Why Was Rav Kook z"l Hounded and Banned by Chareidim?

by Tzvi Fishman

 ASK THE RABBI

Question

If Rabbi Kook was the leading Torah Sage of his generation, as you maintain, why was he scorned by the Haredi community in Jerusalem? Even today his books are banned from Haredi yeshivot?

Answer:

In 1921, Rabbi Kook succeeded in establishing the Chief Rabbinate of the Land of Israel. A committee of Rabbis from all over the country nominated him as Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi. To oversee matters pertaining to the Sephardic community, Rabbi Yaakov Meir was appointed. They worked together to secure positive working relations with the British Palestine Authority which agreed to recognize the Chief Rabbinate as the official voice of Judaism in the Holy Land.

The Haredi Zealots of the Old Yishuv came out in fierce opposition to this development, fearing they would lose their control over religious matters in the country, and over the monies allotted to religious institutions, and lose their control over the charity money sent by Jewish benefactors in Europe and America to sustain the poor, Ultra-Orthodox community in the Holy City.

In a fierce campaign of slander which knew no limits, they sought to portray Rabbi Kook as a Reform Zionist Rabbi, and a destroyer of the faith, labeling him in their letters of protest and street posters, “Oto HaEish” - the new Christian messiah.

While it is true that Rabbi Kook sought to judge the Zionist Movement in a positive light for its contributions toward the re-establishment of national Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael, a great and eternal foundation of Torah and the exalted vision repeated again and again by the Prophets of Israel, he actively fought to rectify its shortcomings more than anyone else. For example, in his support of the religious Mizrachi Movement in the World Zionist Congress elections, he wrote:

“We know from the eternal truth of the matter, that above of all the aspirations and demands of the Congress which must find expression and actualization in the life of the Jewish People, regarding the work of building and developing our Nation in our Land, one supreme aspiration, and one supreme goal stands elevated from all the rest – the aspiration that the pure and holy spirit of Judaism, which is the soul of the National Revival and the secret of its survival and growth, shall be championed above all other ideologies and movements.”

The extremist Zealots of the Haredi community never gave Rabbi Kook a chance.

Even though the leading Torah scholars of the Old Yishuv held Rabbi Kook in great esteem and remained aloof from the controversy, the Zealots plastered posters around the city, proclaiming: “THE NEW SHABATAI TZVI HAS ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM, PARTNER TO THE DEVIL!” Another placard read: RABBI OF THE ZIONISTS, DESTROYER OF JUDAISM!”

As his book, Orot, was being prepared for printing, his son, HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, found the courage to warn his father that certain passages were bound to rouse the anger of his detractors. In particular, his son cited an essay which praised the physical exercise of the young Zionist pioneers, emphasizing its spiritual importance to the Nation, as well as it’s physical. It was a theme Rabbi Kook had developed while observing the youth of Tel Aviv sprint along the Jaffa beach. He wrote:

“The exercise that the Jewish youths in the Land of Israel engage in to strengthen their bodies in order to be powerful sons of the Nation, enhances the spiritual powers of the exalted Tzaddikim, who engage in mystical unifications to increase the Divine light in the world. The one cannot stand without the other.

“If youths engage in sport to strengthen their physical ability and spirit for the sake of the Nation’s overall strength, this holy endeavor raises up the Shechinah, just as it is raised by the songs and praises of David, King of Israel, in the Book of Psalms.”

Rabbi Kook’s son, HaRav Tzvi Yehuda, suggested that his father chose less emphatic wording, or else remove the deep, but potentially provoking insights from the book.

“To alter the truth is impossible,” his father replied. “If people oppose me, or don’t yet understand, we still must teach the truth. A powerful new reincarnation of Am Yisrael is emerging in the form of an independent Nation which will need physical valor and strength along with strength in Torah. Our task is to proclaim these truths, even though it may take people time to recognize them.”

HaRav Tzvi Yehuda’s qualms about the passage proved correct.

In the Haredi neighborhood of Meah She’arim, the book, “Orot,” was burned. An effigy of Rabbi Kook was hung outside a main shteibl and set ablaze. The Zealots who hung up his effigy succeeded in persuading the Torah Elders of the Old Yishuv to sign on a proclamation banning the “heretical” text.

Not satisfied with inciting the Haredi community in Jerusalem against the author of the book, they sent a delegation to a Rabbinic convention in Vienna to persuade the Rabbis of Europe to sign on the ban condemning Rabbi Kook. In the lobby of the hotel where the Chofetz Chaim was staying, they passed the letter to his gabai, requesting to meet with him. Dutifully, the gabai brought the envelope to the famous Rabbi’s room. “Two shlichim who have arrived from Yerushalayim gave me this letter which they say is from the elder Rabbis of the Old Yishuv.”

Glancing at the letter, the Torah Gadol threw it to the floor, as if it was something impure.

“The holy Gaonim of Yerushalayim would never write such a letter, denigrating the prince of our Torah, the holy Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, HaRav Kook,” the Chofetz Chaim exclaimed. “We should rend our garments! Tell these Zealots that I will not receive anyone who stirs a controversy against the esteemed Rabbi of Yerushalayim whom I have the great privilege to know. He is holy and pure, and whoever harms him will not be forgiven!”

The Chofetz Chaim was not the only Torah luminary who held Rabbi Kook in the highest esteem. All of the Gedolim of the era recognized his Torah greatness. Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, head of the Etz Haim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, remarked regarding Rabbi Kook, “We are Gedolim only until we reach his doorstep.”

Concerned that his parents would suffer great pain when they heard the terrible things being voiced against him and against his writings, Rabbi Kook wrote them a letter:

“To my revered and cherished Parents, light of my heart, beloved beacons of my life - once again I apologize for not having written to you sooner, but the endless duties of the Rabbinate in Jerusalem, and the need to be a servant to our People in this glorious time of Redemption in Eretz Yisrael, leave little time for my personal duties and the writing of letters. Please pay no attention to any grumbling that you may hear over my book, “Orot.” People unaccustomed to studying the deeper treasures of Torah often react with hostility to things which seem new in their eyes, even though they be based on ancient and holy sources. I implore my dear Parents not to be pained by any of these matters. I carry on in the work of Hashem, whose seal is truth, not fearing opposition or insult. It is my task to elucidate matters which, in days to come, with the help of God, will bring benefit and bring honor to the People of Hashem and strength to the Torah. Things that I wrote are indeed part of the hidden mysteries, and I allowed myself to reveal them because it is ‘a time to act on behalf of Hashem,’ since the needs of the generation demand clear illumination. Greater and better men than I have suffered people’s slander because of similar matters, when their souls compelled them, for the sake of the generation, to speak new words and to reveal hidden matters, to which the normal intellect is unaccustomed….”

Rabbi Harlop informed his teacher of the distressing events which had taken place surrounding the book’s publication. “Among other things, the Zealots claim that by praising anything related to the secular Zionists, religious youth could be pulled away from the Torah.”

Rabbi Kook replied: “The Zealots distort this essay and alter its meaning with the outrageous claim that I agree to the playing of soccer on the holy Sabbath, and other accusations too unworthy to mention. While the depths of this matter may not be readily comprehensible to people who have never tasted the secrets of Torah, the fact is that the soul, without a healthy body, cannot be sustained. The Israelite Nation today, in its rebirth and rebuilding, requires both physical and spiritual prowess. Don’t these people understand, even on the simplest level, that we are encircled by enemies who object to our being here, and that we need physical strength and valor to defend ourselves against all those who seek our destruction?”

“They claim that Hashem safeguards all those who learn and uphold His Torah,” HaRav Tzvi Yehuda said.

“That is a mistaken understanding,” his father explained. “Moshe, Yehoshua, and David HaMelech were all Masters of Torah, but when the Nation was threatened by enemies, they led the way in battle. As David said, “Blessed be the L-rd, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” Many commandments in the Torah address the armies of Israel. Do these people forget all this?”

“I have heard many claim that the British will protect us,” Rabbi Harlop added.

A patient smile graced the face of Rabbi Kook. “With all due respect and heartfelt gratitude to Lord Balfour and the noble members of the British Parliament who have supported the Zionist cause in agreeing to help us establish a National Homeland for the Jews - our long and painful history amongst the nations clearly proves that we cannot depend on others. We look to the Almighty for Salvation, and we pray that He grants us the strength, and the means, to defend ourselves. In the battle against Amalek, and in subsequent wars, from the days of Moshe, our master, to the Maccabees, at the same time that we turned to Hashem in prayer, we faced our enemies in don-to-earth combat, with our physical prowess and our swords.”

Indeed, it didn’t take long before the words of the Rabbi Kook became prophetically true with the murderous Arab pogroms that befell the Jewish communities in Eretz Yisrael, in the year “Tarpat” - 1929. In most instances, British police and soldiers did not interfere and allowed Arabs to slaughter Jews at will.