Was Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook’s zt”l Approach in Line with Our Mesorah?
Few figures in modern Jewish history inspire as much admiration in one world and concern in another as Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook zt”l. To some, he is a visionary prophet of redemption; to others, a sincere talmid chacham whose ideas ultimately diverged from the firm path of Torah mesorah.
To understand this clearly, we must approach the subject with yiras Shamayim, historical honesty, and clarity about what “mesorah” truly demands.
Who Was Rav Kook?
Rav Kook (1865–1935) was a brilliant Torah scholar, poet, mystic, and thinker. He was a talmid of the Netziv in Volozhin, and later became the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Palestine. He was known for his fiery love of Eretz Yisrael, his passion for Jewish unity, and his profound attempts to understand secular Zionists through a spiritual lens.
In terms of lomdus, Rav Kook was certainly steeped in Torah. He learned with gedolim, received semicha from giants like Rav Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderes), and authored many deep Torah works. He was even the mesader kiddushin at the wedding of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l, a fact which shows that in his early years, he was respected by many Torah giants.
But Was His Hashkafa Part of the Mesorah?
Here is where the controversy lies.
Rav Kook’s core hashkafic shift was that he viewed the secular Zionist pioneers—not as enemies of Torah, but as “unconscious agents” of Divine will. He believed that even chiloni efforts to build a Jewish state were, at their root, spiritually meaningful. He referred to this era as “Atchalta d’Geulah”—the beginning of redemption, and saw the kibbutz movement, the Hebrew language revival, and agricultural settlement as sacred sparks.
This was a radical departure from traditional mesorah. Nowhere in the writings of Chazal, Rishonim, or Acharonim before Rav Kook do we find the idea that those who fight Torah can still be spiritually building Geulah.
In fact, Chazal say the opposite:
“If someone says: ‘I have only Torah, but not yiras Shamayim’—he has nothing.” (Avos 3:9)
And the Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:8) writes that someone who denies the Torah loses his portion in Olam HaBa—even if he identifies as a Jew.
So while Rav Kook believed he was seeing “deep lights in low places,” the Gedolei HaDor were gravely concerned.
What Did the Gedolim of His Time Say?
Many respected Rav Kook personally—but rejected his hashkafa. Their issue wasn’t his love for Eretz Yisrael, or his erudition—it was that he gave spiritual legitimacy to those actively tearing down Torah.
Rav Chaim Brisker zt”l sharply opposed Rav Kook’s ideology. The Chofetz Chaim zt”l, while respectful, refused to sign joint letters with him. Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt”l openly warned against his approach, especially in his sefer Ikvasa d’Meshicha, where he calls secular nationalism a nesayon of our time. Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt”l, Rav Kook’s contemporary in Jerusalem, had a cordial but strained relationship with him, and did not accept his hashkafic innovations.
The Chazon Ish zt”l, who arrived in Eretz Yisrael a few years after Rav Kook’s passing, rarely referenced him and never adopted his worldview. He focused instead on building Torah within a secular state—not sanctifying it.
Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l was very outspoken, warning that Rav Kook’s approach could lead to disastrous confusion: viewing rebellion against Torah as somehow holy.
In short: None of the mainstream Gedolim accepted Rav Kook’s ideological innovations as part of the mesorah. Even those who respected him did not follow his path.
Was It Rav Kook Himself—Or His Students—Who Broke from Mesorah?
Some claim that Rav Kook’s students distorted his teachings, pushing ideas he never intended.
This argument has some truth. His son, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt”l, took his father’s ideas to new levels—politicizing them, connecting them to territorial maximalism (refusal to cede land), and emphasizing support for the state and army as religious imperatives.
He shaped Bnei Akiva, Merkaz HaRav, and the Religious Zionist school system into institutions that taught a new hashkafa—one that elevated the flag, army, and state to spiritual ideals.
Would Rav Kook have approved of all of this? Especially Bnei Akiva with mixed-gender youth groups, often with lenient standards of tznius?
It’s impossible to say definitively. Rav Kook certainly spoke strongly about the need for kedushas haMachaneh and tznius. He believed that Torah was the neshama of the nation. It seems unlikely that he would endorse co-ed summer camps, secular high schools with light Torah, or soldiers without yiras Shamayim being viewed as spiritual heroes.
But this is exactly where the danger of departing from mesorah becomes clear: when a worldview is built on mystical or novel ideas, it can easily drift into areas never envisioned by its founder.
And that's what happened.
What in Religious Zionism Today Is Outside of Mesorah?
Let’s be specific.
- Redemptive Statehood – The belief that the State of Israel—regardless of its halachic or moral status—is inherently holy. This is not rooted in mesorah. No Rishon or Acharon teaches that a secular state, led by public Sabbath violators, could be the vehicle of redemption.
- Halachic Nationalism – Prioritizing nationalism over Torah, such as defending the state's honor even when it violates halacha (like approving chillul Shabbos, toeivah parades, or forced army service for women). The Torah knows no mitzvah to honor a secular flag.
- Devaluing Torah Leadership – In some Religious Zionist streams, halachic decision-making is subordinated to nationalist concerns. This is a reversal of the Torah’s order, where the Torah guides the nation, not the other way around.
- Tolerating or Promoting Mixed Youth Movements – Co-ed camps and snifim are now central to many Religious Zionist communities. These would be anathema to Chazal, and certainly to Rav Yisrael Salanter, Rav Dessler, and the Gedolim of every generation.
- Revisionist Hashkafa – Books and shiurim that recast Tanach, Midrash, and Kabbalah to fit Zionist ideas, without precedent in Chazal or Rishonim.
None of this can be found in the mesorah we received from Har Sinai to the Chazon Ish. These are the results of trying to read history and current events into Torah rather than allowing Torah to shape how we interpret history.
Conclusion: Rav Kook Was a Sincere Soul, But His Hashkafa Was Not Our Mesorah
Rav Kook zt”l was a towering mind and a poetic spirit. He loved Eretz Yisrael, loved Jews, and tried to see goodness even in broken vessels. But sincerity is not the same as mesorah.
Mesorah means accepting the Torah as it was handed down—not through creative lenses, not through the headlines, and not through nationalist dreams. It means the humble submission of our ideas to the generations before us.
The Gedolim of Rav Kook’s time did not accept his worldview. The Gedolim of the next generation warned about it more forcefully. And what has grown from it—Religious Zionism today—often bears little resemblance even to Rav Kook’s own careful writings.
We do not need to judge his heart. We leave that to the Ribbono Shel Olam. But in our path, we walk with the mesorah—with the Brisker Rav, the Chazon Ish, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Shach, Rav Elyashiv, and today’s Gedolei Torah.
Because that’s where the light is. That’s where truth has always lived. And that’s the path that will lead us—not to the politics of the moment, but to the true Geulah, with Moshiach Tzidkeinu, b’rachamim u’v’shalom.
Sources & Footnotes
- Devarim 32:7 – “Ask your father and he will tell you; your elders, and they will say to you.”
- Avos 1:1 – “Moshe received the Torah from Sinai… and handed it to Yehoshua…”
- Chazon Ish, Igros, Vol. 1 – Emphasizes the danger of viewing the state as redemptive
- Rav Elchonon Wasserman, Ikvasa D’Meshicha – Warns against false messianic movements tied to nationalism
- Rav Aharon Kotler, Mishnas R’ Aharon – Rejects the spiritual elevation of secular Zionism
- Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Shailos u’Tshuvos Salmas Chaim – Disagreed with Rav Kook on major issues
- Talmud Chagigah 15b – Listening to Torah authority only when they are like malachei Hashem
- Rambam, Hilchos Teshuvah 3:8 – Exclusion from Olam Haba for denying the Torah
- Sanhedrin 110a, story of Korach – Attempting to create a new spiritual path outside Moshe Rabbeinu
- Mishnah Torah, Hilchos Melachim 11 – Moshiach brings Geulah through Torah, not nationalism
- Rav Elyashiv wedding story – Rav Kook was mesader kiddushin, showing mutual respect despite disagreement