Rabbi Kook in Žeimelis: A Big Data Analysis

Abstract

Abstract In this study I demonstrate a distant reading of Rabbi Kook’s early writings from the Žeimelis period, using advanced tools of big data analytics. Analyzing frequent words and phrases in the Žeimelis corpus is coupled with a comparison to the most important corpus of Kook’s writing: Shemonah Qevaṣim. This parallelization illustrates the clear and consistent differences between the corpora—verbal and phrasal—as well as some similarities. The Žeimelis period can be described as more particularistic in nature, with an emphasis on traditional rabbinic writing: a strong linkage to rabbinic classical sources, a clear differentiation between Halakhah and Kabbalah, and a wide perspective on numerous subjects, yet without blending them into one. Kook’s original teachings were not abandoned in later phases but rather reshaped in a more sophisticated manner. A pan(en)theistic disposition dominates his later works, effecting content and form in unique ways, and creating a more complex and intertwined philosophy.