Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook was born on the 16th of Elul 5625 (1865), to his father Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, a graduate of the Volozhin Yeshivah, and his mother Pearl in the town of Griva (Latvia). He was educated by his father, who was a mitnaged (antagonistic to Chasidut), but also connected with the Chabad followers of his hometown through his maternal grandfather, who was a well-known follower of the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe.
From his bar mitzvah, he studied under rabbis in nearby towns such as Lutsin, Dvinsk, and Smorgon, and at less than twenty years old, he was ordained by Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, the famous author of Aruch HaShulchan. In 5644 (1884), he married Alta Bat-Sheva, daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz Te’omim (known as the Aderet), then the rabbi of Ponevezh (Panevėžys, Lithuania) and later the rabbi of Jerusalem. He then studied for about a year and a half at the Volozhin Yeshiva, under the leadership of the Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, whom he later regarded as his primary teacher.
After his marriage in Nissan 5646 (1886), Rabbi Kook returned to study and live in Ponevezh near his father-in-law, the Aderet, and there his firstborn daughter Frieda Chana was born on the 17th of Tevet 5648 (1888). In 5648 (1888), he was appointed as the rabbi of Zaimel (Žeimelis, Lithuania), where he studied Kabbalah with Rabbi Shlomo Eliyashiv, the author of the Kabbalistic work, Leshem Shevo VeAchlamah and also composed his book Chevesh Pe'er on Tefillin.
After his wife's passing, he married her cousin, Rebbetzin Raiza Rivka. In 5655 (1895), he was chosen as the rabbi of Bausk (Bauska), and in 5662 (1902), he fulfilled his dream and made aliyah to the Land of Israel to serve as the rabbi of Jaffa.
The Jaffa period was the most productive in his writing, during which he wrote his books Orot, Orot HaKodesh, Olat Re'iyah, and more. In Av 5674 (1914), he left for the World Congress of Agudath Israel in Switzerland, and after a month was forced to remain in Europe with the outbreak of World War I. After three years, he was able to return to the Land of Israel.
From this period until his death, he reduced his philosophical writing and engaged in writing Halacha Berurah on the Talmud, and in public activities.
He established Degel Yerushalayim, a movement aiming to unite all Torah observers interested in settling the land and promoting Jewish sovereignty in it. During that time, he also established the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Merkaz HaRav Yeshivah.
In his final days, Rabbi Kook fell ill with lung cancer. Prayer gatherings were held in the summer of 5695 (1935) in Jerusalem, and a worldwide day of prayer was declared on the 24th of Tamuz. He passed away at the age of seventy, on the 3rd of Elul 5695 (1935), and was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Kook’s student, Baruch Duvdevani, recounted: In the last weeks of his life, the Rabbi lay on his sickbed, writhing in terrible pain, the dreadful disease had already gnawed at his life's marrow. A woman came to him and related that her daughter had suddenly gone mad. The doctors said that it would be impossible to cure her locally, and that they must immediately take her to Vienna. With great effort, she managed to obtain a passport, but the Italian consul was delaying the visa, as the formal arrangements took several days.
Rabbi Kook immediately sent a letter of recommendation to the consul, but to no avail. Despite the doctors' pleas and the cries of his household, with his abdomen bandaged and suffering from terrible pains, he himself went to the Italian consul. When the consul saw him, he was shocked, for the Rabbi was critically ill and newspapers had published reports about his severe medical condition. And here was the Rabbi himself standing before him! Of course, the consul immediately complied with the Rabbi's request and the visa was granted on the spot.
Baruch Duvdevani adds to the story: Rabbi Kook’s heart overflowed with boundless love not only for the entire Jewish people, but for each and every individual Jew. Once, I was in a group of dozens of students accompanying him as he returned from a brit milah ceremony in the Old City. On our way, a handful of heartless and mindless zealots attacked him and poured sewage water on him. The Rabbi was completely soiled with the filthy water. There was great agitation and emotions ran high.
Upon arriving at his home, important dignitaries came to express their disgust and revulsion at the terrible and shameful act. Among the visitors was the legal advisor to the British Mandatory government at the time, Norman Bentwich. He suggested that the Rabbi file a lawsuit against the zealots, and he would ensure that they would be expelled from the country. The Rabbi replied: "I have no business with lawsuits, and despite what they did to me, I love them, and I am even ready to kiss them out of great love. I am entirely burning with love for every Jew in Israel." All these words were said just a short time after this ugly incident...
A Jerusalemite Jew who used to hang posters against Rabbi Kook in the city streets came to him to ask for a donation, as he was in need. Rabbi Kook responded willingly. Rabbi Dr. Moshe Chigier, who was present in the room at the time, asked the Rabbi: "How can this be? This Jew openly opposes you and publishes posters defaming you!" Rabbi Kook replied: "When it comes to donations or acts of kindness towards others, I see nothing but the benefit of that person."
Rabbi Avraham Bik recounts: Once after the Shabbat evening prayers, heavy rain was falling outside. The worshippers, mostly yeshivah students, left the sanctuary. But my apartment was in the distant Nachalat Achim neighborhood, so I waited for the rain to stop. Rabbi Kook, who would regularly make Kiddush at seven o'clock in his adjacent apartment, remained in the sanctuary and studied Torah.
Suddenly I heard footsteps and noise on the stairs. I opened the door and saw dozens of young men from Me’ah She’arim and Batei Ungarin neighborhoods crowding the door, shouting: "On King George Street, a café owner is desecrating the Shabbat! Let the Chief Rabbi come with us, at least to protest. He must stop Shabbat desecration in the Holy City." "Let him go!" they all shouted as one. "He won't go! He's the rabbi of the Zionists... He won't go!" others answered mockingly.
“What are you shouting about, have you lost your minds?” I scolded them. I was ready for an argument and even a fight. But when I closed the door, I saw the Rabbi standing in the yeshivah hall, his head bowed. He must have heard the young men shouting on the stairs. After a while, he left the hall and entered his small room. Half an hour later, the rain subsided, and I wanted to leave, when I heard the Rabbi's slightly hoarse voice asking the Rebbetzin: "I think I saw a yeshivah student here? Where is he?" I hurried and presented myself before him. He said to me, "Please! Would you accompany me to the café on King George Street, to see what this is about?"
"What's this?" I pondered, "First he didn't want to go, and now he's changed his mind?" I helped him put on his coat, and we went down the empty street. When we reached the café, we found it locked shut. On the way back, as we reached a crossroads at the end of the street, we saw a man running towards us from across the way. It was Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum, a supporter of the yeshivah, accompanied by Rabbi Shalom Natan Ra'anan. We walked together, and Rabbi Teitelbaum was wondering what we were doing there. Rabbi Kook stopped and turned to me:
"How many people were in the courtyard?” he asked. “I think there were more than a quorum of ten men.”
"Certainly, there were more than ten for they crowded the entire staircase.” I replied.
"And why did they think that I would join them to protest against Shabbat desecration?" The Rabbi took Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum's hand and said, "If I had come and the restaurant was still open, it would have been my duty to warn the restaurant owner. And if he had not listened to me, I would have turned his actions into a public desecration of the Shabbat, because he was doing so before ten people. But when it is just he and I,” he pointed at me, “we would have been merely witnesses to the desecration."
"But now they will spread a rumor that the Rabbi refused to protest desecration of the Shabbat!"
"Never mind, never mind!" the Rabbi raised his hand. "We are already accustomed to doing things discreetly..."
(Translated from Malachim Kibnei Adam)
Of all the many facets of Rabbi Kook, his love for Israel stands out the most. As is clearly evident in these stories and throughout his life, the statement he added to his signature, "a servant to a holy people" was not empty rhetoric. He was entirely devoted to the Jewish People, and his love shaped all his actions and all his thoughts, both philosophical and halachic. Indeed, according to his opponents, his love was greatly exaggerated, but the Rabbi, befitting a Cohen, whom Moses describes as a man of loving-kindness, cleaved to the path of Aaron the High Priest and hoped to bring all creatures closer to the Torah.
The words of the Imrei Emet of Gur are well-known, that even those who oppose Rabbi Kook's views should recognize that everything he said and did came from pure love of Israel. It is not surprising, then, to discover that this trait also appears in a simple numerical analysis of his name. The value of “Rabbi Abraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook” (ןֵהֹּכַק הָחְצִם יָהָרְבַב אַרָה קּקו) equals 949, the same as the value of “Love of Israel” (לֵאָרְׂשִת יַבֲהַא), as well as the product of “love” (הָבֲהַא) and “wisdom” (הָמְכָח).
1. Deuteronomy 33:8.
