Rav Kook and Hebrew University

MISCONCEPTION:1 In 1925, in Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook’s invocation for the inauguration of the Hebrew University, he applied the Biblical verse “Ki miTzion tetzei Torah, u’devar Hashem meYerushalayim, For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3; Michah 4:2).2 This is an oft-used criticism cited by denigrators of Rav Kook who claim that by quoting the verse, he proved that he viewed the scholarship that was to come from the Hebrew University as the fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah’s vision of Torah “going forth from Zion.”

FACT: The invocation by Rav Kook, the first Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, was a brave exposition of Biblical verses and Jewish history designed to sound a cautionary note regarding potential dangers inherent in the founding of a Jewish university. His paraphrase of the verse about Torah emanating from Jerusalem did not refer to the Hebrew University but rather was part of his concluding prayer in which he pined for the Messianic era

To find out more, see: What’s the Truth about… Rav Kook’s Hebrew University Invocation By Ari Z. Zivotofsky

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