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Kol HaTor (Hebrew: קול התור, "The Voice of the Turtledove", from Song of Songs 2:12) is a book of Jewish thought attributed to Rabbi Hillel Rivlin of Shklov, a disciple of the Vilna Gaon. Many historians^[who?] suggest that it was in fact written by Moshe Zalman Rivlin in the middle of the 20th century.^[1] The text deals with the Geulah (Era of eschatology and salvation) and describes its signs vis-a-vis an evaluation of a proposed 999 footsteps of the Moshiach's arrival. The Vilna Gaon believed the number 999 to be intrinsically connected to the idea of Moshiach ben Yosef, he also felt that this number is alluded to in the gematria of his own name.^[2]

Publication history

Kol HaTor was first published in Hebrew in 1947 by Rivlin, and again in 1968 by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher.

According to Rabbi Pinchas Winston,

"In 1947, Rabbi Shlomo Rivlin, with the advice of the great Kabbalists of Jerusalem, decided to publish an abridged version of this lengthy and difficult treatise keeping the Kabbalistic terminology as simple as possible so that it could also be studied by non-Kabbalists. Therefore, the printed Kol HaTor is not the original text. In 1968 it was reprinted again by two different editors (unknown to each other), Rabbi Menachem Kasher and Rabbi Chaim Friedlander (Committee For The Dissemination of Kol HaTor). Rabbi Kasher omitted the chapter on the confluences of Kabbalah and science called Sha'ar Be'er Sheva (Gate of The Seven Fields of Wisdom). The B'nei Brak edition, which did contain this chapter, was out of print for over twenty years, thus making this "lost doctrine" of the GR"A [the Vilna Gaon] totally unnoticed by scholars and the public. Only recently a new print has appeared in Jerusalem with the Sha'ar Be'er Sheva."^[3]

Impact and controversy

The text has become popularized amongst the adherents of Religious Zionism who perceive parallels between current and recent historical events and those forecast in the book. They maintain that we are currently in the years right prior to the full Redemption and that the indicators established in Kol HaTor are currently being manifested. However, most historians and some anti-Zionists have disputed the authenticity of Kol HaTor. According to Prof. Immanuel Etkes, "Shlomo Zalman [Rivlin] concocted the myth attributing a Messianic Zionist doctrine to the Gaon of Vilna and his disciples, and describing the immigration of the Prushim to the Land of Israel in the early nineteenth century as an aliya that was fundamentally motivated by a Messianic Zionism. All of these statements have, as said," no support in the contemporaneous sources."^[4]

Moshe Sternbuch is a direct descendant of the Vilna Gaon and is the rabbi of the GRA Synagogue in Jerusalem, which primarily follows the traditions taught and espoused by the Vilna Gaon.^[5] Sternbuch argues against the work on theological grounds as well as textual grounds by drawing attention to certain words in the text that only a speaker of modern Hebrew would utilize. He first wrote against Kol HaTor in a ten page pamphlet in the year following its publication in 1968 and later expanded upon the matter in his work Teshuvos VeHanhagos.^[6]

References

^ Etkes, Immanuel (2024). The Invention of a Tradition: The Messianic Zionism of the Gaon of Vilna. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-3453-4.
^ Kol HaTor; Notes on Chapter 3 Archived 2013-02-10 at archive.today Holy Hints on the Beginning of the Redemption
^ Torah.org Perceptions; Parshas Pinchas.
^ Etkes. The Invention of a Tradition. p. 46.
^ Frankfurter, Yitzchok (28 March 2018). "From One Generation to Another: A Conversation with the Renowned Posek and Rosh Beis Din of Yerushalayim Rav Moshe Sternbuch". Ami Magazine. No. 361. p. 42. A descendent of the Vilna Gaon zt"l, [Sternbuch] studied under some of the most illustrious Torah giants of the past, including the Chazon Ish, the Brisker Rav and the Tchebiner Rav, zt"l.
^ Teshuvos VeHanhagos Part 4, Chapter 328. Pp. 411-419.

External links

קול התור - Kol HaTor Hebrew Text; Kabbalah La'am
Kol HaTor English Translation; Yedid Nefesh
Kol HaTor French Translation

[1] Etkes, Immanuel (2024). The Invention of a Tradition: The Messianic Zionism of the Gaon of Vilna. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-3453-4.

[2] Kol HaTor; Notes on Chapter 3 Archived 2013-02-10 at archive.today Holy Hints on the Beginning of the Redemption

[3] Torah.org Perceptions; Parshas Pinchas.

[4] Etkes. The Invention of a Tradition. p. 46.

[5] Frankfurter, Yitzchok (28 March 2018). "From One Generation to Another: A Conversation with the Renowned Posek and Rosh Beis Din of Yerushalayim Rav Moshe Sternbuch". Ami Magazine. No. 361. p. 42. A descendent of the Vilna Gaon zt"l, [Sternbuch] studied under some of the most illustrious Torah giants of the past, including the Chazon Ish, the Brisker Rav and the Tchebiner Rav, zt"l.

[6] Teshuvos VeHanhagos Part 4, Chapter 328. Pp. 411-419.

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-'''Kol HaTor''' - '''קול התור''' or "The Voice of the [[Turtledove]]" (a reference to [[Song of Songs]] 2:12) was written by Rabbi [[Hillel Rivlin]] of Shklov, a disciple of the [[Vilna Gaon]] . The text deals with the [[Geulah]] (Era of [[Redemption (religious)|Redemption]]) and describes its signs vis-a-vis an  evaluation of a proposed 999 footsteps of the [[Moshiach]]’s arrival. The Vilna Gaon believed the number 999 to be intrinsically connected to the idea of [[Moshiach ben Yosef]], he also felt that this number is alluded to in the [[gematria]] of his own name.<ref>[http://www.yedidnefesh.com/kaballah/kol-hator/3.htm Kol HaTor; Notes on Chapter 3] Holy Hints on the Beginning of the Redemption</ref> It was first published in [[Hebrew]] by Rabbi [[Menachem Mendel Kasher]] in 1968 to whom the book was passed down over the generations. According to [[Pinchas Winston|Rabbi Pinchas Winston]], <blockquote></div>"The original text of Kol HaTor was kept in the manuscript by the Rivlin family, descendants of Rabbi Hillel Rivlin, for over 200 years. In 1947, Rabbi Shlomo Rivlin, with the advice of the great Kabbalists of Jerusalem, decided to publish an abridged version of this lengthy and difficult treatise keeping the Kabbalistic terminology as simple as possible so that it could also be studied by non-Kabbalists. Therefore, the printed Kol HaTor is not the original text. In 1968 it was reprinted again by two different editors (unknown to each other), Rabbi Menachem Kasher and Rabbi [[Chaim Friedlander]] (Committee For The Dissemination of Kol HaTor). Rabbi Kasher omitted the chapter on the confluences of Kabbalah and science called Sha'ar Be'er Sheva (Gate of The Seven Fields of Wisdom). The B'nei Brak edition, which did contain this chapter, was out of print for over twenty years, thus making this "lost doctrine" of the GR"A totally unnoticed by scholars and the public. Only recently a new print has appeared in Jerusalem with the Sha'ar Be'er Sheva."<ref>[http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5765/pinchas.html Torah.org] Perceptions; Parshas Pinchas.</ref></blockquote>
+'''Kol HaTor''' ({{langx|he|קול התור}}, "The Voice of the [[Streptopelia|Turtledove]]", from {{Bibleverse|Song of Songs|2:12|HE}}) is a book of [[Judaism|Jewish]] thought attributed to Rabbi [[Hillel Rivlin]] of [[Shklov]], a disciple of the [[Vilna Gaon]]. Many historians{{who|date=June 2024}} suggest that it was in fact written by Moshe Zalman Rivlin in the middle of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Etkes |first=Immanuel |title=The Invention of a Tradition: The Messianic Zionism of the Gaon of Vilna |date=2024 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-3453-4}}</ref> The text deals with the ''Geulah'' (Era of [[Jewish eschatology|eschatology]] and [[salvation]]) and describes its signs vis-a-vis an evaluation of a proposed 999 footsteps of the [[Messiah in Judaism|Moshiach]]'s arrival. The Vilna Gaon believed the number 999 to be intrinsically connected to the idea of [[Moshiach ben Yosef]], he also felt that this number is alluded to in the [[gematria]] of his own name.<ref>[http://www.yedidnefesh.com/kaballah/kol-hator/3.htm Kol HaTor; Notes on Chapter 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130210051256/http://www.yedidnefesh.com/kaballah/kol-hator/3.htm |date=2013-02-10 }} Holy Hints on the Beginning of the Redemption</ref>
+==Publication history==
+Kol HaTor was first published in [[Hebrew]] in 1947 by Rivlin, and again in 1968 by Rabbi [[Menachem Mendel Kasher]].
+According to Rabbi Pinchas Winston,
+<blockquote>"In 1947, Rabbi Shlomo Rivlin, with the advice of the great [[Kabbalist]]s of Jerusalem, decided to publish an abridged version of this lengthy and difficult treatise keeping the Kabbalistic terminology as simple as possible so that it could also be studied by non-Kabbalists. Therefore, the printed Kol HaTor is not the original text. In 1968 it was reprinted again by two different editors (unknown to each other), Rabbi Menachem Kasher and Rabbi Chaim Friedlander (Committee For The Dissemination of Kol HaTor). Rabbi Kasher omitted the chapter on the confluences of Kabbalah and science called Sha'ar Be'er Sheva (Gate of The Seven Fields of Wisdom). The [[Bnei Brak|B'nei Brak]] edition, which did contain this chapter, was out of print for over twenty years, thus making this "lost doctrine" of the GR"A [the Vilna Gaon] totally unnoticed by scholars and the public. Only recently a new print has appeared in Jerusalem with the Sha'ar Be'er Sheva."<ref>[http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5765/pinchas.html Torah.org] Perceptions; Parshas Pinchas.</ref></blockquote>
-The text has become popularized amongst the adherents of [[Religious Zionism]] who perceive parallels between current and recent historical events and those forecast in the book. They maintain that we are currently in the years right prior to the full Redemption and that the indicators established in Kol HaTor are currently being manifested. However some [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionists]] have disputed the authenticity of Kol HaTor, particularly Rabbi [[Moshe Shternbuch]] who is a direct descendant of the Vilna Gaon and is the rabbi of the GR”A Synagogue in [[Jerusalem]] which primarily follows the traditions taught and espoused by the Vilna Gaon. Rabbi Shternbuch argues against the work on theological grounds as well as textual grounds by drawing attention to certain words in the text that only a speaker of [[modern Hebrew]] would utilize. He first wrote against Kol HaTor in a ten page pamphlet in the year following its publication in 1968 and later expanded upon the matter in his work Teshuvos VeHanhagos.<ref>[http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20027&pgnum=414&hilite= Teshuvos VeHanhagos] Part 4, Chapter 328. Pp. 411-419.</ref>
+==Impact and controversy==
+The text has become popularized amongst the adherents of [[Religious Zionism]] who perceive parallels between current and recent historical events and those forecast in the book. They maintain that we are currently in the years right prior to the full Redemption and that the indicators established in Kol HaTor are currently being manifested. However, most historians and some [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionists]] have disputed the authenticity of Kol HaTor. According to Prof. Immanuel Etkes, "Shlomo Zalman [Rivlin] concocted the myth attributing a Messianic Zionist doctrine to the Gaon of Vilna and his disciples, and describing the immigration of the Prushim to the Land of Israel in the early nineteenth century as an aliya that was fundamentally motivated by a Messianic Zionism. All of these statements have, as said," no support in the contemporaneous sources."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Etkes |title=The Invention of a Tradition |pages=46}}</ref>
+[[Moshe Sternbuch]] is a direct descendant of the Vilna Gaon and is the rabbi of the GRA Synagogue in [[Jerusalem]], which primarily follows the traditions taught and espoused by the Vilna Gaon.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Frankfurter |first=Yitzchok |date=28 March 2018 |title=From One Generation to Another: A Conversation with the Renowned Posek and Rosh Beis Din of Yerushalayim Rav Moshe Sternbuch |magazine=[[Ami Magazine]] |issue=361 |pages=42|quote=A descendent of the Vilna Gaon zt"l, [Sternbuch] studied under some of the most illustrious Torah giants of the past, including the Chazon Ish, the Brisker Rav and the Tchebiner Rav, zt"l.}}</ref> Sternbuch argues against the work on theological grounds as well as textual grounds by drawing attention to certain words in the text that only a speaker of [[modern Hebrew]] would utilize. He first wrote against Kol HaTor in a ten page pamphlet in the year following its publication in 1968 and later expanded upon the matter in his work Teshuvos VeHanhagos.<ref>[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20027&pgnum=414&hilite= Teshuvos VeHanhagos] Part 4, Chapter 328. Pp. 411-419.</ref>
 ==References==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
 * [http://www.kab.co.il/heb/content/view/frame/29640?/heb/content/view/full/29640&main קול התור - Kol HaTor] Hebrew Text; Kabbalah La'am
 * [http://www.yedidnefesh.com/kol-hator.html Kol HaTor] English Translation; Yedid Nefesh
+* Kol HaTor  [https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1612032626021759529/4985037545077025846 French Translation]
 [[Category:Jewish philosophical and ethical texts]]
+[[Category:Sifrei Kodesh]]