Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity: The Making of Rav Kook, 1865–1904 by Yehudah Mirsky (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity: The Making of Rav Kook, 1865–1904 by Yehudah Mirsky Hanoch Ben Pazi Yehudah Mirsky. Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity: The Making of Rav Kook, 1865–1904. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2021. 392 pp. I would like to consider this book from two different perspectives: the first, from an academic point of view, and the second, from a cultural perspective. It is not immediately clear which of these perspectives is more important, and, in fact, this suggests that both perspectives should be considered alongside one another, as they work in parallel. Rabbi Avraham Yiẓḥak ha-Cohen Kook was one of the prominent figures of the rabbinate and Zionist thought in the twentieth century. His name and reputation became iconic in Israeli society, and his theology was instructive in the formation of Israeli Religious Zionist thought. However, his teachings are neither studied nor familiar in Jewish circles outside of Israel. Yehudah Mirsky rejuvenates Jewish discourse about Rav Kook’s writings, and resituates his theology on the global philosophical landscape, through a new perspective on the search for the idea of mystical experience. The unique thought of Rav Kook has preoccupied Israeli research for about forty years, whether in terms of its historical context, its political context, or the kabbalistic tradition. Despite Rav Kook’s significance in these fields and his role as the chief rabbi of ʾEreẓ Yisraʾel, he only reached his special status as forerunner of Religious Zionist thought through the development of Israeli right-wing politics. In the years after the Six-Day War, Rav Kook’s later writings came to characterize his persona and thought. His books began to be viewed as part of the classic literature of Religious Zionists, who found in them spiritual inspiration as well as a strong religious authority upon which to build their national Zionist concept. As a result, the entire engagement with Rav Kook referred to his writings after his immigration to Israel in 1904, regarding the Zionist movement, Zionist struggles, and the theological meaning of Zionist history. The writings of his youth have all but disappeared from research and are conspicuously missing from the classic bookshelves of his writings. Mirsky’s book, which is the result of in-depth and comprehensive research, reveals hitherto unknown information and conclusions on the early period of Rav Kook’s life. This includes the author’s close examination of the period of Rav Kook’s life in Ziemel (Ziemelis, Lithuania) as well as of his first rabbinate in Boisk (Bauska, Latvia). Mirsky succeeds in doing what many have tried and failed to do. Instead of seeking out the hidden roots of Rav Kook’s [End Page 465] thinking, he dares his readers to honestly engage with the literature and thought of these different eras of his life and their historical and conceptual context. By reflecting on and analyzing Kook’s eastern European period alongside the history of the Jews of Lithuania, Mirsky sets out a new study of the young Rav Kook within the cultural and spiritual context in which he grew up, which saw tension between Hasidim and Mitnagdim, internal tensions of the Musar movement and spiritual searching, among other issues. Admittedly, Rav Kook’s followers, or the scholars who unequivocally admire the image and personality that he has come to represent, will likely claim that this research “dwarfs” the uniqueness of the man, his creativity in writing Torah, and certainly the boldness of his thought. It is also possible that others will come forward and argue that Mirsky’s approach in examining the beginnings of Rav Kook’s teachings and development misses what they view as the greater story: the history of the Zionist movement. But Mirsky’s responses to these claims emerge from the study itself, which describes Rav Kook’s halakhic works within the Lithuanian rabbinical context, his kabbalistic and Hasidic interests in their historical contexts, and his literary and poetic motivations amid the newspapers and monthlies of eastern Europe. Gradually, from this meticulous attention to the many details, Rav Kook’s unique character is revealed precisely against the background of the environment in which he grew up. From now...