Chanuka, our time of light, is a time to learn the Torah of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook.

Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook (1865–1935) was a Torah personality who defies a single definition. It is impossible to fully encompass the dynamic life, transformational personality, manifold published contributions, and revolutionary spiritual ethos of Rav Kook. His story has many chapters, from halachic responsa and communal activity to institution-building and diaries filled with poetry searching for Hashem. Rav Kook’s Torah personality is best associated with light. And light is a phenomenon that defies a single definition. 

Light is the origin of all that exists in our world. It is Hashem’s window into our existence. It is a medium of energy and of many dimensions. Chanuka is one of the chapters of the story of light. Chanuka is all about light; its central mitzvah is our creation of light, reflecting the illumination of the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash. 

Orot, meaning lights, is one of several of Rav Kook’s works that includes light in their title. Light is the theme to which he refers and the theme he invokes extensively in his writings. 

His perspectives on Chanuka, our holiday of light, take many forms: a poem written in Europe that weaves together the halachic details of Chanuka; community sermons; written responsa in his Orach Mishpat; and a philosophical commentary to the Talmudic section dealing with all aspects of Chanuka in the second perek of Massechet Shabbat called Ein Aya.

Thus, Chanuka is an opportune time to appreciate Rav Kook’s unique beacon of light. The light of his teachings continues to illuminate our world. Let us consider a few themes of Rav Kook, in light of an aphorism he coined in 1916 (Meged Yerachim, Ma’amarei HaRa’aya pg. 500) to capture the essence of the time of Chanuka:

הברק האלוקי שבנשמת החשמונאים נתפוצץ לניצוצות. כשיתקבצו לאבוקה אחת ישוב להגלות.

The Divine bolt in the heart of the Chashmonaim splintered into sparks. When they will gather into one torch they will return to being revealed.

This one simple phrase includes many aspects of Rav Kook’s thinking.

HaBarak HaEloki — The Divine bolt: In Rav Kook’s writings the notion of a Divine phenomenon is common. He refers to Divine ideals (האידיאה האלוקית) and Divine wholeness (השלמות האלוקית). These ideas, despite their ethereal language, remind us that we are all living in the presence of Hashem. Hashem’s energy envelops our world and suffuses it with spirituality at every level. Hashem’s light is present in our lives. He is constantly pouring light into our world for us to receive, reflect, and refract.

SheBiNishmat HaChashmonaim — In the soul of the Chashmonaim: The Chashmonaim were ordinary people. They were individual Jews with aspirations and struggles. Yet, they carried within them a spark of Hashem. Each of us has a neshama with a connection to Hashem, if only we can perceive it. The neshama of the Chashmonaim is referred to in the singular. As people who fought for and represented the entirety of the Jewish people they carry one soul, just like the Jewish nation. As Knesset Yisrael, we are all one giant soul, one entity. As individuals, we are part of a greater whole, not separate, distinct parts. Rav Kook emphasized and appreciated the collective dimension of the Jewish people. 

Nitpotzetz lanitzotzot — Splintered into sparks: The splintering Rav Kook refers to may reflect the dual role the Chashmonaim played, which proved to be short lived. As Kohanim, they reinstated the service of the Mikdash, returning the holiness and purity of the Beit Hamikdash. They waged an ideological and spiritual battle against those who had abandoned the light of Torah and tradition. They illuminated the world with the light of their spiritual quest, highlighted by the Divine miracle of the oil. 

They also served as military men who fought bravely against the Selucid Greeks, who persecuted the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. They struggled for autonomy from foreign rule. They were heroic in their quest, which was championed by Hashem, who delivered them a miraculous victory: many at the hands of few. The small band of Chashmonaim waged a guerilla war to ultimately repel the Greeks and create an independent state. They continued to serve as political leaders in the ensuing period. 

However, this experiment did not last. The fusion of religious, spiritual leadership and military, political leadership led to the decline of the service in the Beit Hamikdash and of the Mikdash itself. Ultimately, each of these two important elements — the sanctuary and the battlefield — splintered into separate realms. They each retain a spark of holiness, yet they do not live together in unity. Malchut — physical leadership — and Kehuna — spiritual leadership — are meant to be distinct yet also cojoined partners. The confluence of the two dissolved into the complete separateness of the two. In exile, these forces no longer even appreciate each other’s contribution.

KeSheYitkabtzu la’avuka achat — When they gather into one torch: Rav Kook understands history as one unfolding drama, orchestrated by Hashem. We are living in one long arc of redemption — a movement toward total unity. There is no doubt of the reunification, the redemption. Hashem is already unfolding the process of reunification at every moment, leading to the gathering of the scattered forces, holy elements in life. Even on a physical level, the past century — the final turn toward full redemption — has seen the gathering of Jews from every corner of the earth.

This ultimate vision is reflected by a specific type of light: a torch, not one single beam of light that would be monolithic. Our view of unity is one that respects and appreciates the different flames within the torch, each with its own color and shade. Each has its own height and hue. Every type of Jew and each individual has a unique quality to contribute to the totality of the Jewish people. Even those who are currently devoid of religious content but contribute to the national rebuilding of the Jewish people are lights in the torch.

Yashuv lehigalot — They will return to being revealed: Hashem will ultimately reveal the unity between what currently may seem to be conflicting or competing values. The spiritual and physical dimensions of life, which are constantly in tension with each other, will find a harmony, a synthesis. The word return used here has the specific connotation of teshuva. 

In Rav Kook’s panoramic view of teshuva, it’s not simply a series of steps to mending a wrongdoing. Teshuva is the process of enlightenment, of revealing the inner light of existence. Teshuva is a movement toward higher levels. This light of unity, peace, and wholeness exists on a personal level, a national level, and a cosmic level. 

The word lehigalot is related to the word galut, meaning exile. In exile — national or personal — we experience the separateness of the sparks. When we are in a place of redemption — in the Land of Israel — we can reveal the true inner light of the world — the light of Hashem that has accompanied us all along in our journey together. 

For Rav Kook, the Chanuka themes of unity, the holiness of heroism and redemption, and the unfolding of history and kedusha are all lights that shine together.