The celebrated Torah luminary and first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook (1865-1935) is recognized as being among the most important Jewish thinkers of all time. His writings reflect the mystic's search for underlying unity in all aspects of life and the world, and his unique personality similarly united a rare combination of talents and gifts.He was the undisputed leader of Religious Zionism, defining the Jewish People and the Land of Israel as entities with specific commandments in the Torah of Israel, a construct known as Torat Eretz Yisrael.
Rav Kook was a prominent rabbinical authority and active public leader, but at the same time a deeply religious mystic. He was both Talmudic scholar and poet, original thinker and saintly tzaddik.
Read his prescient words, a heartfelt call to today's Diaspora Jews - written a century ago:
The Land of Israel, Come to the Land of Israel, everyone.
Let us sound this rallying cry clearly, without pause.
Come to Eretz Yisrael. Beloved brethren, save your souls. The souls of your future generations, of our entire nation. Save it from desolation and waste, from decay and humiliation. Save it from evil and impurity, from the sorrow and distress to which it is subject in all the countries of other nations, without distinction.
Come to Eretz Yisrael. Let us call out in a resounding, thunderous voice, in a voice that sets off a storm and enflames the heaven and earth, a voice that penetrates all chambers of the heart.
Escape for your lives and come to the Land of Israel. It is the voice of God that is calling us. His hand is outstretched to us; His spirit, which we have in our hearts, is gathering us together, He is encouraging us, and He is compelling all of us to sound this great rallying cry:
Our brethren, the people of Israel, beloved and cherished fellow-Jews, come to Eretz Yisrael. Collect yourselves, one by one. Don’t wait for formal arrangements and procedures, don’t wait for official permits. Do everything you can. Escape and gather here in Eretz Yisrael.
“Pave the path for our beloved, oppressed people.” Show them that the way has already been paved and made ready. There is nothing to consider, there is nothing to explain, there aren’t any alternative paths and roads. We have one path stretching before us, and that is the path to take, the path that must be taken - to Eretz Yisrael and no other place.
“The first blossoms appear in the land.” (Song of Songs)
Come, dear brethren, and see how the rose of Jacob has taken root in the holy land. See how the spirit of Israel is blooming and awakening to life, a life of dignity and strength., My beloved, unhappy brothers living in lands of great darkness, do you know the great treasure of holiness and serenity, of delight and calm, of uplifted spirits and grandeur of soul, of sanctity of life, of the magnitude of the ideal and the refinement of feeling that lie in the heart of the Jewish people in the land of Israel? Dear fellow-Jews, can you imagine even a glimmer of the love felt for this beautiful land, “a resting place that is good and a land that is pleasant”?
Come to the land of Israel, Come and see the splendor of the desirable land, the majestic beauty of the Carmel and the Sharon, the majesty of the beautiful azure skies, of the pure, clear and temperate air that is found here even in the winter season of Tevet. Come and delight and rejoice in the pleasing land of delight, the land of life whose very air gives life to the soul, how beautiful and pleasant it is.
Come to Eretz Yisrael and “when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like young grass.” Come witness the renewal of our precious nation; watch as it shakes off the pain and fatigue of years spent wandering in bitter exile and slowly rises to its full stature. Come and experience the revival of its spirit, inspired by memories of resilience and genius, its majesty and splendor with every step forward.
Come and delight in memories that are better than the finest wine, that expand the soul and the mind. Memories of kings and nobles, memories of heroes and prophets, memories of beauty and might, of splendor and majesty. Come to Eretz Yisrael - here you will see the vision of all of this. Here you will know that you are alive, living a life that is worthy of its name, in the land of life.
Now the time has come for the revival of Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael. The necessity of the return to our homeland will encompass every aspect of the nation, whether material or spiritual, and especially the latter.
Ever since we were exiled from our land, the Torah has accompanied Israel in the exile. It moved from Babylon to France, to Spain, to Ashkenaz, to Poland, to Russia, and other places. And now how happy we would be if we could say that it has returned to its rightful place in Eretz Yisrael, together with the People of Israel, who are steadily increasing in the holy land.
And today, who is so blind that that they cannot see the Hand of God that is leading us, and who cannot feel a personal responsibility to take action with God? “Rabbi Jeremiah ben Eleazar said, ‘In the future a disembodied voice will explode in the tents of the righteous and say, Everyone who worked with God should come and take his reward.’”
Who can feel exempt from trying to do whatever they can to add blessings and to hasten the redemption? To awaken many other hearts to return to the holy land, the legacy given to us by God, to take possession of it, to settle it with commerce and buildings, by buying land, planting and sowing and in fact creating everything that is a source of proper organized civilized life.
Everyone should strive to contribute positively and encourage others to return to the holy land-our ancestral homeland-supporting its development through commerce, construction, agriculture, and everything that contributes to building a proper, well-ordered society.
We have a great responsibility to awaken the longstanding love for Zion, the eternal love that has always burned with a holy flame in the heart of our people wherever they were.
We must combat with all our might the hatred for Eretz Yisrael that began to percolate into some individuals among us.
With spiritual might and sanctified thinking, we must eliminate the corrupted perception of the Twelves Spies which has actually begun to dissipate in this favorable era. This defeatist attitude is making one final, desperate attempt but we can confidently assert, with trust in the God of the universe, that it resembles the final flicker of the wick before the flame is extinguished. The power of love of Eretz Yisrael , the love of Zion and Jerusalem will gain momentum and illuminate all of its beauty. It will draw all of its children - through human effort and bonds of love - to the beloved land, to the home of their lives.
The Word of our God will forever be fulfilled. The holiness of the land and love for it have never changed and never will. All of the bitter events, whether material or spiritual, that have befallen the holy land which might have diminished the love and honor felt for it or even led to alienation and even hatred, God forbid, none have had this effect.
Even its wastelands and ruins have only added to the love and compassion for the unfortunate motherland, have added to the love, honor, and value of the queen of kingdoms. And just as no physical destruction can reduce the deep, holy flame of love burning deep within the soul of the entire nation, so too no spiritual destruction, whether genuine let alone imagined, could diminish the love for the land of splendor, the land of life.
If the terrifying prophetic rebuke, that rebuke that could chill the blood that is boiling the hottest with love of Zion and Jerusalem, if the reprimand that tells the nation of God’s wrath: “For this city hath been to Me a provocation of Mine anger and of My fury from the day that they built it even unto this day, that I should remove it from before My face”. If this measure of wrath is not enough to cool the fervor of the nation’s enduring love for Zion, then our fear that any wrongdoing or error could weaken that unwavering and eternal connection is unfounded. They will pass like a small cloud over the sun shining brilliantly and the light of love of Zoon and the love of Eretz Yisrael will radiate even more strongly, exciting every heart and uplifting every spirit, sanctify and encourage.
In vain let the objectors from both side- the friends and the enemies - complain about the practical activity to settle our people on the holy land. These bleary-eyed people do not see the light, do not feel it. They do not recognize the enormous repository of life that we have even now in our land, they do not recognize the tremendous growing power that is already latent within it, they do not appreciate the great impact of this small community that is living on its land, the holy land. They are blind. If only they would have eyes to see inwardly, they who dwell in dark countries, then you too would be able to appreciate and take in the brilliance of the holiness, the everlasting joy, the abundant rivers of delights that overflow the heart of every individual of the people of Israel who lives in the holy land?!
Have you ever experienced the taste of the Garden of Eden?! My oppressed, unfortunate fellow Jews , my heart goes out to you. Listen and heed and your souls will become alive. Instead of the weakness of grief both obvious and hidden at seeing the desolation and destruction, at the sight of the upheaval caused by foreigners, at the sight of all the glory and splendor that has been shattered and broken, replace this mantle of melancholy with a shining lustrous light, a light that is restorative to the soul and comforting, that gives strength and offers hope.
“As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 66)
Excerpted from HaKeria Hagedola le-Eretz Yisrael, in Ma'amarei HaRe'iyah, vol. 2, pp. 323-325.
Translated from the Hebrew by Sharon Blass
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