Thousands of people came on Friday to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, where they prayed at the grave of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook on the 76th anniversary of his passing.
Among the many people who came to pay their respects to the rabbi were students from yeshivas such as Mercaz Harav, Beit El, Elon Moreh, and others. Among the rabbis who took part were Rabbi Zalman Melamed, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, Rabbi Mordechai Sternberg, Rabbi Amiel Sternberg, and Rabbi Elyakim Lebanon.
“Rabbi Kook zts”l left his impression for generations,” Shomron Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, told Arutz Sheva. “The road he paved was in essence a road which connects the world of the Diaspora and the world of redemption. This is expressed both in his written works and in the entire way of thinking that he developed based on the foundations of Torah. It was a new way of thinking which symbolized the move from redemption to salvation.”
Yaakov Sternberg, a student at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, said, “Rabbi Kook was an outstanding rabbi of his generation. He was well-versed in halakha, in both the hidden and the revealed, and he gave us the message of redemption.”
One of the people who worked to make the ascension to the rabbi’s grave possible was MK Uri Ariel (National Union), who said that Rabbi Kook’s teachings make up a connection to the land of Israel.
“Many of the things that were written in the Diaspora are certainly holy works and are very important, but they came from ‘there’,” Ariel said. “In the land of Israel there are the commandments that are dependent on the land, there’s that entire being which is related to this excellent land. That’s what connects me to the important things that the rabbi said and wrote.”
Ariel said that in his opinion, more people should come out to Rabbi Kook’s grave on the anniversary of his death.
“Thank G-d we’ve had this day and we’ve been blessed to see thousands of people coming, but honestly, we should bring tens of thousands,” he said. “I’m sure that next year there will be many more and within a few years we’ll reach a situation in which tens of thousands of Jews will come up here, to his grave, to be strengthened, to study, and also to mark the anniversary of his death. With G-d’s help may we also see our Holy Temple on the Temple Mount.”
