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Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook in Jerusalem

Time line for
Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook

56251865 Born on the 16th of Elul, 5625 (September 7, 1865) in Greive (now Griva), a suburb of Dvinsk in Latvia.
56451884 Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Berlin, the Netziv At age 18, he studied for a year and a half at the famed Volozhin yeshiva.
The head of Volozhin at that time was Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Berlin (the "Netziv"), who held the "ilui (prodigy) from Griva" in high esteem.

Related: Purim holiday in Volozhin

56461886 Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the 'Aderet'), Rav Kook's father-in-law Married Batsheva, the daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (1843-1905) (known by his initials, the Aderet), then rabbi of Ponevezh (later appointed chief rabbi of Jerusalem).
56481888 photo of Zeimel market square in 1920's Appointed rabbi of Zeimel (Zeimelis) in Lithuania at age 22.

Launched a short-lived monthly rabbinic journal, Itur Sofrim.

56491889 Rav Kook as rabbi of Zeimel During his stay in Zeimel, Rav Kook's first wife died. (Their daughter Frayda Chana was a year and a half at the time.)

His father-in-law the Aderet convinced him to marry Raiza-Rivka Rabinowitz, daughter of the Aderet's twin brother. Raiza-Rivka was the mother of R. Tzvi Yehuda Kook, Esther Ya'el Kook, and Batya-Miriam Ra'anan.

Studied with the great Kabbalist, R. Shlomo Elyashiv (1839-1926), author of Leshem Shevo Ve-Achlamah.

5654-61894-6 Collected 38 sermons in the book Midbar Shur. The manuscript, however, was stolen, and the book was only published a century later, in 1999.
56561896 Became rabbi of Boisk (now Bauska), Latvia.

Wrote Musar Avicha, a treatise on moral reflections (published posthumously in 1946).

Related: The story of the gold watch

56641904 Arrived in Eretz Yisrael on the 28th of Iyar, 5664. He served as rabbi of Jaffa and the surrounding settlements for the next ten years.

Related: Rav Kook Arrives in Jaffa

56651905 Rav Kook as chief rabbi of Jaffa Published the first chapters of Orot HaTeshuvah, Rav Kook's original thoughts on the topic of repentence, as well as Eder HaYakar and Ikvei Hatzon.

Related: Overview of Orot HaTeshuvah

56701910 (Sabbatical year) Published the Halachic work, Shabbat Ha'Aretz, in defense of the heter mechirah.

Related: Explanation of permit to work the land during the Sabbatical year

56741914 Lead a mission of rabbis to the settlements in the north (Samaria and the Galilee) to encourage them and strengthen religious observance.

Related: A Wise Old Nation

56741914 Rav Kook in Switzerland during WWI Traveled to Europe for Agudat Yisrael convention in Berlin. Unable to return to Eretz Yisrael due to the sudden outbreak of World War I, Rav Kook spent two years in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Related: Rav Kook first meets Rabbi David Cohen, the 'Nazir'

56761916 Rav Kook in London during WWI Served as rabbi of Machzikei HaDat congregation in London for three years during the war. Published the mystical treatise Rosh Milin.

Related: The Balfour Declaration

56791919 Rav Kook speaking in Jerusalem Returned to Eretz Yisrael.

In Tevet 5680, he accepted the position of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.
Two months earlier, his twelve-year-old daughter Esther Ya’el died tragically after falling down a flight of steps.

56801920 Cover of Orot Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook edited some of his father's writings, publishing them in the book Orot - Rav Kook's most famous work.
56811921 Rav Kook in Jerusalem Established Chief Rabbinate of pre-state Israel, becoming Chief Rabbi together with Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yaakov Meir.

Related: The Kosher Kitchen of the Poel Mizrachi, The Kotel Affair

56841924 modern-day Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav Established the Mercaz HaRav yeshivah in Jerusalem, unique among the yeshivot at that time in its religious philosophy and positive attitude towards Zionism.
56951935 Rav Kook's writing table Passed away in Jerusalem on the third of Elul, 5695 - two weeks before his 70th birthday.



Other sites about Rav Kook's Writings More about Rav Kook's Life Sundry Links

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