Salomon descended from a family that, inspired by the this-worldly messianism of the Vilna Gaon, had emigrated to Palestine in the early 19th century, and in the Old Yishuv, as distinct from the Perushim (separatist ascetics) following the Gaon's principles, Salomon's family constituted a religious clan notable for creating institutional infrastructure. It was this Salomon who had engineered the Kook family's aliyah in 1904, after convincing a committee to nominate the father Abraham to succeed the recently deceased rabbi of Jaffa (Mirsky 2014, pp. 40–41, 45). Mirsky, Yehudah (2014). Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution. Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-16424-4.
The idea goes back to Isaac Luria (1534-1572):"Luria synthesized the disparate cosmological, metaphysical, and theological doctrines that preceded him into a mythic vision of primordial creation as a great drama of divine withdrawal and resulting catastrophe that set in motion all cosmic history. God, as it were, contracted Himself, leaving in the empty space thus created vestiges of divine light in 'vessels,' nodal points of boundless divine energy contained by a corresponding principle of restraint. Unable to contain the divine light, the vessels shattered, scattering sparks of divine goodness and crude husks of shattered vessels, which together compose the forces of good and evil pulsating through the universe." (Mirsky 2014, pp. 26–27) Mirsky, Yehudah (2014). Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution. Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-16424-4.
".'It was (his) contention that the people of Israel were distinguished from the rest of the nations by some of life's most basic elements: the relation ship between body and soul, the relationship between humanity and the universe, and the social relationships between people. When the people of Israel are in their normal state, their uniqueness is evident in all these levels of existence. Kook thus wished to place the uniqueness of Jewish existence on the political agenda to ensure that the government of Israel would take steps to provide the conditions that would allow it to flourish." (Ben-Johanan 2022, p. 201) Ben-Johanan, Karma (2022). Jacob's Younger Brother: Christian-Jewish Relations After Vatican II. Harvard University Press. ISBN978-0-674-25826-6.
The idea is present already in the father's writings. Speaking of the ostensible decline of Judaism in a period of national renaissance (and agitations which, divorced from religion, sucked up its fructifying power), he wrote."These developments cannot go on in their chaotic form. We must mend with courage and with knowledge past abuses. We must gather up all spiritual trends that have been dispersed to their center, to ingather the spiritual fugitives of Israel and the dispersed of Judah. Through this spiritual potency for the ingathering of the exiles there will be released the physical potency for the ingathering upon the holy soil, the place suited for the realization of all ideals in their different aspects from potentiality to actuality. This will be effected not through individuals or parties, but through the nation, through the aggregate of the community of Israel, which will blossom in the beloved land, the fairest heritage of any nation" (Kook 1991, p. 284) Kook, Abraham Isaac (1991). "On the Reasons for the Commandments". In Gellman, Ezra (ed.). Essays on the Thought and Philosophy of Rabbi Kook. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 269–284. ISBN978-0-845-34826-0.
"Nineteen years ago, on the night when news of the United Nations decision in favor of the re-establishment of the state of Israel reached us, when the people streamed into the streets to celebrate and rejoice, I could not go out and join in the jubilation. I saty alone in silence; a burden lay upon me. During those first hours I could not resign myself to what had been done. I could not accept the fact that indeed "they have.. divided My Land "(Joel 4:2)! … where is our Hebron. Have we forgotten her?! Where is our Shechem, our Jericho-where? Have we forgotten them?" (Frey 2007, p. 88) Frey, Rebecca Joyce (2007). Fundamentalism. Infobase Publishing. ISBN978-1-438-10899-5.
Aviner, in his book The Christian Enemy, developed Kook's ideas, arguing that:"human history began with idolaters; the Israeli nation appeared and disseminated morality among the human race; idolaters struggled against God's people but were unable to vanquish them until, ultimately, 'in the face of a combined attack by evil men from without and evil passions from within,' the people of Israel collapsed and withdrew into themselves, and their influence over the nations was lost," occasioning the rise of Christianity (Ben-Johanan 2022, p. 225). Ben-Johanan, Karma (2022). Jacob's Younger Brother: Christian-Jewish Relations After Vatican II. Harvard University Press. ISBN978-0-674-25826-6.
His father thought the idea Israel was superseded by Christianity something that made Christianity intolerable and therefore something to be blotted out. He saw himself as a warrior "fighting our lengthy war, the Lord's war with Amalek, a war of erasing from under the heavens, a war of blotting out all memory." (Ben-Johanan 2016, p. 78) Ben-Johanan, Karma (Winter 2016). "Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook's Thought". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 106 (1): 76–100. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0004. JSTORjewiquarrevi.106.1.76. S2CID170926041.
These views are already present in his father's writings, who also likened Christianity to "a dog swallowing feces, feeding itself from the filth that was secreted out of Judaism in the figure of Jesus." (Ben-Johanan 2016, p. 93). Ben-Johanan, Karma (Winter 2016). "Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook's Thought". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 106 (1): 76–100. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0004. JSTORjewiquarrevi.106.1.76. S2CID170926041.
"Abraham Isaac Kook.. urged that Jewish settlement of the land should proceed by peaceful means only. Even a Jewish king, Kook reasoned, would need to consult the High Court before embarking on war, for no war (other than purely defensive) might be pursued against those who observe the Seven Commandments (or Noahide Laws), and if the enemy were idolaters (this would exclude Muslims and Christians) it would still be necessary for the Court to examine their moral condition before declaring the war justified." (Solomon 2005, p. 306) Solomon, Norman (June 2005). "Judaism and the ethics of war". International Review of the Red Cross. 87 (858): 296–309. doi:10.1017/S1816383100181354. S2CID145303911 – via ResearchGate.
His father thought the idea Israel was superseded by Christianity something that made Christianity intolerable and therefore something to be blotted out. He saw himself as a warrior "fighting our lengthy war, the Lord's war with Amalek, a war of erasing from under the heavens, a war of blotting out all memory." (Ben-Johanan 2016, p. 78) Ben-Johanan, Karma (Winter 2016). "Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook's Thought". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 106 (1): 76–100. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0004. JSTORjewiquarrevi.106.1.76. S2CID170926041.
These views are already present in his father's writings, who also likened Christianity to "a dog swallowing feces, feeding itself from the filth that was secreted out of Judaism in the figure of Jesus." (Ben-Johanan 2016, p. 93). Ben-Johanan, Karma (Winter 2016). "Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook's Thought". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 106 (1): 76–100. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0004. JSTORjewiquarrevi.106.1.76. S2CID170926041.
"Abraham Isaac Kook.. urged that Jewish settlement of the land should proceed by peaceful means only. Even a Jewish king, Kook reasoned, would need to consult the High Court before embarking on war, for no war (other than purely defensive) might be pursued against those who observe the Seven Commandments (or Noahide Laws), and if the enemy were idolaters (this would exclude Muslims and Christians) it would still be necessary for the Court to examine their moral condition before declaring the war justified." (Solomon 2005, p. 306) Solomon, Norman (June 2005). "Judaism and the ethics of war". International Review of the Red Cross. 87 (858): 296–309. doi:10.1017/S1816383100181354. S2CID145303911 – via ResearchGate.
His father thought the idea Israel was superseded by Christianity something that made Christianity intolerable and therefore something to be blotted out. He saw himself as a warrior "fighting our lengthy war, the Lord's war with Amalek, a war of erasing from under the heavens, a war of blotting out all memory." (Ben-Johanan 2016, p. 78) Ben-Johanan, Karma (Winter 2016). "Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook's Thought". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 106 (1): 76–100. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0004. JSTORjewiquarrevi.106.1.76. S2CID170926041.
These views are already present in his father's writings, who also likened Christianity to "a dog swallowing feces, feeding itself from the filth that was secreted out of Judaism in the figure of Jesus." (Ben-Johanan 2016, p. 93). Ben-Johanan, Karma (Winter 2016). "Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook's Thought". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 106 (1): 76–100. doi:10.1353/jqr.2016.0004. JSTORjewiquarrevi.106.1.76. S2CID170926041.
"Abraham Isaac Kook.. urged that Jewish settlement of the land should proceed by peaceful means only. Even a Jewish king, Kook reasoned, would need to consult the High Court before embarking on war, for no war (other than purely defensive) might be pursued against those who observe the Seven Commandments (or Noahide Laws), and if the enemy were idolaters (this would exclude Muslims and Christians) it would still be necessary for the Court to examine their moral condition before declaring the war justified." (Solomon 2005, p. 306) Solomon, Norman (June 2005). "Judaism and the ethics of war". International Review of the Red Cross. 87 (858): 296–309. doi:10.1017/S1816383100181354. S2CID145303911 – via ResearchGate.