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:
