Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) was the first chief rabbi of pre-state Israel. A philosopher and a poet, his creative accomplishments have often been overshadowed by his role as the Orthodox rabbi who embraced the Zionist pioneers.

A deeply religious mystic and a progressive universalist, Rabbi Kook thought it as important to improve the world as to improve one's own soul.

Ben Zion Bokser (1907-1824), the translator of this volume, heard Rabbi Kook speak in New York in 1924 and became an avid student and great proponent of his teachings. Rabbi Bokser's articles on Rav Kook were published in Tradition and Judaism.