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Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar. Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ( Hebrew: אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, ˌaʃkəˈnazim sing Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement Religious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement (a branch of which is also called Mizrachi) is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious Yeshiva or yeshivah (jəʃi'və ( Hebrew: ישיבה "sitting (n Mercaz HaRav (מרכז הרב lit The Rav Centre) also known as Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, is a Hardal Yeshiva Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law Kabbalah (קַבָּלָה lit "receiving" is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mystical aspect of Judaism. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to He is known in Hebrew as הרב אברהם יצחק הכהן קוק HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, and by the acronym HaRaAYaH or simply as "HaRav. A kohen (or cohen, Hebrew כּהן "priest" pl כּהנִים kohanim or cohanim) has a separate status in Judaism. Acronyms, initialisms, and alphabetisms are Abbreviations that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name " He was one of the most celebrated and influential Rabbis of the 20th century.

Contents

Biography

Kook was born in Grīva, Latvia (now part of Daugavpils, then a town in Courland Governorate of Imperial Russia) in 1865, the oldest of eight children. Daugavpils (daugavpils) is the second largest City in Latvia. Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. Daugavpils (daugavpils) is the second largest City in Latvia. The Governorate of Courland, also known as the Province of Courland, Governorate of Kurland (Kurzemes guberņa Курля́ндская губерния and The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year His father, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ha-Cohen Kook, was a student of the Volozhin Yeshiva, the "mother of the Lithuanian yeshivas", whereas his maternal grandfather was a member of the Kapust dynasty of the Hassidic movement. The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a Yeshiva in the town of Volozhin (today part of Belarus) founded in 1803 by Rabbi Lithuanian Jews (known in Yiddish and Yeshivish as Litvish (adjective or Litvaks (noun are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in the Yeshiva or yeshivah (jəʃi'və ( Hebrew: ישיבה "sitting (n The Kopuster Hasidic dynasty was based on the Chabad school of thought Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew

As a child he gained a reputation of being an ilui (prodigy). List of child prodigies|Fictional child prodigies A child prodigy is a one who masters one or more skills or arts at an early age He entered the Volozhin yeshiva in 1884 at the age of 18, where he became close to the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv). Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Rosh yeshiva, ( pl. Heb. Roshei yeshiva; Yeshivish Rosh yeshivas) (ראש ישיבה is the title given to the dean of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (נפתלי צבי יהודה ברלין also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, 1817 - 10 August 1893 Although he stayed at the yeshiva for only a year and a half, the Netziv has been quoted as saying that if the Volozhin Yeshiva had been founded just to educate Rav Kook, it would have been worthwhile. During his time in the yeshiva, he studied about 18 hours a day.

In 1886, Kook married Batsheva, the daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim, (also known as the Aderet), the rabbi of Ponevezh (today's Panevėžys, Lithuania) and later Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Jerusalem. Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, ( ישיבת פוניבז) is a world renowned Yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel Panevėžys ( pʌnɛvɛˈʒıs is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the In 1887, at the age of 23, Kook entered his first rabbinical position as rabbi of Zaumel, Lithuania. Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Žeimelis is a town in northern Lithuania, 40 km to the north from Pakruojis, near the border with Latvia. In 1888, his wife died, and his father-in-law convinced him to marry her cousin, Raize-Rivka, the daughter of the Aderet's twin brother. Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a In 1895 Kook became the rabbi of Bausk (now Bauska). Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Bauska ( is a Town in Bauska County, in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. Between 1901 and 1904, he published three articles which anticipate the fully-developed philosophy which he developed in the Land of Israel. Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1904 ( MCMIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting on During these years he wrote a number of works, most published posthumously, most notably a lengthy commentary on the Aggadot of Tractates Berakhot and Shabbat, titled 'Eyn Ayah' and a brief but powerful book on morality and spirituality, titled 'Mussar Avikhah'.

In 1904, Kook moved to Ottoman Palestine to assume the rabbinical post in Jaffa, which also included responsibility for the new mostly secular Zionist agricultural settlements nearby. Year 1904 ( MCMIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting on Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Jaffa يَافَا;(יָפוֹ Yafo; also Japho, Joppa) is an ancient Port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world His influence on people in different walks of life was already noticeable, as he engaged in kiruv ("Jewish outreach"), thereby creating a greater role for Torah and Halakha in the life of the city and the nearby settlements. Orthodox Jewish outreach commonly referred to as Kiruv or Keruv (קירוב - close in Hebrew) is the collective work or movement of Orthodox term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law

The outbreak of the First World War caught Kook in Europe, and he was forced to remain in London and Switzerland for the remainder of the war. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation In 1916, he became rabbi of the Spitalfields Great Synagogue (Machzike Hadath, "upholders of the law"), an immigrant Orthodox community located in Brick Lane, Whitechapel. The Machzike Hadath community also known as the Spitalfields Great Synagogue, was founded in 1891 in the East End of London, England. Whitechapel is a built-up Inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. While there, he was involved in the activities which led to the Balfour Declaration, 1917. Balfour Declaration of 1917 (dated November 2 1917) was a Classified formal statement of Policy by the British government stating Upon returning, he was appointed the Ashkenazi Rabbi of Jerusalem, and soon after, as first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine in 1921. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular Kook founded a yeshiva, Mercaz HaRav Kook (popularly known as "Mercaz haRav"), in Jerusalem in 1924. Mercaz HaRav (מרכז הרב lit The Rav Centre) also known as Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, is a Hardal Yeshiva Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He was a master 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. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Kook built bridges of communication and political alliances between the various Jewish sectors, including the secular Jewish Zionist leadership, the Religious Zionists, and more traditional non-Zionist Orthodox Jews. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized He believed that the modern movement to re-establish a Jewish state in the land of Israel had profound theological significance and that the Zionists were pawns in a heavenly plan to bring about the messianic era. Per this ideology, the youthful, secular and even anti-religious Labor Zionist pioneers halutzim were a part of a grand divine scheme whereby the land and people of Israel were finally being redeemed from the 2,000 year exile (galut) by all manner of Jews who sacrificed themselves for the cause of building up the physical land, as laying the groundwork for the ultimate spiritual messianic redemption of world Jewry. Labor Zionism ( Labour Zionism, ציונות סוציאליסטית tsionut sotsialistit) can be described as the major stream of the Left wing of the The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement The Jewish diaspora ( Hebrew: Tefutzah, "scattered" or Galut גלות "exile" Yiddish: tfutses) the presence Messiah ( משיח; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, ("anointed " is a term used in the Hebrew Bible He once commented that the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate was the first step towards the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin. Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular The Sanhedrin (סנהדרין συνέδριον ''synedrion'', "sitting together" hence " assembly " or "council" was an assembly

His empathy towards the anti-religious elements aroused the suspicions of his more traditionalist haredi opponents, particularly that of the traditional rabbinical establishment that had functioned from the time of Turkey's control of greater Palestine, whose paramount leader was Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Kook's greatest rabbinical rival. Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Kook once quoted a rabbinic axiom that "one should embrace with the right hand and rebuff with the left". He remarked that he was fully capable of rejecting, but since there were enough rejecters, he was fulfilling the role of embracer. However, Kook was critical of the secularists on certain occasions when they went "too far" in desecrating the Torah, for instance, by not observing the Sabbath or kosher laws. Shabbat or Shabbos ( Hebrew: שַׁבָּת, shabbāt, shabbes, "rest/inactivity" is the Weekly Sabbath Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. Kook also opposed the secular spirit of the Hatikvah anthem, and penned another anthem with a more religious theme entitled haEmunah. For the political party see Hatikva (political party. For the Tel Aviv neighbourhood see Hatikva Quarter. Haemunah ( Hebrew: הַאמונה, &ldquoThe Faith&rdquo is an alternate national anthem for the State of Israel written in the late 19th century by

Kook fathered three children through his two wives: two daughters and a son, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook. Zvi Yehuda Kook (1891-1982 was a Rabbi, leader of Religious Zionism (usually associated with the Hardal movement in Israel) and Rosh Yeshiva His nephew was Hillel Kook. Hillel Kook (הלל קוק born 24 July 1915, died 18 August 2001) also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew פיטר ברגסון

Legacy

Relationship with Zionism

While Rabbi Kook is exalted as one of the most important thinkers in mainstream Religious Zionism, he was close to what is now called Hardal. For the settlement in Bangladesh see Hardal Bangladesh. Hardal (also Chardal;) refers to those strictly Orthodox Jews who Indeed, there are several prominent quotes in which Kook is quite critical of the more modern-orthodox Religious Zionists (Mizrachi), whom he saw as naive and perhaps hypocritical in attempting to synthesize traditional Judaism with a modern and largely secular ideology. Kook never shied away from criticizing his peers, religious and secular, as well as the increasingly cloistered traditionalists living in the Holy Land, whose way of life he characterized as being similarly affected by the negative and abnormal conditions of the Jewish exile, and therefore just as "inauthentic" as that of their Zionist counterparts. Kook was interested in outreach and cooperation between different groups and types of Jews, and saw both the good and bad in each of them. His sympathy for them as fellow Jews and desire for Jewish unity should not be misinterpreted as any inherent endorsement of all their ideas. That said, Kook's willingness to engage in joint-projects (for instance, his participation in the Chief Rabbinate) with the secular Zionist leadership must be seen as differentiating him from many of his traditionalist peers. In terms of practical results, it would not be incorrect to characterize Kook as being a Zionist, believing in the re-establishment of the Jewish people as a nation in their ancestral homeland. Unlike other Zionist leaders, however, Kook's motivations were purely based on Jewish law and Biblical prophecy. His sympathy towards the Zionist movement can be seen as a major stepping-stone to the Religious Zionist movement gaining momentum and legitimacy after his death.

The Israeli moshav Kfar Haroe, founded in 1934, was named after Kook, "Haroe" being the Hebrew acronym הרא"ה — "HaRav Avraham HaCohen". For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Moshav ( is a type of Cooperative Agricultural Community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. His son Zvi Yehuda Kook, who was also his most prominent student, took over teaching duties at Merkaz Harav after his death, and dedicated his life to disseminating his father's philosophy. Zvi Yehuda Kook (1891-1982 was a Rabbi, leader of Religious Zionism (usually associated with the Hardal movement in Israel) and Rosh Yeshiva Kook's writings and philosophy eventually gave birth to the Hardal Religious Zionist movement which is today led by rabbis who studied under Kook's son at Merkaz Harav. For the settlement in Bangladesh see Hardal Bangladesh. Hardal (also Chardal;) refers to those strictly Orthodox Jews who Religious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement (a branch of which is also called Mizrachi) is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious

See also

External links

Resources

Writings

Translation and Commentary

Analysis

Biography

Jewish titles
New title Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine
1921–35		 Succeeded by
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Rosh Yeshiva of
Yeshivat Mercaz haRav
1921–35		 Succeeded by
Zvi Yehuda Kook

Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1889&ndash1959 also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State, his term lasting from 1921 Rosh yeshiva, ( pl. Heb. Roshei yeshiva; Yeshivish Rosh yeshivas) (ראש ישיבה is the title given to the dean of Yeshiva or yeshivah (jəʃi'və ( Hebrew: ישיבה "sitting (n Mercaz HaRav (מרכז הרב lit The Rav Centre) also known as Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, is a Hardal Yeshiva Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Zvi Yehuda Kook (1891-1982 was a Rabbi, leader of Religious Zionism (usually associated with the Hardal movement in Israel) and Rosh Yeshiva
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