A long interesting letter by Rabbi Yitzchak Kosovsky (Shachor) Av Bet Din of Volkovysk to “The great Torah genius of our times…lofty tzaddik Cohen greatest among his brothers and head of the rabbis of the Holy Land…” – Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook regarding an argument with the Zionist Committee in his city following the opening of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Volkovysk, 1927.
Rabbi Kosovsky writes Rabbi Kook that he saw him at the home of his brother-in-law Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky and he turns to him with request of assistance. He relates that in his city, as well as in other cities, the opening of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was celebrated with much fanfare and glory in the local synagogue and he too was invited to the celebration. He spoke in honor of the occasion but when he saw a proclamation among the decorations hung in the synagogue with the inscription “’For from Zion Torah will come forth and G-d’s word from Jerusalem’ – in honor of the opening of the Hebrew University” it irked him greatly. At that time, he did not express his dissent hoping that the proclamation would be removed immediately after the celebration but when time passed and the sign still remained he began to act on this matter. The heads of the Zionist Committee in his city fiercely opposed taking down the sign and an argument developed between the committee and the rabbi. As of the time the letter was written (two years after the celebration of the opening of the university) the proclamation had still not been removed, but Rabbi Kosovsky reached an agreement with the heads of the Zionist Committee that they will bring the dispute before Rabbi Kook and he will determine the matter.
Among other things, Rabbi Kosovsky relates that the Mizrachi rabbis in Vilnius also expressed their opposition to the use of this verse as the title for the university’s celebration and even Rabbi Hager who visited his city protested against the sign hanging in the synagogue, but to no avail.
On April 1, 1925, the official opening ceremony of the Hebrew University took place on Mount Scopus with the participation of many renowned and eminent persons. Among them were Lord Balfour, Rabbi Kook, Chaim Weizmann, Bialik, and others. The ceremony was joined by celebrations all over the Jewish world by the Zionist Movement. The establishment of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was presented as an event of historical national importance and was regarded as the building of a spiritual Temple on the mountains of Jerusalem. The newspaper headlines [already on the eve of the ceremony] were full of verses in this vein, especially taken from the Yeshayahu’s prophesies (Chapter 2): “And at the end of the days, the mount of G-d’s House shall be erected on the top of the mountains…Let us ascend to the Mountain of G-d…For from Zion Torah shall come forth…”. Rabbi Kook mentioned the verse “For from Zion Torah shall come forth” in his speech and prayer at the ceremony but in an opposite context, rather as a plea that the prophecy shall be fulfilled in its original manner by the building of the third Temple. This did not prevent Jerusalem zealots from attacking Rabbi Kook claiming that he used the verse to depict the university and to spread this fabrication all over the world. The letter was printed in Likutei HaRa’aya Volume 3, p. 206.
Rabbi Yitzchak Kosovsky-Shachor (1777-1951), a Lithuanian Torah sage who studied in the Telz Yeshiva, son-in-law of Rabbi David Shlomo Grodzensky Av Bet Din of Iwye. Later, he served as Rabbi of Myropil in Russia. In 1922, he moved to serve as Rabbi of Augustów and in 1925 served as Rabbi of Vawkavysk. In 1934, he moved to South Africa, and was appointed as Rabbi of the Association of Communities in Johannesburg and its surroundings and as president of the Mizrachi Movement in South Africa, a position he kept until his death.
[3] pages. 28 cm. Good condition, folding marks, few stains.