Editing Abraham Isaac Kook (section)

==Thought==
{{excessive quotation|section|date=January 2024}}
[[File:פסק דין של גאוני ארץ על אותו האיש.jpg|thumb|Proclamation against Kook by rabbis Rosin, Brach and Greenwald (1926)]]
Kook wrote prolifically on both Halakha and Jewish thought.

In line with many orthodox interpreters of the Jewish religion, Kook believed that there was a fundamental difference between Jews and Gentiles. The difference between a Jewish and a Gentile soul was greater than the difference between the soul of a Gentile and an animal.
	
{{blockquote|“The difference between the Israelite neshama [spiritual soul]...and the neshama of all the nations, in their various grades, is greater and deeper than the difference between the nefesh [biological soul]... of man and the nefesh of animals. For between the latter there is only a quantitative difference, while between the former there exists a qualitative, essential difference.”<ref name="DISHON">{{cite journal | url= https://shi-webfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/Havruta_2008_Issue2_DavidDishon.pdf <!-- https://docslib.org/doc/8450671/gentiles-and-jews-in-the-thought-of-rav-kook --> | title = "The Beauty of Yefet in the Tents of Shem"- Gentiles and Jews in the Thought of Rav Kook | journal = Havruta: A Journal of Jewish Conversation |volume=1 |number=2 |date=Fall 2008 |pages=80–89 | first= David |last=Dishon |publisher=Shalom Hartman Institute | accessdate=2 October 2023}}</ref>}}

Kook maintained communication and political alliances with various Jewish sectors, including the secular Jewish [[Zionism|Zionist]] leadership, the Religious Zionists, and more traditional non-Zionist [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]].
===Inauguration of Hebrew University===
[[File:Picture of Rav Kook and his Yeshiva Faculty and Students.jpg|thumb|Students of Mercaz Harav Yeshiva]]
In 1928, Kook wrote a letter to Rabbi [[Joseph Messas]] (Chief Rabbi in [[Algeria]]), addressing certain misquotes which were erroneously being repeated in his name regarding a speech he gave at the inauguration of [[Hebrew University]]. The following are translated excerpts from the letter Kook wrote to Messas:

{{blockquote|
...from the time that I came to the Holy Land, it has been my goal to the best of my ability to draw also those who are estranged and speak to their heart, so that they will come close to Torah and mitzvot – including even those young people who want to develop their physical health so that they will have the strength to protect our holy nation in times of violence, Heaven forbid, at a time when vicious enemies rise up against us...in regard to Hebrew University, Heaven forbid that I should say regarding secular studies that 'From Zion will come forth Torah.'

To the contrary, I told them explicitly that I am afraid lest there come forth, Heaven forbid, a stumbling block from their hands if they reject the Torah and the fear of G-d and 'please themselves in the brood of aliens' [i.e., studies antithetical to Torah such as Biblical Criticism]. I brought them examples of this from the past, from the incidents that took place due to people's sins [during the Berlin Enlightenment], from which came forth groups that turned away from G-d and abandoned the source of living waters. But they must guard the holiness of Israel, teachers and students alike, and not follow foreign ideas nor turn aside from the Torah and the mitzvos. And even then, it is not from secular subjects that Torah will come forth, but rather when we support the holy yeshivas, which are dedicated solely to the holiness of the Torah.

Together with this, [I told them that] they should elevate the power of the tzaddikim and Torah giants who fear G-d. And the Central Yeshiva [Mercaz HaRav] in our holy and beautiful city, which we are toiling to establish and expand with G-d's help, will stand in its great glory. Then, upon the foundation of the holy yeshivas, I said that the verse 'From Zion will come forth Torah' will be fulfilled.

These words are explicit in my speech that I spoke at that time before the people, before all of the important officials who came to the celebration, and to the entire great crowd of thousands who came from the far ends of the Holy Land and from the lands of the Diaspora. So how can malicious people come to distort the words of the living G-d in a way that is so filled with wickedness and folly?...}}

===Theodor Herzl eulogy===
In 1904, Kook wrote a letter to his [[Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim|father-in-law]], addressing certain misquotes which were erroneously being repeated in his name regarding a speech he gave after [[Theodor Herzl]]'s passing:

{{blockquote|...Now, two gentlemen came to me… and requested me … since they were planning to gather in the bank building here to honor the memory of [[Theodor Herzl|Dr. Herzl]] and it was their finding that even those opposed to Zionism would not deny that there were in his heart thoughts concerning the betterment of Israel. Although unfortunately [Herzl] did not find the straight path, nevertheless, 'The Holy One does not withhold credit for even good talk.' It would be poor manners not to arrange a memorial in his honor in a public meeting place, such as the [[Bank Leumi|Anglo-Palestine Bank]] here. Therefore I promised them I would attend.

Understandably, once I agreed to come, I did not want to refuse to speak some words. I assessed that, God willing, benefit would derive from my words, inasmuch as the other speakers would not have the audacity to belittle God, His Torah, and the sages of Israel.

Thank God, this assessment proved correct. Of course, I spoke pleasantly and politely, but I did reveal the fundamental failure of their [the Zionists'] entire enterprise, namely the fact that they do not place at the top of their list of priorities the sanctity of God and His great name, which is the power that enables Israel to survive ... In my remarks, I offered no homage to Dr. Herzl per se.

What I did say was that such a thought of improving the situation of Israel in [[Eretz Israel]] would be worthwhile if we would rise to the occasion. It would require a return to God by observing and honoring the Torah, and a consensus that the foundation of all must be the power of Torah. Repenting of baseless hatred, and wholehearted peace-seeking as obligated [by Torah] would result in success because it would be close to God's will. We must make amends toward the future that the power of the sanctity of Torah be at the top of our list of priorities, that "the son of Yishai lead." If the will to improve materially will rest on Torah – then God will shine His face upon us and crown our every deed with success. At first, the salvation will be gradual, as our holy Rabbis remarked upon witnessing daybreak over the valley of Arbel, but after it will gain momentum, appearing as a great and wondrous light, as in the days of our Exodus from Egypt.

After [the address], others came to me and reported that some people read into my words ideas that I never intended ...}}

His empathy towards the non-religious elements aroused the suspicions of many opponents,<ref>{{cite web |date=1996-06-19 |title=אזמרך בלאמים - התיחסות גדולי ישראל לראי''ה קוק ולספרו ''אורות'' |url=http://yoel-ab.com/katava.asp?id=83 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208064858/http://yoel-ab.com/katava.asp?id=83 |archive-date=2015-12-08 |access-date=2016-01-07 |website=Yoel-ab.com}}</ref> particularly that of the traditional rabbinical establishment that had functioned from the time of [[Turkey]]'s control of greater Palestine, whose paramount leader was Rabbi [[Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld]]. However, Sonnenfeld and Kook deeply revered each other, evidenced by their respectful way of addressing each other in correspondence.

Kook remarked that he was fully capable of rejecting, but since there were enough practicing rejection, he preferred to fill the role of one who embraces. However, Kook was critical of the secularists on certain occasions when they violated Halacha (Jewish law), for instance, by not observing the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] or [[kashrut|kosher]] laws, or ascending the [[Temple Mount]].

Kook wrote rulings presenting his strong opposition to people ascending the Temple Mount, due to the Jewish Laws of impurity. He felt that Jews should wait until the coming of the Messiah when it will be encouraged to enter the Temple Mount. However, he was very careful to express the fact that the [[Western Wall|Kotel]] and the Temple Mount were holy sites that belong to the Jewish people.

Kook also opposed the secular spirit of the [[Hatikvah]] anthem and penned another anthem with a more religious theme entitled [[haEmunah]].

[[File:Rav-kook-letter-03.jpg|thumb|right|Rav Kook handwriting]]

[[File:RavEpsteinandRavMeltzer.jpg|thumb|Rav [[Isser Zalman Meltzer]] and Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein writing in support and defense of Rav Kook]]

[[File:D79ed795d796d799d790d795d79f21.jpg|thumb|Rav Kook with Rav [[Moshe Mordechai Epstein]] and Rav [[Avraham Duber Kahana Shapiro|Avraham Dov Ber Kahana]]]]

===Attitude toward Zionism===
While Kook is considered one of the most important thinkers in modern [[Religious Zionism]], his attitude towards the "Zionism" of his time was complex.

Kook enthusiastically supported the settlement of the land which Zionists of his time were carrying out. In addition, his philosophy "la[id] a theological foundation for marrying Torah study to Zionism, and for an ethos of traditional Judaism engaged with Zionism and with modernity".<ref name=mirsky>Yehudah Mirsky, ''Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution''</ref>{{rp|234}} And unlike many of his religious peers, he showed respect towards secular Zionists, and willingly engaged in joint projects with them (for instance, his participation in the Chief Rabbinate).

At the same time, he was critical of the religious-Zionist [[Mizrachi (religious Zionism)|Mizrachi]] movement of his time for "tamping down religious fervor and willingly accepting secondary status within the Zionist movement".<ref name=mirsky/>{{rp|150}} In 1917 he issued a proclamation entitled ''Degel Yerushalayim'', where he distinguished between "Zion" (representing political sovereignty) and "Jerusalem" (representing holiness), and arguing that Zion (i.e. Zionism) must take a cooperative but eventually subservient role in relation to Jerusalem.<ref name=mirsky/>{{rp|150}} He then went on to found a "Degel Yerushalayim" movement separate from the Zionist movement, though this initiative had little success.<ref name=mirsky/>{{rp|149–152}}