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Born
in Latvia, he immigrated to Israel in 1904, where he served as rabbi of
Jaffa. He then became chief rabbi of Jerusalem, subsequently the first
Ashkenazi chief rabbi of modern Israel in 1921.
Rav Kook thought the return to Israel marked the beginning of divine redemption.
He dreamed of establishing a yeshivah that would present to the student
an integrated program of higher Jewish education. And set up a yeshivah
in Jerusalem in 1924 (Merkaz ha-Rav) which was unique among yeshivot in
its religious philosophy and its positive attitude to Zionism. Kook was
a deeply religious mystic whose personal religious experience moved him
to be deeply concerned about opposition to religion. Throughout his life
he searched for the meaning of religion in the modern world. He refused
to see a sharp difference between the sacred and the profane, maintaining
that all that was essential to human life was potentially sacred.
Kook was a prolific writer, on philosophical and halakhic subjects.
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