Rare Photo of Rav Kook's Journey to the USA 1924

In the photograph, from right to left on the train: Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, Rabbi Kook, and to the left of Rabbi Kook stands, apparently, Leibush Shuchman, his well‑known attendant.

 Rabbi Kook’s Train Photograph from His Journey to America (1924)

The documentation center at Beit HaRav Kook has this special photograph, recently discovered among the belongings of Rabbi Yitzhak Arieli zt”l, a close disciple and friend of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook zt”l.

In the winter of 1924 (Hebrew year 5684), Rabbi Kook set out on a journey to the United States together with Rabbi Avraham Dov Kahana Shapira, the rabbi of Kovno, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein, head of the Slabodka Yeshiva, and other rabbis.

The purpose of the trip was to raise funds for yeshivot in Europe and the Land of Israel and to strengthen the connection between American Jewry and the deep, authentic Judaism of Israel and Europe.

Rabbi Kook’s route to America began at the Jerusalem train station, where he boarded a train bound for Alexandria, Egypt. His close companions who accompanied him were permitted to travel with him only as far as Gaza, the last station within the Land of Israel.

From the port of Alexandria, Rabbi Kook boarded a ship to Naples, Italy, and from there continued through several stops until reaching the United States.

In Naples, a moving story took place:

 Rabbi Kook met an acquaintance from the Land of Israel who told him that his wife was dying in the city and that even the doctors — including a professor brought specially from Vienna — had given up on her life.

Rabbi Kook visited her and blessed her with a full recovery. The woman recovered and lived in Jerusalem for more than twenty additional years.

In the photograph, from right to left on the train: Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, Rabbi Kook, and to the left of Rabbi Kook stands, apparently, Leibush Shuchman, his well‑known attendant.

Photo courtesy of the Arieli family.