Harav Kook z"l with Rav Chaim Sonnenfeld z'l |
In addition, early Chareidie publishers, and even the later ones like Artscroll totally erased and rewrote seforim and biographies that mentioned Rav Kook in any way because of their twisted political agenda!
How many know that Rav Kook z"l was the Mesader Kiddushin by both Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach z"l and Rav Eliyashiv?
Artscroll has autobiographies of these gedoilim and reading the books you would never know that.
How many know that the Kohein for Rav Shmuel Auerbach's Pidyan Habein was none other than Harav Kook z"l?
Not only that, Gedoilei Hador from our generation have already convinced today's naive young generation the perpetual lie that Harav Kook z"l, was rejected by Chareidei Rabbonim in his own lifetime.
One cannot mention Harav Kook z"l in any context in any Charedie Bais Medrish or shul!
Enter Eitam Henkin, may G-d avenge his soul, who before his brutal death "al kiddush Hashem" documented the lies, distortions, and outright despicable behaviors in a detailed sefer!
(Hat tip: Frumfollies)
I will take the liberty to lift some excerpts and quotes for those too busy to read the entire Henkin PDF file!
Rabbi Henkin hy"d, documents the fact that the Historical Revisionism of the writings and life of Harav Kook z"l was perpetrated by the Families of Rav Kook’s very own Talmidim.
I will name three Gedoilie Hador that were Talmidim of Harav Kook z'l; three that had the highest respect and reverence to their Rebbe but whose children and grandchildren chose to change and rewrite their ancestors seforim so that it would suit their twisted warped shitas for ideological purposes.
1. Rav Yitzḥak Arieli
Rav Yitzḥak Arieli, was the author of ‘Einayim La-Mishpat (1896–1974).
In the Introductions to the early volumes of ‘Einayim La-Mishpat, published by Rav Arieli between 1936 and 1948, he acknowledges the deep influence of Rav Kook during the sixteen years in which they were close, as well as the importance of his own role in the establishment of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav.
And yet, in 2006, several descendants of Rav Arieli published a new edition of ‘Einayim La-Mishpat on Berakhot, omitting the end of the introduction just quoted above. Moreover, they appended a biography of Rav Arieli to the Introduction with no reference whatsoever to Rav Kook or Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav.
Please see the PDF in its entirety to appreciate the outright perfidy of these descendants!
2. Rav Mordechai Ilan
In 1982, Rav Ilan’s sons, headed by Rav Yaakov David
Ilan, released his work Torat Ha-Kodesh—the second version, Volumes 1
and 2.
In the Sefer’s forward, the sons provided a short biographical
sketch of their father.
It describes how he learned with Rav Shlomo Hyman, Rav Ḥayyim Ozer Grodzenski, and the author of Marḥeshet. It then
immediately skips to “his marriage and arrival in Eretz Yisrael, and entering the house of his illustrious father-in-law Rav Yitzḥak Arieli…” with
no mention at all of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav or Rav Kook, nor of Ohel
Torah or Rav Herzog.
Several lines earlier, the sons mention that their
father published his book “with the encouragement and approval of the
gedolei ha-dor of that time, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer and the Brisker Rav,
OBM.”
Rabbis from a different circle, who were also considered gedolei
ha-dor by Rav Ilan, disappeared without a trace.
In addition, several passages authored by Rav Ilan himself were omitted.
A comparison between the Introduction to the 1982 edition—termed
the “Introduction from the First Edition”—and the actual Introduction
to the 1949 edition reveals that the final third had been left out.
In it, Rav
Ilan describes how some of the topics in his book were reviewed “before
the Gedolei Torah of the Holy City of Jerusalem”:
"Several topics were discussed and elucidated through collegial Torah
argumentation in the centers of Torah in which I sat during the compilation of this work. This is the great yeshiva, the central institution,
Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, whose founder is the great rabbi, the Gaon,
our strength, Master of Israel, Rabbi AY HaCohen Kook, OBM, "
3. Rav Yitzḥak Schulzinger
Now we come to the most drastic example of a man’s life and works being
completely recast by his sons.
Rav Yitzḥak Schulzinger was born in
Siemiatycze, Poland, in 1904. As a youth, he learned in the Radin Yeshiva.
He made aliyah in 1924 and learned in Mercaz HaRav for ten years, receiving semikha from Rav Kook and Rav YM Charlap.
In the winter of
1934 he married and became the rav of Kfar Ganim.
In 1935, we find his
approbation on the compilation Mi-Peninei Ha-Rambam alongside those of
Rav Kook and Rav Charlap.
Rav Schulzinger published Imrot Yitzḥak on
Bereshit—a compilation of weekly lectures delivered during his tenure as
rabbi in Haifa.
In the front of the book, alongside his semikhot from Rabbis
Kook, Charlap, and Abba Yaacov Borochov, he published approbations
from Rav Charlap; Rav Yitzḥak Arieli; Rav Shalom Natan Raanan, the
son-in-law of Rav Kook and director of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav; and the
Chief Rabbis of the time, Rav Herzog and Rav Ben Zion Meir Ḥai Uzziel.
It even included a letter from the director of the Chief Rabbinate’s office,
Rav Yaacov Barukh.
In his Introduction (p. 2), Rav Schulzinger describes
how:
"I was fortunate to bask in the holy shadow of our teacher, the holy
light of Israel, crown jewel of his generation, my master and teacher,
Rabbi of all Israel, The first Chief Rabbi in Eretz Yisrael, the great
Gaon, Rabbi AY HaCohen Kook, OBM, the priest and judge of the
Holy Place […] Our teacher OBM led and judged the entire nation
righteously, dedicating his life for what is just and viewed favorably
by the entire nation […] For many years I was privileged to pour
water on his holy hands, to listen to his teachings on halakha, aggada,
musar, theology, and esoterica. And all of it was delivered ‘from the
mouth of the High Priest in holiness and purity…"
Further on, Rav Schulzinger continues to praise Yeshivat Mercaz
HaRav and to quote the teachings of Rav Kook.
Here too, however, the biography of Rav Schulzinger, his connection
to Rav Kook’s circle, and his book, published just seven years before his
death, were not enough to save him when his sons proceeded to get involved with his life and writings.
In Bnei Brak, in 1974, fifteen years after
his death, a second publication of Imrot Yitzḥak was released by his sons.
In the Introduction, Rav MM
Schulzinger publicized a biography of his father, in which he describes
at length how his father learned in the yeshivot of Europe, mainly in Radin, where he incurred the favor of the Chofetz Chaim. He continues at
length, quoting from the Introduction to Imrot Yitzḥak and from a letter
his father received from Rav Naftali Tropp. Yet when he reaches the year
1924, when his father came to Israel and entered Mercaz HaRav to learn
under Rav Kook, not a word is mentioned, other than this laconic sentence:
“And he learned in Jerusalem for ten years until he married.”
The
son makes no mention of, nor even hints at, which yeshiva his father
learned in, whom he learned from, which teachers he was close to, who
gave him semikha, who gave approbations to his books, and whom he valued most over all his other teachers.
Afterword:
Over the course of this article, we have surveyed blatant examples of how
descendants, firmly grounded in the Charedi world of our time, dealt with
the fact that their ancestors were, in their own generation, personally, and
sometimes ideologically, connected strongly to Rav Kook, his circle, and
Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav. Sometimes, they took relatively minor steps,
such as omitting approbations from republished books. In some cases,
they took bolder actions, such as eliminating important biographical details of their fathers’ histories. And in other cases, as we have seen, they
took drastic measures to interfere with the actual bodies of work that appeared in print.
This behavior is consistent with the general attitude towards revisionism as an accepted historiographical tool in the Charedi world.
It arises
from the combination of a desire to maintain ideological hegemony in
which little legitimacy is accorded to modernity in general, and to the State
of Israel in particular, with an accepted norm that prefers the bending of
historical details to pedagogical concerns.
Yet, on the other hand, one
can still wonder:
What drives these descendants, in so many instances, to
distance themselves from the fundamental paths of their ancestors, to the
point where they are unwilling to lay out the facts as they occurred, and
making it impossible to relate to the fathers?
7 comments:
Artscroll does not have a biography of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l
It's known fact that Rav Kook was a tremendous gaon in all areas of Tora. He had a huge effect on many many talmidim of his time, many of which eventually grew and became leaders of klal yisrael.
The reason for the two-steps-back that the chareidi world took towards him is twofold which in essence is one. When it became clear much later what heritage came out of him and his hashkafos, reason to doubt his unique derech set in and set in deep. Suddenly it was realized how off the beaten path he went and the ramifications it had on klal yisrael. Also, the fact that the mizrachi so embraced him as their great leader and moreh derech automatically caused a distance to the chareidi heritage.
It should also be mentioned that even in his times, there was a school of gedolei olam that negated his derech and what he stood for, down to the core. Rav Chaim Brisker was one if them, followed by his illustrious son, the Brisker Rov.
9:23
His Bio is in the Artscroll Pesach Haggaddah
In one of the volumes written by the holy Leshem, Reb Aryea Levin Writes a biography of the Leshem. There he writes about in great detail the close relationship that the Leshem and Rav Kook had. They were close friends from Europe from Telz and there relationship spanned till the end of the Leshems life and the Leshem had Rav Kook write his matzeivah......
It's known that the Leshem said about Rav Kook that "it's never been created the soap that can clean away a מחשבת כפירה"
Sorry to inform you, the artscroll biography of R. Eliyashiv DOES mention Rav Kook and does so in glowing terms. It mentions the wedding, coat and overall friendship. All of it.
1:53
"כל הפוסל במומו פוסל"
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