Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook

Vayera:: Don't look back

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The depravity of the inhabitants of Sodom was so monstrous that it was beyond all hope of reformation.

Rabbi Kook's letter of hope and faith

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:True, our hearts ache, and our pain is immense...but in the end, we will heal...triumph...and defeat our enemies.

Breishit: Cherisihing adversity

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: How do persecutions protect the people of Israel?

Sukkot: Our protective fortress

Israel's first Chief Rabbi asks: Why should such a flimsy structure be a paradigm of protection and safety? 

Light unto the Nations

Rabbi Kook on teshuva: To attain teshuva a person must rise above his focus on himself and forge an attachment with the Jewish Nation.

The call of the Great Shofar

Why did Israel's first Chief Rabbi burst into tears when describing the three kinds of shofars?

Nitzavim: Dances of Teshuvah in Poriah

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: "Guard your pinteleh Yid"- your spark of yiddishkeit.

Ki Tavo: Remembering to bless God

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: What is the purpose of all of these blessings the rabbis told us to recite? 

Cinematic Premier on Arutz Sheva: The Struggle, by Rabbi Kook

In honor of Rav Kook's yahrzeit, today, 3 Elul, a cinematic adaption of his poem "The Struggle".

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:

Shoftim: The Wisdom in Civil Law

Israel's first Chieff Rabbi: Monetary law is intrinsically more complicated than criminal law because its goal is rectification.

The Caged Lion – A parable by Rabbi Kook

The Sages of the Talmud warned us long ago that nerves of steel would be needed to bear the birth pains leading to the Mashiach’s arrival.

Va'Etchanan: The Double Shema

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Why isn't saying Shema once daily enough?

Devarim: The Book that Moses wrote

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: What happened to the broken tablets?

Rabbi Kook and the workers' kitchen during the Nine Days

The administrators of the Jerusalem branch of the Poel Mizrachi needed to find nourishing meals, especially for the manual laborers.

PInchas: Purely for the sake of heaven

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Why does the Torah point out Pinchas’ lineage twice?

Balak: An Eternal People

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The Torah does not extol nationalism for its own sake. When the Jews became a people, they were given a mission.

Where is the Rabbi Kook of our time?

We need a Rabbi Kook today to reach out to the disillusioned, cynical left and shatter their stereotypes about the religious. Op-ed.

Chukat (Israel): The death of a Tzaddik

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: In what way does the death of tzaddikim atone for the people?

Endless blessing (Korach)

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The tribe of Levi was dedicated to fostering spiritual aspirations of the Jewish people, not only Temple tasks.

Shlach: Offering wine and flour

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The Temple service was meant to encompass all aspects of creation.

A short prayer for Miriam

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: What determined the length of Moses’ prayers? Why did his own sister merit only a brief, one-line prayer?

Shavuot: Connecting to Torah Study

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:It is axiomatic that the Jewish soul and the Torah are a match made in heaven

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:

Psalm 84: Better than a thousand

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:'The nation as a whole needs God’s house standing...every detail declaring awe and reverence for God.'

Rabbi Kook arrives in Jaffa

Iyar 28, this past Friday, is the date Rabbi Kook arrived in the Land of Israel. Jerusalem was liberated 63 years later on that very date.

Op-Ed:

The incredible wonder of Lag Ba'Omer in Israel

Lag Ba’Omer bonfires show us that the inner light of the Torah can never be extinguished in the depths of our Nation’s soul. Op-ed.

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:

Emor: Eating before Yom Kippur

Why is there a mitzvah to eat on the day before Yom Kippur? How does this eating count as a day of fasting? 

Kedoshim: Holiness in physical pleasure

Israel's first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi: There is a joy that is far greater than the sensory pleasures experienced when consuming food.

Tazria: Shiloh and the Birth-Offerings

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: True morality cannot sanction a mechanical Temple service, disconnected from the people and their lives

Psalms 81: The strange god within us

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Strange gods “within you”? The Sages taught that this refers to evil impulses, particularly uncontrolled anger:

Shir HaShirim: The four-fold song

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: David’s harp symbolizes the soul’s encounter with God. But there are four different levels of song it played.

Tzav: The Olah Offering and Prophecy

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: By examining the Olah service, we can gain insight into the prophetic experience.

Will there be animal sacrifices in the Third Temple?

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Compassion for animals should recognize the issue's fundamental morality.

Psalm 32: The joy of Tzaddikim

Israel's first Chief Rabbi explains the source of a righteous man's happy feelings.

Psalm 135: Deliverance from powerful enemies

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: It was never easy to be a Jew.

Mishpatim: Slavery in the Torah

Israel's First Chief Rabbi: In general, does the Torah look favorably on the institution of slavery?

Israel's first Chief Rabbi:

Yitro: Serving the Community

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: In what way is the work of a judge like creating the world?

Beshalach: Preparing for Sinai

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: How were the Mitzvot of Marah a prelude to receiving the Torah?

Bo: Donkey-Holiness?

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The impurity of the Jewish people, as with the donkey, was only on the surface, hiding a great inner holiness.

Psalm 84: Prepare Yourself for Prayer

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: We cannot make the sudden switch from our mundane activities to earnest prayer without a mental effort.

Uncovering the connection: Bread and the Exodus from Egypt

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Why do we say "God who brings forth" only on the blessing for bread, as G-d says about the Exodus from Egypt?

Shemot: Moses' mistake

Why did Moses doubt God’s plan? How could the “master of all prophets” so gravely misjudge his own people?

Vayigash: The Shepherd-Philosopher

Israel's iconic first Chief Rabbi: Our imagination dominates our thought processes.

Hanukkah: The highest love

Is there something idealistic and holy in loving the Jewish people? Israel's first Chief Rabbi addresses that question.

Vayeshev: The conflict between Joseph and Judah

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: "Is there a connection between the story of Joseph and the holiday that falls out this time of year, Hanukkah?"

Vayishlach: Jacob's journey to holistic living

Israel's first Chief Rabbi explains the verse that says that Yaakov 'arrived whole to the city of Shechem', returning jto his homeland.

The story of the gold watch

Beware of humiliating Talmidei Chachamim. A lesson for today...

Chayei Sarah: Isaac's afternoon meditation

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi, iconic leader of Religious Zionism: "The soul is always praying. It constantly seeks to fly away to its Beloved.”

Vayeira: The Salt of Sodom

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: A certain spiritual peril lurks in any meal that we eat.

Lech Lecha: Malki-Tzedek and Abraham

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: "A cohen is not an intermediary but someone who purifies us and enables us to approach G-d directly."

Noah: The rainbow in the clouds

The sign that God showed Noah, the “rainbow in the clouds,” is a metaphor for a fundamental change.in ethical guidance for the human soul.

The Titans: The men of renown in Genesis

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: They were called nefilim, great orators whose words were empty and actions as leaders unscrupulous. A lesson.

Sukkot: The Water-Drawing Celebration

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: "The divide between means and ends goes back to the beginnings of creation, but in mitzvas they are one .."

Yom Kippur: The value of Life

Israel's first Chief Rabbi on a short Yom Kippur prayer that explains the meaning of our existence.

Rav Kook on teshuva: Awakening our hearts and minds

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Which stimulus is truly fundamental to the process of true teshuva?

Ki Tavo: First Fruits, led by an ox and a flute

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: What was the significance of the ox? Why the golden horns and olive-twig crown? And why was the flute chosen?

Ki Teitze: The rebellious son - preventive medicine

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Is this mitsva purely theoretical or does it have a deeper purpose?

Early Zionism's educational failures were caused by controversy

Early on, Rabbi Kook saw the poor level of Torah education at the Moshavot..Zealots prevented changing that, and many other things.

Angels walking among us

The story of one of those who look like regular people, but turn out to be angels who take advantage of every second of their lives

Psalm 4: Controlling negative impulses

Israel's first Chief Rabbi on self control.

Rabbinate celebrates 100 years

New line of stamps to feature chief rabbis

The line was launched at a meeting commemorating the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Kook, the rabbinate's founder.