The Ministerial Committee for Legislation will decide today (Sunday) whether to place the coalition's support behind a law for memorializing Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi in pre-state Israel and a giant spiritual luminary, as well as writer of Judaic works, philosopher and poet, seen as the father of modern religious Zionism.
If the government supports the law, it is expected to pass in the first reading in the course of this week.
The law would set an official “Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook Day” for “educational and value-oriented” activities in state institutions, the IDF and schools. In addition, there would be scholarships for students and support for public institutions that spread Rabbi Kook's teachings. These activities would be supervised by a public committee made up of representatives of the Rabbinate and the government.
The bill was drafted by former MK Nissan Slumiansky and proposed by MK Uri Ariel (National Union), along with MKs Ze'ev Elkin and Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) and David Rotem (Israel Our Home). It is part of the MKs' activity for marking 75 years since the Rabbi's passing.
The law was modeled on the law for commemorating modern Zionist founding father Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl.
In the explanatory notes to the bill, the MKs say that Rabbi Kook “does not belong to one sector of society.” Rather, “his figure and heritage belong to the entire Nation of Israel and the entire nation should be exposed to the great richness of thought, literature, rulings in Jewish law and renewal of the Jewish people that exist in his heritage.”