Renewing the Old, Sanctifying the New: The Unique Vision of Rav Kook

Finalist for The Rabbi Sacks Book Prize 2025

Rav Kook (1865-1935), the first chief rabbi of pre-state Israel, was a revered thinker whose ideas were in the vanguard of religious Zionist ideology. His theological positions have continued to mould the attitudes and beliefs of successive generations.

Newly published writings, however, reveal ideas that have not yet entered mainstream consciousness. Marc Shapiro has grappled with the complexity of the language of these difficult Hebrew texts and ...