In 1914, the saintly Rabbi A.I. HaCohen Kook initiated a month-long “Rabbis’ Journey” – with the participation of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlop, and several others - to the new non-religious settlements in the Land of Israel. A group of musicians and scholars is now seeking to parallel that journey by undertaking the “Journey of the Lights of Rav Kook” – a tour of Rabbi Kook’s profound poetry set to quiet jazz music, beginning this week in Jerusalem.
The performers are Rabbi Greg Wall and his “Later Prophets” band, featuring Shai Bachar on the keyboards, and Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein reading aloud his English translations of Rabbi Kook’s poetry – and the original Hebrew as well.
The journey will feature seven live performances in Israel, beginning Tuesday night in Rabbi Kook’s home (Beit HaRav )in downtown Jerusalem. Other performances will be held throughout this month in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Gush Etzion, Haifa and elsewhere.
The goal, Rabbi Marmorstein says, is to spread Rav Kook's extraordinary light throughout the world in an entertaining, thought-provoking and inspiring way. Rabbi Wall adds a “deeper message,” in that it models the paradigm of a Torah scholar who is also an artist. “Rabbi Kook is so inspirational,” he recently told IsraelNationalRadio’s Ben Bresky, “because he was so learned and he was able to transmit his knowledge to people at any level – and also has the reflective tendencies of an artist. It's a synthesis that you don't see too much of today.”
The show opens just as the religious world is about to commemorate the 74th anniversary of Rabbi Kook’s death this coming Sunday. Present at Beit HaRav for the occasion will be Rabbi She’ar-Yashuv Cohen, the Chief Rabbi of Haifa whose father, Rabbi David Cohen, the Nazir, was Rav Kook's closest disciple.
Joodayoh, a non-profit arts and education organization deeply involved in the cultivation of innovative arts projects that promote social justice, kindness and charity, is sponsoring the project. Joodayoh says that revenues from the tour will not cover the expenses, and is therefore asking for contributions to “help us bring Rav Kook to Israel.”
“Rav Kook's teachings are of tremendous relevance to our times,” says Rabbi Wall. “His emphasis on personal creativity, communal co-operation, the centrality of love and the holiness of all life offer deep guidance to spiritual seekers of all backgrounds. His deep- rootedness in the Torah and Jewish tradition make his universal teachings of compassion, tolerance and ‘fixing the world’ of particular importance to contemporary Jewry.”
Among the reviews:
"Rav Kook's poetry put to music is like the power of prophecy combined with jazz. Cool, passionate, inspired and magical; a breath of the yearning for redemption that only a song can convey." - Rabbi Naftali Citron, Carlebach Synagogue, NYC
"...will transport you, in words and music, to a holy place illuminated with new awareness of the seamless and oneness behind the illusion that is our fragmented world." - Rabbi Irwin Kula, Co-President, CLAL
For more information, click here and here.