Like Father, Like Son

During the past 150 years, the world has witnessed the miraculous ingathering of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel in clear fulfilment of biblical prophecy. The two Torah luminaries who taught Am Yisrael to recognize this colossal undertaking as the beginnings of Israel’s long-awaited Redemption were HaRav Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook and his only son HaRav Tzvi Yehuda. Father and son were the towering beacons of light who taught their generations to see the Divine Hand behind the Zionist enterprise. They called upon the entire Nation to embrace the miraculous events of the time with joy and great gratitude to the Almighty. Both of these Torah Giants revived Torah study to its original meaning – Torat Eretz Yisrael” – which returned the all-encompassing national foundation of the Torah to the forefront of Jewish life, something which had been lost during the Exile when the Jewish People were scattered minorities in foreign Gentile lands, lacking sovereignty of their own. While Rabbi Kook, the father, is more universally famous than his son, it was HaRav Tzvi Yehuda who explained and implemented his father’s teachings to the reborn Israelite Nation upon the establishment of the State of Israel. As head of the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, he taught his students that the building Torat Eretz Yisrael” – which returned the all-encompassing national foundation of the Torah to the forefront of Medinat Yisrael, service in the Israel Defense Forces, and the holy settlement of the Promised Land in all of its borders were the natural extensions of yeshiva learning. The book, “Like Father Like Son,” shows how the incomparable teachings and visions of Rabbi Kook found expression in the words and deeds of his son, and subsequently in the life of his students – the leaders of Religious Zionism in our time.