The Chief Rabbinate; A Blessing or a Curse? part 3

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) must be accounted as one of the most influential figures in Jewish history. Many love him, many hate him, but no one can ignore him. His father was a scholar in the Lithuanian "Yeshivish" tradition. He, too, was educated in that path. His mother's family were long standing Chabad Hasidim. His thought encompassed both. As we have seen, there were different approaches to Kabbalah; ARI saw it as a repair of the Universe, Hasidism saw it as a repair of the individual. Rav Kook did not ignore either of these, but also gave Kabbalah a nationalist and political bent. He saw the yearning for Zion that was unfolding among many European Jews, as an awakening of the Redemption, the Geulah. He believed that even the most anti-religious followers of Zionism, were ultimately responding to a subconscious religious impulse to establish the Kingdom of G-d on Earth. He pointed out that although in the Holy Temple, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and he only on Yom Kippur, if something was in disrepair, a common laborer could also enter. Those coming to settle the Land, even those who were avowed atheists, many of them favoring suppression of religion even by force, were those laborers who would ultimately build the Temple. They were not to be hated, but loved unconditionally. He came to the Holy Land in 1904. He became the rabbi of Jaffa. Unlike other rabbis, who concerned themselves only with the faithful, he reached out to all the Jews in Jaffa, as well as surrounding, mostly secular, agricultural communities. He maintained close personal contacts with the leaders of the burgeoning Zionist enterprise, winning concessions for certain public recognition of Jewish observances on their part. He spent World War I in Europe, returning immediately after the war, becoming Chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Jerusalem. He would soon make that Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, but that will be discussed in my next post. Many openly hostile secularists could not help but be impressed with the man's friendliness and respectful approach, which melted away a great deal of their animosity towards Torah and religious Jews. The "old line" community of ultra Orthodox Jews was decisively against him. They felt that he was strengthening the secular, becoming a "fig leaf" for their anti-Torah stance. ("See, even we have a rabbi on our side!"). One prominent Jerusalem rabbi said "Rav Kook's great love for Zion has taken him out of his mind, and away from the mind of his Creator". Lest we accept the prevailing misconception that he was all "Kumbaya", much has emerged in recent decades to show that this was not the case. Original manuscripts and letters have emerged, which are substantially different from the "official" versions, published in the 1950s by his students. In fact, he was appalled by the character and style of the Zionist leadership, and found maintaining a friendship with them very taxing. He even predicted an eventual revolution. But, at this juncture in history, he believed that G-d was working through them, and they needed encouragement. I was told in 1988 by an elderly Jerusalem Hasid, that when his son was born, he asked Rav Kook to be the Sandak (the great honor of holding the baby during circumcision). Many prominent rabbis asked him how he could give this honor to one who encourages the enemies of G-d. He answered "I know. But when I look at him, I see an angel of the L-rd of Hosts". Anti-Zionist Hareidim still see him as the Benedict Arnold of Judaism. Religious Zionists see him as the Seer of modern Judaism. He considered the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate as his greatest accomplishment. His reasoning for that, as well as the reasoning of the idea's opponents, will be the topic of my next post.