Rabbi Avraham Yizhak HaCohen Kook: between exile and messianic redemption

Until the 19th century and to a certain extent, somewhat into the 20th century, most adherents of traditional, orthodox Judaism were reluctant about, or indifferent towards the active realistic Messianism of Maimonides who averred that only the servitude of the Jews to foreign kings separates this world from the world to come. It follows that important sections of Jewry opposed the budding Zionist idea. Zionism was an abomination in that it would substitute a purely human form of redemption for a redeemer sent by God, and therefore appeared to incite rebellion against God. Rabbi Kook’s teaching was an innovative interpretation of Zionism, not in terms of halakha, Jewish law, but in terms of the Jewish religion as a belief system. He tried to understand the secular Zionist world view, attempted to see redemption as a multi-step process, visualized the Land of Israel as a spiritual centre, and imbued its centrality, although profanely based, with religious significance.