In 1914, Rabbi Kook, then Rabbi of Jaffa, was invited to attend the Agudat Yisrael Congress which was to take place in Berlin. The Rabbi of Jaffa could not decide whether to travel there or not. On the one hand, he did not want to leave the Holy Land, even for a short official visit abroad. In addition to his marriage-like love for the Cherished Land, he was busy day and night with his many educational endeavors, Rabbinical duties, as well as his Halakhic and philosophical writings. On the other hand, the conference could influence the Zionist cause in a positive way, or, Heaven forbid, adversely, and conceivably damage the further settlement of Eretz Yisrael.
Many important Rabbis looked favorably upon the Zionist enterprise, while other influential Torah leaders viewed the efforts of the secular pioneers with skepticism and outright disdain. Rabbi Kook felt that his presence at the large assembly could encourage the Rabbis to support the resettlement of Israel, or at least persuade them not to discourage Diaspora Jewish communities from making Aliyah. In addition, he believed that by attending the convention, he could find people who could help him raise the funds needed to hire religious school teachers for the struggling moshavim in Eretz Yisrael which were supplying the fruits, vegetables, eggs, and poultry for the growing Jewish population.
In a letter to his son, Tzvi Yehuda, who was in Europe, studying at a yeshiva, Rabbi Kook wrote:
“It is exceedingly difficult for me to decide in regard to the request of Agudat Yisrael to journey to Berlin for the Rabbinical Congress. My son, you know how heavy the thought weighs on me to travel outside the Land, even for a temporary departure, though I invest great value in my participation in an assembly of Torah scholars like the Rabbis of Agudat Yisrael. The problems surrounding my going overpower me. I lack my soul’s consent for this, the time presses me to decide, and here I stand pressured without knowing how Hashem will put it in my heart to reach a solution."
Much later, Rabbi Kook’s son also wrote about his father’s fateful decision:
“A great deal of pressure was placed on my Father, HaRav, of blessed memory, to participate in the Congress of Agudat Yisrael. They had planned a great assembly which they were calling, ‘The Faithful Judaism,’ and they publicized that Gaonim from Lita, like Rabbi Avraham Dov Kahana of Kovna, author of “Dvar Avraham," would attend. It was very painful for Abba, HaRav, of blessed memory, to travel outside of the Land, as we see in his letters. His physician also joined in with the voices pressuring him, claiming that the voyage would be beneficial to his health. He advised him to journey to Kissingen in Germany, known for its healing springs, and advised that my Mother, the Rebbetzin, of blessed memory, seek medical treatment in Berlin."
His recollections continue:
“At the same time, in London, Sokolov and Weizmann met with the representatives of the British Government in order to present the case regarding our rights to Eretz Yisrael. They endeavored to compile a petition signed by one million Jews, not self-proclaimed Zionists, but simply Jews of all types, demanding that the world acknowledge our eternal bond with our Homeland.
"Agudah Yisrael sought to sabotage this effort. They announced that the Zionists who were negotiating with the Gentiles in England were not the true representatives of millions of Jews. Agudah planned its assembly in Berlin and invited the Rabbi of Kovna, in order to win him over to their cause and thus weaken the activities of the Zionists. They also tried to seduce and pressure my Father, of blessed memory, to participate in their gathering. But Abba was a man never to be influenced by subterfuge or pressure.
“The Rabbi of Kovna wrote Abba, of blessed memory, in these words: ‘In my opinion, the central committee of Agudat Yisrael seeks to evade and hide from me in everything they do. I hope that they will not spoil this matter of getting England to recognize the Jewish People’s rights to the Land of Israel. Certainly, they will not succeed in injuring Clal Yisrael, but I feel that they will injure those in the Orthodox community who support Zionism, thus while they allege to protect the Orthodox, by their actions, they are doing the exact opposite, God forbid.’"
Because of the anti-Zionist atmosphere which would be the pervading force at the Rabbinic convention, Rabbi Kook felt he had to attend. The account of his son continues:
“The Jews of Germany welcomed my Father with great honor. Rabbi Bamburger, the Rabbi of Kissingen, hosted him in his home. Then, the first day after Shabbat Hazone, World War One erupted. The Agudah conference in Berlin was canceled. My Father waited in Switzerland while efforts were made to secure return passage to Israel for him. But all routes had been closed because of the war. He learned Torah and did a great deal of writing, both personal correspondence and working on the themes which would become the corpus of his books.
“In 1916, when the Machzekei HaDat Congregation of London invited my Father and teacher, of blessed memory, to lead their community during his hiatus in Europe, Abba agreed.
“There were good relations between the Jews and the Gentiles in London for the two or three years preceding the Balfour Declaration. According to the Almighty, this was how things had to be. Lord Balfour himself was an outstandingly good individual and a towering idealist. He even composed poems about the Nation of Israel and its revival in its ancient Homeland.
“The business surrounding the Declaration was progressing. Lord Balfour urged his comrades in the government to support the establishment of a Jewish National Homeland in Palestine, but he met with opposition amongst parties who wanted the strategically located country to become a part of the British Empire after the war, should Allied forces defeat the Germans and the Turks, who had ruled over Palestine for nearly 400 years. Abba, of blessed memory, waged a fierce fight against the assimilated Jews in England who wanted to derail the Declaration as well. They claimed that nationhood was opposed to religion, and that it wasn’t proper for the English people, cherishers of the Bible, to assist the Zionists in their efforts…
“Not only the assimilated Jews of England opposed the Balfour Declaration, but also the very Orthodox Jews of Germany. But they couldn’t come to London to present their opinions because they were German and considered enemies of the British. Their coming could have caused serious damage to the Declaration’s being accepted, since they were not assimilated Jews but righteous Haredi Jews from Frankfort. Their presence in the English Parliament would have created a strong impression. Fortunately, their entry into England was blocked from Heaven. Because of his Russian origin, Abba, of blessed memory, was considered an ally and was granted a visa into the country. The one who needed to be on hand, entered; and the ones who weren’t needed were barred - all according to the Divine Plan of History.
“Abba triumphed in the end. A great debate was held in the English Parliament, and a letter he wrote was read. One of the speakers said, ‘Who is a greater expert on Judaism? The Jewish lords of Parliament who have assimilated from their faith, or the honorable Rabbi Kook?’"
Indeed, Rabbi Kook wrote a powerful letter which left the English politicians speechless. Occasionally, angry shouts of protest interrupted the speaker on the dais. Many bland Gentile faces turned bright red with indignant expressions. The fire of truth which burned throughout Rabbi Kook’s being poured forth in his words. Unwilling to waver from his passionate beliefs, and from the eternal Covenant between the Almighty and Am Yisrael, he refused to douse the intensity of his convictions for the sake of civility, or from fear of the Goyim. He had been chosen to defend the honor of the Israelite Nation and the honor of Hashem, and he rose to the occasion. The words of his declaration thundered in the great hall of the English Parliament, as if echoing from Sinai:
“'\We publically protest against those who rend the Jewish soul, against all those who want to dissolve the wonderful wholeness of Jews and Judaism. With the sacred power of Jewish wholeness, we protest against the traitors, informers, and purveyors of empty talk of all types. We demand all that is ours, from all of our brothers, and from all of the civilized world.
“We demand all that has been robbed from us. The injustice that cries to Heaven must be completed righted. Our holy, precious, splendid Land, our pride, our human rights, and our human dignity, our civil and national rights in all countries must be returned to us entirely - without compromises - without flattery - entirely!
“The time has come when all those who have disrupted, or whose ancestors have taken part in the disruption of our Nation and Land will have to turn back from their terrible ways, and as redress for their horrible delinquency, they will have to provide us, in every possible way, with all of the means to return and rebuild the destroyed House of Jacob, and to established its ruined dwelling in its full splendor.
“We must explain to all of the warring mankind their obligation towards us. We have given so much to humanity. We have given life to human morality. Our spiritual possession lives in the essence of civilized religions. We have saved civilized man, on the one hand, from dark enslaving paganism, and on the other hand, from a weak, anemic, dead abandonment of God. Our wonderful and purely Divine history was and will remain the basis for the purest in man’s spirit, out of which all of mankind’s refinement developed.
“And the nations paid us back very handsomely - by robbing our Land, by expelling us from it, by burning and destroying our sanctuaries, by massacres, by cruelty, by searing us, by burning us at the stake, by yellow badges, by calling Hep! Hep! after us on the streets, by banging nails into our heads, and by a great many more good deeds like these, and by all types of false and inhuman libels and plots, all at the same time that their entire spirituality is founded in our living, holy, fountain of life, and they enjoy wholeheartedly from our glorious accomplishments.
“And now that we apparently are finally at the end of the war, after the terrible injustices of the nations have ruined all that was good and peaceful, at a time when the earth is shaking and trembling from its weighty sins, at a time, when national ideologies and the thrones of kings are destroyed, at a time when mankind is hoping to be redeemed with eternal salvation through the blood of this present horrible war, at a time when the cruel human suffering has ignited a holy spark in peoples’ hearts, and they dream that the future after the war will bring a new and much better life than what was before; a life of honesty and justice, so exemplary, that it will be worth all the rivers of blood spilt for it.
“Do we not then, in this awesome, wondrous, holy time, have the great obligation to inform all of mankind, and, above all, the civilized warring nations, that if the wrong of all wrongs remains on their heads, if they do not purge themselves of the murder and robbery they committed against us, then they are bringing greater wretchedness upon themselves than the misfortune they inflict on us?! The cry to heaven of the robbery of our Land will negate all of mankind’s aspiration and will bring even worse upheavals in its wake.
“But, on the other hand, if the results of the war bring, together with all righteous corrections, our return, and if the nations will set right this horrible crime and help us organize our full lives, give us back our Land, allow and help us to develop our kingdom, let us renew and develop in peace our ancient, tranquil, heroic, peaceful, material, holy, and regular lives, then will the disgrace of the world be removed from the society of mankind.
“The pettiness of those who want to split the completeness of our splendid life into pieces, tearing off a part here and there, is not only treachery to Jews but also to all of mankind.
“Our hope is great that our holy and just cause will be understood by all foreigners, and by our own People, and may all of us together, all the ‘exiled of Israel’ actively and forcefully demand all that is ours; and may our voice be heard in all circles, to the joy and honor of the nations, and to our own exaltation and joy, for the speedy rebuilding of our Holy Land, our Nation, and our exalted holy spirit, which will become a beacon unto the nations, and a salvation for all the earth."
Overwhelmed by Rabbi Kook’s words, the British Parliament voted in favor of the Balfour Declaration.
It was one of mankind’s most glorious moments, paving the way for the rebirth of the Jewish State and bringing the world a giant leap forward toward Tikun Olam.