„What would happen if Rav Kook were a candidate to be a Chief Rabbi to…”

I cannot keep silent in the face of the immense desecration of God's name occurring in the affairs of the Chief Rabbinate. In recent days I sat and thought to myself what would happen if Rav Kook, of blessed memory, were a candidate in these days for this office, which he held as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.

I have no doubt, not the shadow of a shadow of a doubt, that he would not be elected.

In his appearance Rav Kook was a Haredi Jew; he wore all the Haredi accoutrements, something that would have distanced many from him.

Rav Kook's accent was very heavily Russian, and his speech in Hebrew was not simple at all. This too would have distanced many from him.

Rav Kook was liberal on many matters. He valued independent thought, independent searching, creativity, and writing. He supported the opening of institutions of education and culture. His halakhic rulings were in part very stringent and in part lenient and innovative beyond compare; this too would have distanced many from him.

Rav Kook wrote Kabbalah, studied Kabbalah. This too would have distanced many from him.

Rav Kook favored British rule. He had a deep appreciation for the existing government. This too would have distanced many from him...

But do not worry; in my humble opinion, given what appears today and what is going on today, I greatly doubt whether he would even have been interested.

Dear friends, my wish is not only to protest but to change. We must do something so that the degradation of religion and the Rabbinate occurring here, and the war of the rabbis, will cease.

I would be glad to hear additional views. This is, as stated, my personal opinion (and I do not know the Rav's opinion), but I would be glad to use this platform for discussion and reflection on how it is possible to do differently and to improve the bad situation that currently exists in the Chief Rabbinate.