Rav Kook’s Approach to Exile and Redemption through the Lens of the Passover Seder

Abstract

“The boy Avraham Yitzhak invented a new game in order to entertain himself and his friends in Cheder. During the break, the small children would set themselves up in rows with their bags on their shoulders, as if they were preparing to go on a long journey, and he, little Avraham’lke would conduct them. They would ask each other: “To where are we going?” and he would respond “To Eretz Yisrael.” His face shined happily.” 1 Though Rav Kook might be most famous for his writing and yearnings for the Holy Land of Israel, this was only a small portion of the work that he produced. In fact, Rav Kook wrote tremendously on the nature of the soul, the Jewish people, and our relationship with the rest of the world. In some ways, Rav Kook viewed his whole life as being a journey, much as the history of the Jewish people was a journey throughout time and space, along the trajectory of the world’s constant ascent. Like the little boy in the story, he saw himself as constantly striving for something greater to come, with hopes and dreams of what it would be like. And also like the boy in the story, Rav Kook conducted himself like a leader, being the head of a group, the Jewish people, who were on their personal and collective journeys to enhance themselves and the world.