Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook (1865 - 1935) was born in Latvia, but from the time he was a little boy, he dramed of living in Eretz Yisroel. From a very young age, he studied Torah and Gemara, and was a brilliant student. When he was 18, he began to learn in the Volozhin Yeshiva and became close to the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv). Rav Kook leanred there for only a year and a half. Even so, the Netziv said that if the Volozhin Yeshiva had only been started so that Rav Kook would learn there, it would have been worth it. During that time in the yeshiva, he studied about 18 hours a day.

The following story shows Rav Kook's tremendous dedication to learning: When Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was a boy, he would sneak to Rav Kook's door and look through the hole. There, he would watch Rav Kook learn Torah. He was so inspired by the light and enthusiasm on the Rav's face that the boy would rush back to the yeshiva to learn more. Many years later, whenever Rav Auerbach would talk about Rav Kook, he would call him, "HaRav," and speak about him with awe and reverence.