Editing Abraham Isaac Kook (section)

==Controversy==
=== Criticism from rabbinic scholars ===
In formulating religious Zionism, Kook broke with many other Orthodox rabbis. 

Many Orthodox rabbis saw nothing but evil in the early Zionist pioneers who were hostile to religion, and in their belief that their labor rather than God would save the Jewish people.<ref name="Concentrating on Kook">{{cite news |last=Yudelson |first=Larry |date=29 December 2016 |title=Concentrating on Kook |url=https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/concentrating-on-kook/ |work=Jewish Standard |access-date=2023-05-02 |quote=In formulating religious Zionism, Kook broke with most other Orthodox rabbis, who saw nothing but evil in the early Zionist pioneers, with their atheism, their Sabbath desecration, and their belief that their labor rather than God would save the Jewish people.}}</ref> Kook on the other hand, defended their behaviour in theological terms, and even hailed them as playing a role, by their labors, in hastening the messianic deliverance. His stance was deemed heretical by the traditional religious establishment.<ref name="Bokser">{{cite book |author=Ben Zion Bokser |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtwXAAAAIAAJ |title=Conservative Judaism |publisher=Rabbinical Assembly |year=1981 |edition=1-3 |volume=35 |pages=26–30 |chapter=A letter by the Gerer Rebbe |quote=Many of them were not ritually observant; some were openly hostile to religion. Despite this, Rabbi Kook defended them, and even hailed them as playing a role, by their labors, in hastening the messianic deliverance. For the religious establishment of the old yishuv this was a heretical distortion which imperiled everything holy in Judaism, and they denounced Rabbi Kook as a misleader of his people.}}</ref>  

Although Kook was a very learned man, he was never accepted by the Haredi leadership.<ref name="Shapiro">{{Cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Rabbi Yaakov |title=The Empty Wagon |year=2018 |isbn=978-1647647926 |pages=488–608 |language=English}}</ref>
In 1921 his detractors bought up the whole edition of his newly published ''Orot'' to prevent its circulation,  plastering the offending passages on the walls of [[Meah Shearim]].<ref name="KaplanShatz1995">{{cite book |author=Shalom Carmy |title=Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Jewish Spirituality |publisher=NYU Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8147-4653-0 |editor=Lawrence J. Kaplan |page=227 |chapter=Dialectic, Doubters, and a Self-Erasing Letter (Notes) |editor2=David Shatz |editor3=Kayann Short |editor4=Abouali Farmanfarmaian |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5gUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA227}}</ref> Later, an anonymous pamphlet entitled ''Kol Ha-Shofar'' appeared containing a declaration signed by rabbis Sonnenfeld, Diskin and others saying: "We were astonished to see and hear gross things, foreign to the entire Torah, and we see that which we feared before his coming here, that he will introduce new forms of deviance that our rabbis and ancestors could not have imagined …. It is to be deemed a sorcerer's book? If so, let it be known that it is forbidden to study [let alone] rely on all his nonsense and dreams."<ref name="Mirsky2014">{{cite book |author=Yehudah Mirsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IDt9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |title=Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution |date=February 11, 2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-16424-4 |page=168 |quote=There quickly followed a pamphlet banning Orot, which included frontal attacks on Kook and Charlap, and a declaration signed by Zonnenfeld, Diskin, and others: "We were astonished to see and hear gross things, foreign to the entire Torah, and we see that which we feared before his coming here, that he will introduce new forms of deviance that our rabbis and ancestors could not have imagined… He turns light to darkness, and darkness to light... It is to be deemed a sorcerer's book, and let it be known that it is forbidden to study [let alone] rely on all his nonsense and dreams.}}</ref> It also quoted [[Aharon Rokeach]] of [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)|Belz]] who stated "And know that the rabbi from Jerusalem, Kook - [[Yimakh shemo|may his name be blotted out]] - is completely wicked and has already ruined many of our youth, entrapping them with his guileful tongue and impure books."<ref name="Uffenheimer2005">{{cite book |author=[[Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqfXAAAAMAAJ |title=הרעיון המשיחי מאז גירוש ספרד |publisher=Magnes Press |year=2005 |isbn=9789654931830 |page=234 |language=he |quote=בקונטרס זה מופיע בפעם הראשונה דימויו של הרב קוק לשבתי צבי "וקאי באיסורא כיחידאי דאיהו נמי שיטתיה כיחידאי הש״ץ״. ולפני שהוא מביא ממאמרי הרב באות ׳תעודות׳ כגון מכתב בנו של הרבי מבלז, המזכיר את דברי הרבי: "וידוע דהרב דשם מירושלים ושמו קוק ימ"ש הוא רשע גמור וכבר טימא כמה צעירי עמנו ע"י מצודתו של חלקות לשונו ובספרים הטמאים, וד' יזכנו ויעביר רוח הטומאה מכל נפוצות עמו, ונזכה לעלות לציון ברנה, וכשנזכה שיהי' עת רצון מהש"י ולא עתה על ידיהם}}</ref> Returning to Poland after a visit to Palestine in 1921, Rabbi [[Avraham Mordechai Alter]] of [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Ger]] wrote that he endeavoured to calm the situation by getting Kook to renounce any expressions which may have unwittingly resulted in a [[Chillul Hashem|profanation of God's name]]. He then approached the elder rabbis of the Yishuv asking them to withdraw their denunciation. The rabbis claimed that their intention had been to reach a consensus on whether Kook's writings were acceptable, but their letter had been surreptitiously inserted by Kook's critics in to their inflammatory booklet without their knowledge.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

In 1926 a harsh proclamation was issued against Kook that contained letters from three European rabbis in which [[Yosef Rosin]] referred to him as an "ignorant bore", Shaul Brach intimated that his Hebrew initials spelt the word "vomit" and likened him to [[Jeroboam|King Jeroboam]] known for [[Maisit|seducing the masses to idolatry]], and [[Eliezer David Greenwald]] declared him an untrustworthy authority on Jewish law adding that his books were full of heresy and should be burnt.<ref>[https://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/Hebrew/digitallibrary/pages/viewer.aspx?presentorid=NNL_Ephemera&DocID=NNL_Ephemera700174944 פסק דין של גאוני ארץ על אותו האיש]</ref> 

When Jewish prayers at the [[Western Wall]] were [[Western Wall#September 1928 disturbances|broken up by the British in 1928]], Kook called for a fast day, but the ultra-Orthodox community ignored his calls.<ref>{{cite book |author=Yehudah Mirsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TB_BAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |title=Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution |date=February 11, 2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-16555-5 |page=197 |quote=When Rav Kook called for public fasts on October 22, 1928, to protest the indignities at the Kotel, the ultra-Orthodox ignored him, as they studiously ignored every prayer meeting and fast day that he called.}}</ref>

In response to a letter from Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky of Eidah Hachareidit on whether they could partner with the Chief Rabbinate led by Kook, [[Elchonon Wasserman|Rabbi Elchonon Bunim Wasserman]] wrote: "I have heard that there was a suggestion that there should be a partnership between the Eidah Hachareidis and the Chief Rabinate . . . It is well known that the monies from that fund go to raise deliberate heretics, and therefore someone who encourages people to support such a fund is a ''machti es harabim'' (causes the public to sin) on the most frightful level . . . thus, besides the prohibition of befriending a wicked person, since we see that he praises ''resha'im'' (evil doers), there would also be an issue of an enormous ''chillum Hashem'' (desecration of G-ds name) throughout the world..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wasserman |first=Rabbi Elchonon |title=Kovetz Maamrim vol. 1 |pages=153 |language=Hebrew}}</ref>

[[Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern|Rabbi Yitzchak Zelig Morgenstern]], the Rebbe of Sokolov also wrote against Kook, saying, "Rav Kook, although he is a full and robust ''talmid chacham'' as well as an excellent orator, cannot be considered among the successors and perpetuators of the ''geonim'' (genius rabbinic scholars) and ''tzaddikim'' (righteous leaders) of the past generations. Rav Kook is already connected with the spirit of the time, and speaks greatly about the ''techiyas umaseinu'' (our national rebirth). And despite the moral and religious decline of our generation, he sees in his mind's eye the ''techiyas hale'um'' (nationalistic rebirth) and the like, and he assigns to the Chief Rabbinate an important role in that process."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sonnenfeld |first=Shlomo Zalman |title=B'Dor Tahafuchos |pages=358 |language=Hebrew}}</ref>

It was claimed that Rabbi [[Solomon Eliezer Alfandari]] attributed the Chofetz Chaim's failed move to the land due to the disputes surrounding Rabbi Kook.<ref>Testimony of R Asher Zelig Margolis, quoted in Hamodia Inyan xxxiv no 1177, p.67. "The Saba explained that in Heaven it had been decreed that the Chafetz Chaim's seforim would be accepted by the entire Jewish people. If he was to come to Eretz Yisrael, he would visit R. Kook, which would cause R. Kooks rivals to reject him. He would also visit R. Sonnenfeld, which would cause R. Sonnenfelds rivals to reject him."</ref>

=== Support from rabbinic scholars ===
Although it seems that many Orthodox rabbis opposed Rabbi Kook,<ref name="Concentrating on Kook" /><ref name="Bokser" /><ref name="Shapiro" /> there were many who spoke out in his support. 

In a 1921 letter, Rav [[Tzvi Pesach Frank|Zvi Pesach Frank]] noted that "(t)he Gaon, our Master RAY Hakohen Kook (may he live) was accepted here as Rav by the majority of the Holy Community here." (Rabbi [[Chaim Hirschensohn]], ''Malki Ba-Kodesh IV'' (St. Louis: Moinester Printing Co., 5679 – 5682), Letter 10 (dated 18 Adar Sheni, 5681, 1921), pp. 43-44)

The Gerrer Rebbe, the [[Imrei Emes]], said in a letter about Rav Kook that  "most of the inhabitants of the Holy City and many of the rabbis side with him" (originally published in "Der Jud", the Warsaw newspaper of the [[World Agudath Israel|Agudah]], May 27, June 3, and June 10, 1921 issues, partially republished in "[[Algemeiner Journal]]" (June 5, 1992) and republished in Orot translated by Bezalel Naor, page 28 in 1993 edition) and verified Rav Kook's righteousness and Torah scholarship, despite disagreeing strongly with certain of his religious philosophies regarding secular Zionists. 

In a letter to Rabbi Kook, Rabbi [[Isser Zalman Meltzer]] and Rabbi [[Moshe Mordechai Epstein]] greeted Rabbi Kook with "Our honored friend, the great gaon and glory of the generation, our master and teacher, Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen, shlita". Meltzer was also quoted as saying "Let them, any of us, pray on Yom Kippur the way Rav Kook prays on an average weekday."<ref>{{cite book |author=Yehudah Mirsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TB_BAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |title=Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution |date=February 11, 2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-16555-5 |page=202 |quote=A major scholar of impeccable ultra-Orthodox credentials, Meltzer resolutely defended Kook against attackers on the right. He was wont to say, "Let them, any of us, pray on Yom Kippur the way Rav Kook prays on an average weekday."}}</ref>  

Rabbi [[Isser Zalman Meltzer]] also once said to the famed Rabbi [[Chaim Ozer Grodzinski|Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky]] from Vilna, “The two of us are considered Torah giants until we reach the door of Rabbi Kook’s office.” (cited by Rabbi [[Eliezer Melamed]], Israel National News, August 8, 2013). 

There are also some rabbis who spoke very highly of Kook in greetings of the letters they sent to him.

[[Chaim Ozer Grodzinski]]: "Our friend, the gaon, our master and teacher, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, shlita" and "The Glory of Honor, My Dear Friend, Ha-Rav Ha-Gaon, Ha-Gadol, the Famous One... The Prince of Torah, Our Teacher, Ha-Rav Avraham Yitzchak Ha-Cohen Kook Shlita..."<ref>Bisdeh Ha-Re'eiyah p. 236, Chayei Ha-Re'eiyah pp. 388-389, Igrot Le-Re'eiyah #316 and Melachim Kivnei Adam pp. 106-107. Maran Ha-Rav's response is found in Shut Da'at Cohain #223</ref>

[[Boruch Ber Leibowitz]]: "The true gaon, the beauty, and glory of the generation, the tzaddik, his holiness, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak, may his light shine, may he live for length of good days and years amen, the righteous Cohen, head of the beis din [court] in Jerusalem, the holy city, may it soon be built and established."

[[Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn]] of Lubavitch: "The Gaon who is renowned with splendor among the Geonim of Ya'akov, Amud HaYemini, Patish HaChazak..."{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

[[Chatzkel Abramsky]]: "The honored man, beloved of Hashem and his nation, the rabbi, the gaon, great and well-known, with breadth of knowledge, the glory of the generation, etc., etc., our master Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook, shlita, Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel and the head of the Beis Din in the holy city of Jerusalem"{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The “[[Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz|Chazon Ish]],” addressed Rabbi Kook as “our royal and respected Rabbi.” (cited by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Israel National News, August 8, 2013). 

[[Yitzchak Hutner]]: "The glorious honor of our master, our teacher and rabbi, the great gaon, the crown and sanctity of Israel, Maran [our master] Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook, shlita!"{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The [[Yisrael Meir Kagan|Chofetz Chaim]] condemned a pamphlet that was put out against Rabbi Kook,<ref name="SzalaiHorváth2007">{{cite book |author1=Anna Szalai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AQM_AQAAIAAJ |title=Previously unexplored sources on the Holocaust in Hungary: a selection from Jewish periodicals, 1930-1944 |author2=Rita Horváth |author3=Gábor Balázs |publisher=International Institute for Holocaust Research, Yad Vashem |year=2007 |isbn=978-965-308-300-4 |page=32 |quote=According to the report, Chofetz-Chaim condemned the pamphlet against Kook as well.}}</ref> and said about Rav Kook "that he is holy and pure, and whoever harms him will not be absolved." (Simcha Raz, An Angel Among Men, page 244)

Rabbi [[Shlomo Zalman Auerbach]]: "In the time of Rabbi Kook, the majority of Torah giants were 'all as if nothing' compared to him.” (cited by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Israel National News, August 8, 2013). 

Rabbi [[Yosef Shalom Elyashiv]]: Owing to the close relationship Rabbi Kook had with his grandfather, the Leshem, Rabbi [[Shlomo Elyashiv]], Rabbi Kook made the match of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and his wife, who was the daughter of Rabbi Kook's close student, Rabbi [[Aryeh Levin]]. Rabbi Kook officiated at their wedding, and Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv later chose Rabbi Kook to be the Kohen (Priest) to redeem his oldest son, Shlomo, at his Pidyon Ha-Ben. Rav Elyashiv revered Rav Kook for both his piety and his Talmudic erudition. Rav Elyashiv would do all he could to silence those who would criticize Rav Kook and attempt to diminish his stature. He would frequently describe Rav Kook’s saintliness at his Shabbat table and occasionally reminisce about the times he attended ''seudah shelishit'' in his home. (From the book ''Yisa Shalom: Choveret al Rav Kook v’Rav Elyashiv,'' published in Israel and cited to in the OU magazine [[Jewish Action]], Summer 2013 issue, in the article Rav Kook & Rav Elyashiv, by Rabbi Dr. [[Tzvi Hersh Weinreb]], executive vice president, emeritus of the [[Orthodox Union]]).

Rabbi [[Ovadia Yosef]] said of Rabbj Kook that he was "a great man" and it is "forbidden to speak against him." Rabbi Yosef further called Rabbi Kook "Tzaddik Yesod Olam" (a righteous man upon whom the world stood) and a "Malach Elokei Tzivakaot" (Holy Angel of the L-rd). (Rav Ovadia's own words, recorded and posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z_DEcGFfKI)