With 80,000 persons lining the route of march, Chief Rabbi Abraham I. Hacohen Kook was borne to his final resting place on the Mount of Olives this afternoon.
He died in the Montefiore Hospital in his seventieth year after having been confined to his bed several weeks suffering from a cancer.
Dense crowds stood silent on streets, balconies and roofs as the procession passed. A detail of 100 police frequently found it necessary to clear the way for the funeral cortege. Representative of Jewish and non-Jewish communities, religious and lay leaders, and Palestine government and consular officers followed the hearse.
The only note of relief in the somber procession was supplied by the picturesque attire of groups of oriental rabbis.
In the van of the procession was a troop of youth from the city’s Talmud Toroth (primary religious schools). Guiding the march through the streets were students of the Jerusalem Yeshivah, Rabbi Kook’s school, and members of the Hapoel Hamizrachi. All wore civilian garb, uniforms having been prohibited.
Rabbi Kook was buried in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Only two rabbis delivered eulogies: Isser Salman on behalf of religious institutions and Joseph Levy for the Sephardic rabbinate.
The interment was climaxed by the traditional ceremony of throwing handfuls of earth on the coffin, in which numerous dignitaries joined. Rabbi Zvi Yehuda, Rabbi Kook’s son, said Kaddish over the grave.
The afternoon heat was so intense that many cases of heat prostration were reported during the funeral.
Rabbi Kook died Sunday with members of his family and outstanding rabbis at his bedside. Shortly before his death, he regained consciousness and responded to prayers. He died with the Hebrew words, “God is one….” on his lips.
News of his death spread rapidly throughout Palestine. Newspapers issued extra editions and Jewish organizations halted all activity until after the funeral had been held. Amusement places were closed and buildings draped with black.
The body was taken from the hospital to the Yeshivah by a police guard of honor. Thousands of persons filed past the bier all day before the funeral.
The funeral was arranged by a committee comprising representatives of the Jewish Agency, the Jerusalem Municipality, the Vaad Leumi and the Palestine Supreme Rabbinate.
Rabbi Kook took ill a few months ago, just after he had issued an appeal to Jews not to celebrate his seventieth birthday. He was attended during his sickness by a corps of internationally known physicians and prayers were offered in his behalf in synagogues and at the Wailing Wall.
He was born in Griva, near Dvinsk, Russia. At 32 he became rabbi of Busk and in 1907 went to Jaffa to become rabbi there. Versed not only in rabbinic lore but also in secular philosophy, Rabbi Kook gained a world-wide reputation as the leading orthodox rabbi of the world.
In Palestine, he was known as Jewish Citizen No. 1. Recently he was accorded honorary citizenship in Tel-Aviv.
Rabbi Kook visited the United States in 1925 and was received in New York by Mayor Hylan. He also got a reception by the mayor of Chicago.
Much of Rabbi Kook’s time was devoted to bringing peace among various factions in Palestine Jewry. It was at his home that the first meeting of representatives of the Histadruth and the Jewish Farmers Association was held last year to effect a rapprochement.
Strictly orthodox himself, Rabbi Kook gained a reputation for liberality and tolerance. He was a prominent philanthropist although he himself lived frugally.
During the Arab riots of 1929, Rabbi Kook was often consulted by government authorities, his efforts to bring amity between Jews and Arabs being signally successful.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
