Eight Journals: Journal One

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook (1865-1935), first Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land, was a brilliant thinker and mystic whose ideas explored deeply modern philosophical and social currents. All topics—from poetry to war, from divine immanence to nationalism and universalism—caught his attention and were refracted through his ever-searching mind and soaring soul.

Rav Kook’s major works— Orot, Orot Hakodesh, Orot Hateshuvah, and others—were compiled from his journals, which he wrote over a period of fifteen years. When eight of these were published in 1999, they provided an unprecedented look into the progress of his thought, revealing many hitherto unpublished teachings, and preserving readings that had been changed by his editors. These Eight Journals may fairly be considered the motherlode of Rav Kook’s teachings.

The Translator

“Yaacov David Shulman is a master translator who is able to capture the language, the poetry and the beauty of Rav Kook’s Hebrew.”—Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

“Mr. Shulman’s translations are accurate and clear, forthright and poetic. Mr. Shulman displays a sensitivity to the nuances of Rabbi Kook’s often subtle teachings, and an ability to convey to the reader the passion and dialectical balance in those writings.”—Prof. Howard Schwartz, three-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award, author of Leaves from the Garden of Eden, Tree of Souls, etc.