Abstract
In Jewish religious texts, Torah study is placed at the top of the hierarchy of values. This suggests that work as such is of no religious significance; work is rather a prerequisite for the real essentials of life. The Mizrachi religious Zionist movement, founded in 1902 by R. Yitzhak Yaakov Reines (1839–1915), introduced a markedly different view. The movement upheld a concept of work as a religious value, not only an existential need. Later religious Zionist thinkers developed a dialectical notion of the mutual integration of the Torah and labor; this eventually became the motto of the Bnei Akiva youth movement that they inspired. With time, the theological approach of R. Kook the Elder (ReAYaH) and of R. Kook the Younger (RTziYaH) became dominant in religious Zionism. R. Kook the Elder founded the yeshivah at Merkaz ha-rav in Jerusalem, which he also headed; his son eventually succeeded him. To date, the yeshivah has produced a great number of students and rabbis, who made the teaching of the two Rabbis Kook the legacy of the religious Zionist community as a whole. The aim of the present article is to trace the changes taking place in the religious Zionist attitude toward work as this is articulated in the thought of a student of the two Rabbis, Kook whom many regard as the continuator of their teaching today. This is Rabbi Tzvi Israel Thau (b. 1937), one of the most influential rabbinic figures associated with religious Zionism, President of Yeshivat har ha-mor and the spiritual leader of the Torah academies referred to as “yeshivot of the line [ha-kav]”.
Highlights
Understanding the nature of work, especially physical labor, is a crucial issue in both Christian and Jewish theology
This is Rabbi Tzvi Israel Thau (b. 1937), one of the most influential rabbinic figures associated with religious Zionism, President of Yeshivat har ha-mor and the spiritual leader of the Torah academies referred to as “yeshivot of the line [ha-kav]”
Both traditions consider it self-evident that people must work in order to make a living; the question remains, is work as such endowed with religious value? Or is work a sine qua non, a prerequisite for physical survival, but of no religious significance in itself?
Summary
Understanding the nature of work, especially physical labor, is a crucial issue in both Christian and Jewish theology. Keeping these preliminary notes in view, the present article sets out to trace the changes taking place in the religious Zionist attitude toward work as this is articulated in the thought of a student of the two Rabbis Kook, a thinker who is often seen as the continuator of the teaching of the two Rabbis Kook today Both Rabbis Kook were panentheists; in their understanding, the totality of the existent universe is revelation of the Divine This means that worship of God should be both spiritual and physical at once, the spiritual through the study of Torah and performing the Commandments and the physical through work and manual labor. “Work” as a term means the worship of God, but the idea of work finds its realization in engaging with the physical world through productive labor.25 This implies a clearly dialectical way of thinking for R. To appreciate the shift in his understanding of work, we turn to a number of instances where he deals with questions related to work in his writings
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