By Larry Gordon
Rav Simcha Kook, who passed away last week at the age of 92, was a sweet, kind, and soft-spoken man. He was the chief rabbi of Rechovot, Israel, and the rav of the Churva Shul, which stands so monumentally in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Up until just a few years ago, he would travel somewhat regularly to the United States, spending weeks at a time in New York and a good deal of that time in the Five Towns.
On a personal level, we had the great privilege years ago of meeting Rav Kook in his home in Rechovot, and in more recent years we met in Israel at the Churva Shul as well as in his apartment in the Old City. On other occasions, we had the opportunity to meet and speak with Rav Kook at the home of his usual hosts in the Five Towns, Barbara and David Martin in Lawrence.
In his travels to the U.S., the Rav visited various communities and yeshivas and also met with supporters to generate funds for his unique projects that introduced Torah and Torah concepts to the outer reaches of the State of Israel.
I recall speaking with him once at the Martin home when he related his idea to bring minyanim and Torah classes to communities and kibbutzim in Israel that were completely disconnected from Torah or even any kind of traditional Jewish way of life.
Rav Kook described how he arrived at a particular kibbutz prior to Rosh Hashanah. He was carrying a sefer Torah with him in order to place it in the main hall that would be used for Rosh Hashanah services that year. An elderly resident of the kibbutz nudged his way to the front, wanting to look at the sefer Torah. “Is this a Torah?” the man inquired. He explained that the man, who was in his high eighties, had never seen a sefer Torah before, though he lived in Israel most of his life.
Earlier this week, I reached David Martin in Israel. He said that a few hours prior he had gone to be menachem avel the Kook family in Rechovot where they were sitting shivah. In our brief conversation, David related to me the details of a visit he once had with Rav Kook in the rav’s Jerusalem apartment.
He described how he once asked Rav Kook about an unopened bottle of wine that he noticed in his apartment. Rav Kook explained that the bottle was a gift from Rav Eliezer Menachem Shach, zt’l, dating back several decades. At the time, Rav Shach wanted Rav Kook to enter the competition for chief rabbi of Israel. At the end of the process, Rav Yisrael Meir Lau won out over Rav Kook for the position.
According to Mr. Martin, the bottle of wine was a gift or perhaps a consolation prize from Rav Shach who, it is said, told Rav Kook that his loss was good for him but not the best thing for the Torah community in Israel.
Rav Simcha was born in 1930 in Jerusalem to Rabbi Refael Kook, the nephew and disciple of Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchak Kook, and to Rachel, daughter of Rabbi Simcha Mandelbaum, who built Beit Mandelbaum in Jerusalem. In his youth, Rav Simcha recalled going to the old Churva Shul: “We lived in Beit Mandelbaum. As young children we would go [to the Churva]. We had Shacharis and krias haTorah at the Churva, and Mussaf at the Kotel, since in those days the Kotel was long and narrow and you didn’t know which minyan you were in, while in the Churva there were special prayers.”
As a young boy, Rav Simcha moved to Tiberias when his father was appointed chief rabbi of the city. After studying at the local school, Rav Simcha studied in Kfar HaRoeh and later in Yeshivas Chevron under Rav Yechezkel Sarna and the Slabodka yeshiva in Bnei Brak.
At a young age, Rav Simcha was appointed to head the Marom Tziyon yeshiva in Bayit V’Gan, which later became Kiryat Noar. Rav Simcha brought a team of educators to the school and persuaded many of the boys, who were from weak religious backgrounds, to continue their Torah studies in yeshivas.
Rav Simcha was then called to head Yeshivat Bnei Akiva in Netanya. He developed a close relationship with the Klausenberger Rebbe and fought to maintain the religious level in the city, even being elected to the city council to promote religious activities.
In 1971, his father passed away and it was assumed that he would continue in his footsteps and become rabbi of Tiberias. However, just months later his brother, Rav Shlomo Kook, who was rabbi of Rechovot, died in a car crash, which also killed his wife and two young children. Rav Simcha was called to replace his brother as rabbi of the city.
According to those close to the Kook family, Rav Simcha always encouraged his sons not to enter into the formal Israeli rabbinate. He instead worked to persuade them to remain in chinuch or Torah education, which they are doing today as heads of yeshivas founded by their father.
I can recall a time not so many years ago before the formal opening of the rebuilt Churva Shul when Rav Kook personally showed us around. He was so proud that the state-of-the-art shul in which he davened as a young man was once again going to be a hub of activity in the Old City.
His loss leaves a gaping hole in the worldwide Jewish community to which he was so dedicated over so many decades.
And now, there is an ongoing shift in a corner of Bnei Brak where throngs of people from around the world once gravitated for an audience with Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zt’l, if only for a few moments.
When a towering and compelling personality like Rav Chaim departs from corporeal existence there is always movement among his heirs to maneuver into positions that suit them and the people best. It’s virtually impossible to understand what the internal movement is like or where the various people involved will eventually land in the family system of such an illustrious personality.
Rav Chaim is survived by three sons and five daughters. A story in the Israeli press last week reported on some controversy revolving around an arrangement that one of the sons made with a New York-based Judaica collector for the sale of sefarim that contain handwritten notes of Rav Chaim on accompanying papers as well as on the margins on the pages of some of the sefarim.
Reportedly, an agreement was struck that the sefarim and notes would be sold for $7 million. That in itself is interesting news for Judaica collectors. The story here, though, was that, allegedly, other members of the family did not know about the agreement.
It seems that these interfamilial struggles have become the predictable hallmark of rabbinical families of note. Over the last few decades, this seemed to be exclusive to Chassidic dynasties, which would then break away into different factions within the sect. It is less common to hear about these struggles in the Litvish world, but that seems to be the case today in Bnei Brak. For now, according to sources in Bnei Brak, Rav Chaim’s younger son, R’ Shaul Kanievsky, has assumed his father’s position in meeting with the public and offering berachos.
The matter of the sale of the writings has reportedly gone to a private arbitrator to sort out the agreement and, if the deal goes forward, to divide the funds properly. According to the Israeli press, Rav Chaim’s books, notes, and the property owned in the area are estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars.
Rav Chaim had three sons and five daughters, but, apparently, two grandsons who ran Rav Chaim’s household for many years are also claiming a part of the inheritance or any eventual agreement.
So, what now? That remains to be seen.
Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.