Mandate.

Rav Kook developed an original system of study based on a return to the sources where all the different branches of Judaism were united. He founded a Yeshiva based on this system of study.

While he was visiting Europe, World War I broke out and he could not get back to Palestine. He served, then, as a rabbi in London, where he spoke to Jews and non-Jews about the need for Palestine to become a Jewish homeland. These ideas were consummated in the Balfour Declaration.

He returned to Jerusalem and became the rabbi of all Ashkenazi communities in Palestine in 1919. He was elected to be the chief rabbi of all Palestine in 1921. He established a new Yeshiva called Mercaz Harab, in which Hebrew was the language of instruction.

After his death, many of his manuscripts were uncovered and published. And in his memory, the Koheleth Trust was founded to foster Yeshivot and the study of Torah in Palestine.

http://judaism.about.com/library/glossary/bldef-p_ravkook.htm

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1865-1935)

By Rav Hillel Rachmani

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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.

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Rav_Kook.html

[Phil V.]

Thank you for your research, Nachum. In your efforts did you see any additional material on the son, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, the object of this Jerusalem Post article?

[In veno, veritas]

I think the main reason why we made Israel was the fact that no one wanted the Jews.

[Nachum]

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook was one of the leading intellectual and religious leaders during the yishuv period. Born in 1865 in Latvia, Kook received a typical traditional education, which he supplemented with a range of other studies. Kook advocated the expansion of the traditional Jewish educational framework to include secular subjects. The yeshiva which was founded on this principle was called Mercaz ha-Rav, and is still open today. Kook settled in Erez Israel in 1904, where he served as rabbi of Jaffa. When the office of Chief Rabbinate of Palestine was established in 1921, Kook was chosen to become the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. He believed that the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate was the first step towards the reconstitution of the Sanhedrin. Convinced that the return of Jews to Erez Israel marked the beginning of the Divine redemption, Kook participated in a range of Zionist activities. In his view, the Zionist movement emphasized only the material needs of the Jews, while the spiritual aspects of the nationalist movement were neglected.

Kook's philosophy was based on the quest for unity and harmony in the world. The two fundamental principles he stressed most were Emunah and Ahavah, belief and love. As such, he embraced secular as well as religious Jews. According to Kook, secular Jews also have a distinct role in the Divine plan. The secular Zionist's return to Erez Israel was an essential step in bringing on redemption. Their return to religious observance would come later, in a step-by-step process. Kook's tolerance of secular Jews made him quite unpopular with more radical Orthodox rabbis.

Kook's approach brought the somewhat mystical concept of redemption down into a more concrete reality by interpreting current events as heralding its arrival. No longer just a dream, redemption was on its way with the resettling of the land. This view was expanded by Kook's son, ha-Rav Zevi Judah ha-Kohen Kook. He saw the victory of the Israeli army in 1967 as further proof of imminent redemption. The victory was seen as a sign for Jews to resettle additional areas of the traditional Land of Israel, thus bringing redemption closer and closer.

http://www.wzo.org.il/home/portrait/kook.htm

[Nachum]

He may only have been the "son of" Rabbi Abraham Kook - the first chief rabbi of Palestine and considered the spirit of religious Zionism - but he turned his father's abstract and somewhat metaphysical teachings into a political ideology, which serves as the basis for the right wing and settler movement.

I would argue that this assertion is not true. The more probably truth is that both the son and father were activists. The establishment of the Balfour declarations and the creation of the original colonies in Israel (by the father) were hardly different than the support of the settlers in Judea and Samaria (by the son).

[LarryLied]

Kook did rule that Muslims and Christians are "gerim" and entitled to both citizenship and civil liberties.

[Phil V.]

If that is true then Kook is the father of the Israeli demographic time bomb.

[LarryLied]

Can't beat the house in the long run.

[Phil V.]

I’m surprised one can still post to this antique!

[Phil V.]

still alive bump in 2011 . . .