Rabbi A.Y. Kook is considered the spiritual and
biological founder of the religious Zionist movement. Even at the date of the composition of
these letters (the early twentieth century), when the secular Zionist
movement was just beginning, and the Jewish state was still nearly 40 years
away from its birth, we can see many of the conflicts and traumas that still
afflict Israeli society reflected in his letters.
Kook was the first major Jewish religious authorities
to embrace secular Zionism, but he did so on his own terms. Taking some notions from the Kabalah, he
believed that even sinful behavior, such as the secular settlement activity of socialist
Zionists, could be turned into merit.
God would use those who He saw fit to settle the land. And eventually, they would all return to fold
of normative Jewish practice.
So, Kook helped sow the seeds of the religious settlement
project in the West Bank, and the general assault of secular rule of law in
Israel. It is all here in these letters,
although the tone and texture change depending upon who he is addressing. When he is writing friends and confidants, his
tone is more strident. When
addressing the non-religious, he uses a more conciliatory tone.
It seems Rabbi Kook was a deft politician, as
well as a great spiritual leader.
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