Joseph:
I’m not sure why you changed the topic into a discussion about what various rabbis thought about R’ Kook. Theoretically, someone could hold that R’ Kook was the biggest rasha who ever lived while simultaneously not holding that a State is against the Torah. Be that as it may, I will point out that you give a whole list of quotes yet you only document two of them, neither of which are on hebrewbooks, and one of which simply asserts that the Chofetz Chaim was not a Zionist.
Even though, R’ Kook’s status is not particularly relevant to the discussion (as all it does is determine whether there is one more or one less great rabbi who held that a state is not against the Torah) I will still address your claims. I will preface my remarks by stating that I have no idea if the quotes you provide are true or not. If you provide a source which I have access to (including hebrewbooks) or post an exact quote in the original Hebrew, I will gladly admit that you have a source. Now, regarding the Chofetz Chaim, there is a sefer called ?? ??? ????? ?????? which discusses the Chofetz Chaim and R’ Kook. Unfortunately, the sefer is not on hebrewbooks, but (among other things) it has a letter written by the Chofetz Chaim’s son in law, which I took the time to type up word for word:
??? ???? ????
??”? ????? ???????
??? ????”? ???? ????”? ??”? ??? ???? ????? ?????
?? ???? ?”? ??? ?????
?”? ??? ???”? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???”? ??”?
?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ?’ ????? ???? ???? ??? ????”? ??”? ?? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ?????”? ???? ???? ????”? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ???? ??? ????”? ???? ????”? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ????? ????? ??????? ???? ??”? ?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ?? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ???? (?? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ??? ????”? ???? ????”? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ???? ??????) ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ????? (????? ???? ???) ????? ??? ???? ?????? – ??? ??? ??? ?????? – ???? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ????”? ???? ????”? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ????? (?????? ????”? ????? ?”? ?”? ??’ ?”? ?”?) ?????? ?”? ??? ?? ??? ????”? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?’ ??? ???????? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??”? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?”? ????”? ???? ???? ??? ??? ????? ????? ???”? ???? ???? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ??’ ?????? ?????
???? ????
??? ??? ????? ????? ????”? ??? ???? ????”?
Regarding the Chazon Ish, in ??? ???? on page ??, the following is told (again, it’s not on hebrewbooks but I typed out the quote):
????? ???? ?? ????? ??? ????? ???? ??? ???????? ???? ??? ???????? ?????? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?????
See also, this letter from R’ Tzvi Pesach Frank to R’ Chaim Hirschenson, starting from the bottom pargraph: http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1544&st=&pgnum=237
There are plenty more stories/quotes about great rabbis who held highly of R’ Kook, but I’m not going to sit here all day typing them up, especially considering that it is tangential to the original discussion. If you want to see them, you can easily google various phrases that include R’ Kook’s name and the word “gedolim” or “Chofetz Chaim”.
Regarding the kol korei, I am just repeating what you told me. I have never seen Zvi Weinman’s writings and they don’t seem to be available online. You said that he found the original kol korei and it said ????? ????? in place of ?????? ??????. You tell me who signed which kol
korei – the only version I have ever seen is in Hatekufa Hagedola. If you have seen Weinman’s version then please tell us who signed and precisely what it said. If you have not actually seen Weinman’s claim then I take your point a lot less seriously. Also, as I mentioned before, I would like to know why none of the signatories publicly declared that they never signed, or that they signed something else (or if they did come out, please document it).
Regarding Hapardes, as I’m sure you know, the discussion about the meeting of the Moetzes spans some 30 pages, starting at http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=12084&st=&pgnum=4&hilite= . You quoted one paragraph out of all that, and even the paragraph you quoted is not against a state per se, but against a state that is not run according to the Torah. There was clearly a raging machlokes about having a state, as can be seen from reading the entire discussion, and as we saw in the other Hapardes which I linked in my previous post. Considering that all I ever claimed was that there was no unanimous, monolithic position amongst the great rabbis, I think I have supported my case. Especially considering that I cited R’ Moshe Shternbuch, who is quite the anti-zionist, as saying that rov of the gedolei hador were present and they agreed about the establishment of the state.
Regarding comparing great rabbis, I certainly agree that it can be done. If you are judging between two people and you know them both personally, you might be able judge which one is greater. If you don’t know them personally, you can read their seforim and you might be able to judge which one is greater. But I don’t think you utilized either of these two methods. I think you just assumed that the more famous/respected one was greater.
Again, I am not arguing in favor of Zionism or anti-Zionism, but that there was a difference of opinion amongst great rabbis.