The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook

One of the most important religious Jewish thinkers of the past century, Rav Kook is equally one of the most misunderstood. All Jewish denominations avoid him - unless when the case is for random use of his thoughts for their own use. The relative confusion and misunderstanding are due also to the limited access to his writings: he haven´t left massive commentaries or writings, and most of the references attributed to him are based on his diary writings edited by his son Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook and his student, ´The Nazir´, Rav David Cohen. In addition to this, his poetic Hebrew is not easily accessible therefore translations need to rely on more than a simple knowledge of the literal sense of the words but on a deeper religious meaning.

In The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook. The Writings of a Jewish Mystic, Ari Ze´ev Schwartz took upon himself the mission to translate into English the thoughts of the Rav, covering a variety of topics that are starting from the individual until the connection to the natural and the animal world.

The chore of the book relies on the ´four part song´: there are four types of people, each sing a different song of Jewish spirituality: 1. There is the song of the individual (through which a personal connection to one´s own soul, Gd, Torah, meaning of life, spiritual growth, prayer and creativity is made); 2. The song of the nation which has to do with topics of Jewish identity such as the Messianic times, the Zionism, the rebuilt of the Temple; 3. The song of humanity is the Jewish rendition on issues such as faith, science, liberal and progressive values and the relationships with other religions; 4. The song of creation, which embraces also details regarding animal rights and vegetarianism. All those four songs are supposed to be united into one person, as the creation itself is unique.

For each aspect and topic approached, the author makes a short overview and adds the selected quotes as direct proof the reader can use for further understanding. This perspective offers a comprehensive overview of Rav´s thinking, and may explain at a certain extent the frequent misuse of his thoughts: although the results of a subjective selection of the book author, those fragments are an extraordinary insights of the complexity of his perspective, that goes beyond the limited group thinking. 

One of the most important lessons Rav Kook offered was the kindness towards all fellow Jews, regardless the degree of religiosity, including the atheists. The righteous individual, the rabbi, should find the right way to communicate instead of excommunicate, through a higher understanding of the human nature. ´The purest tzaddikim (righteous individual) do not complain about evil, bjut instead increase righteousness. They should not complain about atheism, but instead increase faith. Do not complain about ignorance, but instead increase wisdom´. The complex knowledge of his religious perspective allows him to tolerate and learn the lessons from the non-religious, including by understanding that sometimes, the atheists are the best believers and their disappointment with religion has to do in fact with the unflexible approach of the religious institutions. ´We need to develop a spiritual outlook that will not focus on the negativities in secular values, but instead concentrate on transforming them into a more spiritual and beautiful form´. What a wise outlook in so dire need nowadays...

Rav Kook, with a Hasidic/Chabad background on his mother´s side, and a Litvish father, had extensive relationships with and knowledge of the literary and artistic world, as a friend of Shai Agnon and Bialik and supported the creation of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. In his opinion, the religious world needed the creative inspiration from the artistic realm. 

Noteworthy is also the complex outlook when it comes to the need on considering on an individual basis the different aspects of Jewish thought and law, including in organising the educational system: some individuals are more suited for halakha (legal) studies, while for the others, a different direction of thought of Judaism is more suited. Finding the right balance requires a vision and a deep knowledge of the human nature.

There are so many new pathways the book open through the selected translation of quotes. I´ve personally found inspiring the ones related to prayer. 

Here are the most significant ones: 

´The goal of prayer is not to change the will of Gd, since Gd cannot be subject to change. Instead, the goal is to be uplifted by the changes that happen to one during prayer so that one will be in line with the will of Gd´.

´Where one requests something in prayer, one must be careful that one´s intention is to remove evil and darkness from the world and to strengthen divine food and light´.

According to this point of view, the prayer is in itself a spiritual revolution that we are part thereof by every single word that we utter. With every prayer we make one step further towards self-acceptance and love, a significant step towards opening towards our fellow Jews and humans in general.

There is so much left from Rav Kook heritage to learn about and it is important to be aware of his complex revolution whose seeds are waiting to be planted. 

The book by Ari Ze´ev Schwartz is a valuable contribution towards the rightful understanding of the complexities of Rav Kook thoughts, beyond the sectarian approaches and simplifications. The spiritual revolution the Rav started is just at the beginning and the correct references are the most useful tools in moving forward on the right path, both at individual and especially at national levels.

Rating: 5 stars