"Yehudah Mirsky’s lively and clarifying book presents this great-souled rabbi in all his startling richness, and responsibly introduces its readers to one of the most influential and misread figures in modern Jewish thought. This is a significant contribution to the history of Jewish ideas – and also to contemporary debates about the Jewish religion and the Jewish state, because the best and the worst of Israeli Judaism may be traced back to the dissonant strains, by turns tolerant and jingoist, in Kook’s profoundly original writings." —Leon Wieseltier
(Leon Wieseltier)
"Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, was one of the most important Jewish religious thinkers of modern times - and indisputably the most influential in Israel - yet biographic studies of him in any language, and English studies in general, have been sorely lacking. Yehudah Mirsky’s volume instantly becomes the go-to life and thought of this revolutionary, conservative, radical, traditional, messianic, reality affirming, richly dialectical thinker. The book is written with authority and clarity and is a pleasure to read. Mirsky writes with literary grace and sensitivity, nuance and complexity without losing clarity and focus. Mirsky’s mastery of traditional texts enriches his deep reading of Kook's writings even as his rigorous academic method enables his scholarly lucidity, on Kook’s extraordinary life and oeuvre and the complex afterlife of his teachings. All this and more are captured by Mirsky with restraint, understatement, irony and wisdom."—Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, theologian, past professor of Jewish Studies at City College of the City University of New York; President Emeritus of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
(Rabbi Irving Greenberg)
"This volume is the most extensive personal and intellectual biography of Rav Kook in English-- and, to use Rav Kook’s beloved imagery, it sheds a great deal of light. Rich in insights and studded with previously neglected or unknown historical details, the book moves through Rav Kook’s life and writings in a way that both makes his ideas accessible and provides a sorely needed context for the various stages of his thought. Mirsky does not shy away from critique. Both scholars and the general public will profit immensely from this book."—David Shatz, Professor of Philosophy, Yeshiva University, editor Torah u-Madda Journal
(David Shatz)
"Sensitive and deeply engaging . . . Yehudah Mirsky’s account of the life of this exceptional religious leader is must reading for anyone wishing to better understand Rav Kook and his times."—Jewish Book World
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Jewish Book World)
"Learned, luminous and uncannily timely . . . [A]rich and compelling presentation of Kook's life and thought . . . Erudite [and] excellent."—
Jewish Review of Books (
Jewish Review of Books)
"Yehudah Mirsky’s new biography of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook focuses on a brief but enormously significant period of modern history . . . As the question of Jewish unity feels rather pressing in our own day, Kook’s belief in overcoming partisanship for the common good is worth recalling. And Mirsky’s excellent feat of scholarship is a great place to begin."—JWeekly
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JWeekly)