Pre-Prophetic Cinema

(A Manifesto)​

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"The sprouts of prophecy are now growing, the sons of the prophets are awakening, the spirit of prophecy is hovering over the land, seeking a refuge."

- Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook

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I. The Call: A Time for Revolution

In these times, as cultural boycotts against Israel expand , an opportunity for renewal and a great cultural revolution arises. This is a call for a new Jewish art—radical, mystical, messianic, divine, audacious, and revolutionary. An art that shatters conventional modes of thought and forges new frameworks of wisdom and consciousness. The time has come to establish "illegal outposts in the field of creation" and to pave new paths toward the wondrous, the sublime, and the soul.

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This is a call to all creators—secular and religious, men and women—whose hearts have not been tainted by the poison of despair. A great revolution calls to us. Pre-Prophetic Cinema is a movement aiming to cultivate a new, revolutionary Israeli creation that draws from the prophetic roots of Hebrew culture, to establish a "New Israeli Wave," and to turn Israel into a global center for avant-garde creation, on the path to the revival of a modern prophetic Israeli culture.

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II. The Vision: The Return of Prophecy Through Art

This project is inspired by the vision of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, who saw the national revival in Israel not merely as a political act, but as a profound spiritual-cultural process leading to the rebirth of prophecy in modern form. Prophecy is the heart of Judaism. It ceased about 2,400 years ago but is destined to return with the Jewish people's return to their land and political independence.

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Rabbi Kook identified the rise of

Imagination in contemporary art and culture as a vital process of forging the very tools necessary for this prophetic revival. While this may seem like a descent into a post-modern era where objective truth is absent , it is, in its inner dimension, a hidden divine process preparing the ground for a new synthesis of intellect, emotion, and imagination. Our art must be that which develops this "Holy Imagination" (

דמיון הקודש)—an alternative vision drawn from the hidden treasures of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, and Midrash.

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III. Core Principles of Pre-Prophetic Creation

This new art is guided by several core principles derived from Rabbi Kook's teachings:

• The Inner Work of the Creator: Creation begins not with a technique, but with the artist's inner state. It demands purification, introspection, and deep listening to the soul's inner voice. One cannot dip the pen (or the camera) without purity of soul and sanctity of the idea.

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  The Creating Soul: The source of this creation is the soul's own revelation. For one who possesses a creator's soul, creation is an imperative; "the flame of the soul ascends on its own and cannot be stopped". We do not wait for an external muse; the soul is always singing. The artist's task is to elevate themselves to meet it. This creation is not born of toil, but flows naturally, like the divine creation of the world.

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  Holy Audacity & Absolute Freedom: This art requires a "Holy Audacity" (חוצפה קדושה)—the courage to ask radical questions and break cognitive boundaries. Spiritual creation is absolutely free, unbound by external influences; it flows from the inner spirit, and the more it believes in itself, the more it ascends to the heights of truth.

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  The Aspiration: A New "Song of Songs": Rabbi Kook describes four levels of song: the song of the Self (personal), the Nation (national), Humanity (universal), and the World (cosmic). The tragedy of human culture is that these songs often clash with one another. The ultimate aspiration of this new prophetic art is to become a "Song of Songs"—a fifth, holy song whose purpose is to unify all others into a single, harmonious whole. It must become a synthesis of all human culture.

IV. A Call to Action

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  Establish Artistic Houses of Study (Batei Midrash): Create frameworks that merge the study of prophetic and mystical texts with living artistic practice—cinema, music, poetry, and painting.

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• Forge Collaborations: Break the boundaries between disciplines and between secular and religious creators. Connect artists, philosophers, and musicians to create new, multi-sensory content.

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  Embrace New Tools: Adopt technologies like virtual reality and AI to illustrate prophetic ideas and break the limits of the known.

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Do not wait for permission. Create, dare, and break the boundaries that bind the spirit. If past revolutions revealed the subconscious, we are called to rediscover the power of the soul, the sanctity hidden in reality, and the miracle concealed in the everyday.

 

For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem

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About the Founder

The concept of Pre-Prophetic Cinema was originated by Sasha Netzach Agarunov. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, to a Mountain Jew family , Agronov immigrated to Israel alone at the age of 17. He is a graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem and is an Ophir Award-winning actor (Israel's Academy Award, Best Actor 2009 for his role in "The Loners"). He has taught both cinema and Jewish thought. This project was born from a thirst for unique sources of inspiration, a vision for a new Israeli wave in art, and a deep study of Rabbi Kook's "Orot HaKodesh".