“The Decline of the Generations” – a very brief intro to the main personalities of the Israeli settler movement, standing on one leg…
The father:
R. Abraham Isaac Kook was a visionary of peace, love, and light. He preached social unity and cultural revival, focusing heavily on the people of Israel’s ancient and intrinsic connection to the land of Israel, which vibed with the Zionists resettling the land, on multiple levels. He lived and passed on to his world before the Holocaust, before the state, before the multi-generational military administration of a civilian population.
The son:
R. Zvi Judah Kook was the designated heir of his father’s legacy and the accepted interpreter of his father’s writings. He focused heavily on the messianic, “end times,” and generally conflict-oriented themes in his father’s work. He saw the IDF recapture the West Bank (including the Temple Mount and east Jerusalem) from the Jordanian army that had occupied it since 1948. Under his direction and guidance, Israeli settlements were established across the West Bank under the banner of Zionism, and took no issue with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians being placed under military administration by a government that refused to recognize their legal rights or divine image.
The disciple:
Shlomo Aviner was the main disciple of R. Zvi Judah Kook and is a prolific interpreter of both Kooks’ writings. He focuses heavily on the concepts that the state of Israel is a fulfillment of messianic prophecy and, although transitional, is endowed with intrinsic sanctity, elements of the younger Kook’s teachings. He publicly and privately advises many settlers (and national-religious Israelis in general) on matters of spirituality, politics, and culture. He lives and teaches in the settlements, not far from Ramallah, and preaches a form of racist, sexist, elitist fundamentalism, which I find personally offensive and anathema to my Zionism.
…and that’s where we’re at right now.
May we be blessed with the return of truly religious, moral, humane, intelligent, and brave rabbinic leadership, speedily in our days. Amen.