Modernization of Religious Models as a Fundamental Element of Social Development

Abstract

The article examines the main concepts involved in the modernization of Judaism according to the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, one of the great Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. Furthermore, it shows how these ideas have affected the dynamics of growth within Judaism over a long period of time, all the way through current events. Rabbi Kook’s approach to religious modernization is striking because it actually sets out a concrete and comprehensive program for development, something that does not exist in any other religion or strand of Judaism. This article will critically examine the program for modernization put forth by Rabbi Kook in an attempt to answer two questions. The first is how consistent and compatible it is with the tenets of religious orthodoxy. The second question is to what extent the program has been successful in achieving its real-world goal in the hundred or so years since its intellectual inception.