Answer

I don’t know how Rabbi HaNazir and Rabbi Kook understood divinity. I’m also not familiar with Rabbi Kalner’s work.
I am currently working on a book of contemporary theology (two or three volumes).
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N.:
Does the Rabbi’s new book base its conception of God on a particular teaching of some specific Torah scholar, such as the Maharal or Rabbi Yehuda Halevi??
And in general, in the Rabbi’s books I haven’t found (not that this is strong proof, but still…) a definition or an attempt to define God according to the Torah, and an attempt to ground this in sources from the revealed or hidden teachings of the Torah.
It is clear to me that the Rabbi has dealt with this issue a great deal and in depth, so it is hard for me to understand how the Rabbi does not address the views of Rabbi Kook and his student Rabbi HaNazir on the concept of divinity.
According to Rabbi Kook, he is not innovating the conception of the Holy One, blessed be He, but uncovering it from the inner Torah of the Jewish people, and therefore I think his doctrine requires a response from the rabbis of the generation, especially since I know that the Rabbi teaches Rabbi HaNazir’s main book on these matters, The Voice of Prophecy…
And how can one even deal with the question of God’s existence without a precise definition of the concept? And if we are already asking what God is, then why not turn, in searching for the answer, to our own sources and try to draw the definition from them?
The beauty of Rabbi Kook’s attempt to define God is that afterward there is no need for logical philosophizing and arguments, because everything becomes clear and self-evident. This is what the author of the Kuzari calls: “A proof that needs with it neither proof nor demonstration.”
That is, his method is simply to redefine concepts (new-old), and in this way to ground faith in the God of Israel. It is important to me to know what the Rabbi thinks about everything I wrote, because this is an issue that I’ve been occupied with and interested in for quite some time, and although I learn a great deal from the Rabbi in many areas of faith, I don’t find specific attention to this basic topic (which is the root of many current questions that the Rabbi also deals with extensively), and I regret that, because I’m sure the Rabbi has a lot to say about it and can contribute from his broad learning, both Torah-based and general, on this matter.
Thank you very much in advance and have a good week!!!
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Rabbi:
Hello.
In general I do not engage with books of Jewish thought of various kinds, and certainly do not rely on them. Among other reasons, because of what you wrote here: there are no definitions there, and the analysis is very unsystematic and vague. In addition, I do not see them as a source of authority (as opposed to Jewish law), and therefore they do not add much in the various issues.
I really do not think that dealing with philosophical questions has to refer to such-and-such sources. Just as Rabbi Kook or the Maharal wrote what they thought (although they ostensibly rely on rabbinic sources, I don’t buy that. The sources are only illustration), so too I, the humble one, write what I think. Let whoever chooses, choose.
As a rule, in my view there is no such thing as Jewish philosophy. There is correct philosophy and incorrect philosophy, and it really does not matter from whose womb the pearls emerge, Jew or gentile.
I explain all this very well in the above-mentioned book. Among other things, my aim there is to clarify these methodological assumptions.
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N.:
So according to your approach, when Judaism speaks about God and commands belief in Him and not in another god, what does it mean?
What is called believing in God? What are angels? Messiah? Resurrection of the dead? Divine inspiration? Prophecy? Torah? Repentance? Impure? Pure?

Does Judaism have no clear definitions for all these concepts?
I’m not asking whether this philosophy is correct; I’m asking what it says at all. What is the faith of Israel? What does it claim about reality? Only after that question can one examine whether this faith is true or not.
If we do not relate to these concepts through the understanding of the great Jewish figures throughout the generations, then in what sense are we called believers in the faith of Israel?
Don’t you think that the great Jewish figures in faith and thought throughout the generations relied on the wisdom of Kabbalah that was transmitted in some form from generation to generation? Could each of them really come in his own time and innovate or shape the principles of faith according to his own understanding? Is that what Maimonides or Rabbi Yehuda Halevi did in their generation? Did they not see themselves as committed to a certain spirit of intellectual tradition? To a certain theological content?
Actually I understood that the Rabbi did ground his doctrine in the wisdom of Kabbalah, especially as found in the Ari, the Kuzari, the Zohar, the Talmud, verses, and so on…
 
There are many books that deal with finding sources for the ideas the Rabbi wrote in his books…
 
The link you sent me is giving me problems right now; is there any discussion in your articles there of the concept of ‘God’??
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Rabbi:
Hello. Indeed, these concepts are not defined anywhere at all. Regarding God there is no problem, because this refers to the being that created the world, took us out of Egypt, and gave us the Torah. It is not really important who or what He is. As I wrote, in my opinion there is no tradition in these matters, and everyone does what seems right in his own eyes. The term “great Jewish figures in faith and thought” is a modern invention, which tries to manufacture the field of thought as a Torah field out of thin air. There is no such field.
The faith of Israel does not say much about reality. It mainly demands of us halakhic commitment. And what it does say about reality should be examined in terms of true or false, not in terms of so-and-so said this or someone else did not say that.
All these things will be clarified in my above-mentioned books, and it is hard for me to elaborate on all this here.
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N.:
And what about Rabbi Kook and Rabbi HaNazir?
Do they also say that the faith of Israel, as a worldview and way of life, does not have much to say about reality, its characteristics, its nature, and human nature?
 
What about God’s revelation in history? What do you think about that idea, which is of course connected to the matter of the “chosenness of Israel”?
Did Rabbi HaNazir not have a clear definition of the concept of God?
And another question that is very important to me: what do you think of the essay “Toward the Course of Ideas in Israel”? Have you ever given classes on it?
I’m very interested in the meeting between you and Rabbi Kook’s teaching. Right now I’m listening to your classes through the site, which I only recently discovered is yours, so be prepared for impatient questions. Sorry for the lack of order in the question.
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Rabbi:

Hello.
 
1. What Rabbi Kook or Rabbi HaNazir say is their responsibility. I say what I think.
2. I did not understand what you mean regarding God’s revelation in history and the chosenness of Israel.
3. I am not familiar with the essay.
4. I’m ready for questions, since that is what the site was created for. But it is preferable that they be sent one at a time and clearly. “Impatient questions” sounds to me unclear, but a bit problematic. See the introduction above.