Overview

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 identified themes he sees as of critical importance for modern Jewish Orthodoxy. His study will be welcomed as an attempt to make these teachings more broadly accessible despite the complexity of Kook’s exposition. A key development in Kook’s thinking is that he points to the religious significance of non-Jewish religions, and even raises the possibility that non-Jews may also have experienced their own religious revelations. This is a major departure from the traditional rabbinic approach. Another innovative concept is ‘valorization of the masses’, a view that recognizes that basic morality has been preserved in a purer form among the uneducated pious masses than among learned scholars. He similarly reconsiders the nature of heresy and dogma and develops the idea of the ‘unintentional heretic’, a category that could be said to include many in the modern world who are no longer tied to traditional religious understandings. Perhaps most controversially for Orthodox Jewish circles, he also presents an innovative understanding of the animal sacrifice of Temple ritual that allows for its abolition in messianic times. Taken together, these ideas will reverberate, foment much discussion, and shape new ideological directions in the world of religious Zionism.

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9781802077339

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Reviews

‘The best book I read in years… Marc B. Shapiro’s books and articles are always superb. His writings are filled with fascinating information. His presentation of scholarly ideas and religious and secular practices, ancient and modern, Jewish and non-Jewish, is explained engagingly. Even people who are generally uninterested in the subjects, Jews and non-Jews who have no background knowledge of it, find what he writes to be eye-opening and riveting. “Renewing the Old Sanctifying the New: The Unique Vision of Rav Kook” is such a book. Dr. Shapiro reveals Rabbi Kook’s surprising, sometimes radical, and breathtaking ideas, prompting us to rethink what we have accepted as sensible.’ Dr. Israel Drazin, The Times of Israel Blog ‘Marc Shapiro’s writings tend to shake up existing categories of thinking, and Renewing the Old, Sanctifying the New is no exception. It shuffles the deck by asking questions that are directed away from the normal fields of Rav Kook research, such as the typical focus on Israel, the Land, Zionism, and contemporary Israeli concerns. Instead, Shapiro brings Rav Kook into a larger and potentially fruitful claim that the canon of Jewish texts contains a much broader and diverse set of ideas than dogmatists would have us believe.’ Dr. Yoel Finkelman, Tradition ‘Reading Dr Shapiro’s marvellous new book, so fitting for the beginning of Nissan, I have no doubt that religious practitioners would be much encouraged to deal with the neo-atheists who mock biblical teachings, and would be better able to engage them positively in debate, using the insights of Rav Kook… I highly recommend this book for Jewish and Christian readers alike. There is much to learn, much to astonish, much to enjoy, and much to share.’ Irene Lancaster, Christian Today

Author Information

Marc B. Shapiro holds the Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Brandeis and Harvard universities, he is also the author of Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884–1966 (1999); The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles Reappraised (2003); and Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History (2015), all published by the Littman Library.

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