May 17, 2012
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The Kosher Bookworm Yom Yerushalayim: Rav Kook
and the Hebrew University Speech Controversy
In a recent presentation at the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst, Brooklyn College professor and famed historian Dr. Shnayer Leiman discussed the controversy surrounding the speech and invocation given by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook at the inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on April 1, 1925. According to Dr. Leiman, “His very presence was an act of courage; indeed, many of his rabbinic colleagues viewed his presence as an act of treachery. Even more courageous was the message he delivered that afternoon, which minced no words about his true feelings regarding the Hebrew University and its place in the life of a revitalized Jewish yishuv in Jerusalem.” Rav Kook was to be unfairly blasted by many from the so-called chareidi wing of Orthodoxy who saw in Rav Kook’s very presence as a chief rabbi and spiritual leader a challenge to their self-assuming roles as the sole legitimate spiritual leaders of the yishuv, bar none. However, a close reading of the Rav’s remarks will reveal absolutely nothing to be found wrong with its ideological, as well as spiritual, content from a traditional Jewish perspective. While Rav Kook’s leadership signature was an openness to all Jews, and that “ahavat Yisrael” was to be the hallmark to all his activities, he, nevertheless, based everything on firm spiritual grounding, as to be demonstrated in a translation of the heart of his remarks below, provided by Dr. Leiman. Consider the following: “It must be understood that the Hebrew University by itself cannot fulfill all the educational requirements necessary for the success of our national life. We must realize that, first and foremost, it is the great Torah yeshivot, those that now exist and those to be constructed, that are worthy of the name--including the Central Yeshivah which we are establishing in Jerusalem, which shall be a light onto Israel in all areas of Torah, whether halachah, aggadah, Jewish action, or Jewish thought--that uphold the spirit of the nation and provide for its security. Moreover, the Hebrew University must maintain standards so that the name of Heaven, Israel, and the land of Israel are sanctified, and never desecrated, by it.”
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The following is an excerpt of a letter from Rav Kook to Rav Messas (Chief Rabbi in Algeria) responding to the false claim that he applied the verse: “From Zion will come forth Torah” to Hebrew University:
"...Also, in regard to the [Hebrew] University, Heaven forbid that I should say regarding secular [studies] that “From Zion will come forth Torah.”
To the contrary, I told them explicitly that I am afraid lest there come forth, Heaven forbid, a stumbling block from their hands if they reject the Torah and the fear [of G-d] and “please themselves in the brood of aliens” [i.e., studies antithetical to Torah such as Biblical Criticism. Editor’s note: see Radak on Isaiah 2:6]. I brought them examples of this from the past, from the incidents that took place due to people’s sins [during the Berlin Enlightenment], from which came forth groups that turned away from G-d and abandoned the source of living waters. But they must guard the holiness of Israel, teachers and students alike, and not follow foreign ideas nor turn aside from the Torah and the mitzvos. And even then, it is not from secular subjects that Torah will come forth, but rather when we support the holy yeshivas, which are dedicated solely to the holiness of the Torah.
Together with this, [I told them that] they should elevate the power of the tzaddikim and Torah giants who fear G-d. And the Central Yeshiva in our holy and beautiful city, which we are toiling to establish and expand with G-d’s help, will stand in its great glory. Then, upon the foundation of the holy yeshivas, I said that the verse “From Zion will come forth Torah” will be fulfilled.
These words are explicit in my speech that I spoke at that time before the people, before all of the important officials who came to the celebration, and to the entire great crowd of thousands who came from the far ends of the Holy Land and from the lands of the Diaspora. So how can malicious people come to distort the words of the living G-d in a way that is so filled with wickedness and folly?..."