It is with tremendous excitement that לנבוכי הדור, a long lost and even unknown treasure of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, has been translated by Rabbi Aryeh Sklar.  The buzz around this is due to a work from Rav Kook, written in his youth, getting a translation for the very first time.  Do not worry, there is a ton of controversy that surrounds it.  Not due to the translation of Rabbi Sklar, which I will expound on its virtues later on, but because his descendants and students have denied its existence.  While Rav Kook is certainly recent in our long line of Baalei Mesorah, this manuscript, for lack of a better term, was written by this gadol in his youth, never published during his lifetime, and seems to contradict later teachings of his in other publications.  For more on that controversy, a very lengthy and detailed introduction can be found in this work.

As a very novice reader of Rav Kook (I would say even less than that, but I don’t know if such a category exists), I am too used to Rav Kook’s writings being very difficult.  While that may be true for his other works, on the whole, this sefer is actually much more accessible to the common reader.  While it certainly has its difficult points, this seems to be unique for Rav Kook’s writings.  Additionally, something quite impressive is that you have a gadol speaking about issues of evolution, the creation of the world, Spinoza, studying foreign philosophies, and many other controversial ideas.  How old does Rav Kook think the world is?  You will need to read to find out.

Now, to describe this work as a mere translation (halevai) would be an inaccurate description.  Rabbi Sklar provides numerous things which provide the reader an unforgettable experience.  Aside from the translation, Rabbi Sklar provides many helpful footnotes which help the reader understand the areas that Rav Kook is speaking about, which shows the translator’s tremendous grasp of Rabbinic and Biblical literature.  But what is even more impressive is that Rabbi Sklar is able to provide, through his mastery of Rav Kook’s wide-ranging works, other areas where Rav Kook speaks on these topics.  Often times he helps elucidate, provides context, or brings a counterpoint which allows the reader to understand more of what is written on the page.  Additionally, Rabbi Sklar also provides his own analysis, which adds yet another level of value for this sefer.

Two examples which jump out to me are his comment related to how the Rav, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, represented Rav Kook in a recently published YouTube clip, in which the Rav says that Rav Kook was not a philosopher. Rabbi Sklar provides a very reasonable understanding for what this meant, and coincidentally this happens to be the same exact point that Rabbi Betzalel Naor, another scholar of Rav Kook, made. It seems that if multiple Rav Kook scholars reached the same point, one could bet it is on the mark.  Another idea that must be pointed out is how Rabbi Sklar explains a very controversial point made by Rav Kook.  Rav Kook explained that all services of the heart, philosophies, and religions have their place and advance the world toward reaching God.  As such, Rav Kook is saying that the native tribes who would forcibly sacrifice human beings for their gods has a place and was Divinely ordered.  While this may seem to be quite alien to Torah thought, Rabbi Sklar provides a beautiful explanation as to what Rav Kook possibly meant.  What did he say?  Obviously you will have to read his translation to find out!

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)