Yehuda Amital ( he, יהודה עמיטל, born Yehuda Klein; 31 October 1924 – 9 July 2010) was an
Orthodox rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
, the
Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
of
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
, and a member of the
Israeli cabinet
The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the governmen ...
.
The concept of a
Hesder Yeshiva
Hesder ( he, הסדר "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program a ...
is attributed to Amital. After writing an essay about the religious and moral aspects of military service, he envisaged a program for combining army service and
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
study.
In 1991, the
Hesder Yeshiva
Hesder ( he, הסדר "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program a ...
program was awarded the
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...
for its special contribution to society and the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
Biography
Yehuda Klein (later Amital) was born in
Oradea
Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the western par ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, son of Yekutiel Ze'ev and Devora. After four years of secular primary education, he began religious studies with Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Levi. When
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
occupied the area in 1944, the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
sent his entire family to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...
where they were killed. Amital was sent to a
labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...
, thus surviving the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
. He remained in the labor camp for eight months, and was liberated on October 4, 1944, by the Soviet Army. After his liberation, he made his way to
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
, from where he travelled to
Palestine, arriving on December 11, 1944.
After a short stay at the
Atlit detainee camp, he made his way to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, where he studied at
Hebron Yeshiva, receiving
semicha from Rabbi
Isser Zalman Meltzer. He also learned with Rabbi
Yaakov Moshe Charlap, a student of Rabbi
Avraham Yitzchak Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one o ...
. Around this time, he joined the
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the I ...
.
After learning at Hebron, he moved to
Pardes Hanna in order to learn at
Kletzk Yeshiva. While learning at the yeshiva, he married Miriam, the daughter of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Meltzer, and the granddaughter of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer. When the yeshiva relocated to
Rehovot
Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...
, Amital followed, settling in Rehovot until he moved to Jerusalem in the 1960s.
The day after the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
, Amital's unit was mobilized in the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
. He took part in battles of
Latrun
Latrun ( he, לטרון, ''Latrun''; ar, اللطرون, ''al-Latrun'') is a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient in the Ayalon Valley, and a depopulated Palestinian village. It overlooks the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 25 kilometers ...
and the western
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
. After the war, Amital became a rabbinic secretary in the
Beth Din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
of Rehovot, and, two years later, he became an instructor at Yeshivat HaDarom, where he helped formulate the idea of a
Hesder Yeshiva
Hesder ( he, הסדר "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program a ...
.
After the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
, he became the founding
Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
of
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
, which he headed for 40 years.
Amital died on July 9 (27
Tammuz), 2010, and was laid to rest in the
Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem, where thousands attended his funeral.
Political career
In 1988, Amital founded the left-leaning religious
Meimad movement, and was elected as its chairman after it became a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
. After the assassination of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
in November 1995, he served as a
minister without portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...
in the government of
Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...
, despite not being a Knesset member.
Educational career
After the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
he founded
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
, a Hesder Yeshiva in
Gush Etzion which opened in
Kfar Etzion in 1968 with 30 students and moved to its current location in
Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut ( he, אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the p ...
two years later. In 1971 Amital asked
Aharon Lichtenstein to join him as
Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
.
At the age of 80, Amital asked the management of
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
to select his successors. The yeshiva chose rabbis
Yaakov Medan
Yaaqov Medan (sometimes spelled, Yaakov or Ya'acov) ( he, יעקב מדן) (born 1950) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, co- Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, a respected leader in the Religious-Zionist community, and a lecturer in Tanakh, Gemar ...
and
Baruch Gigi. On January 4, 2006, Medan and Gigi were officially invested as co-roshei yeshiva, alongside Amital and Aharon Lichtenstein.
On September 25, 2008, Amital announced that on the last day of
Tishrei
Tishrei () or Tishri (; he, ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year ...
, 5769 (October 28, 2008) he would retire and
Mosheh Lichtenstein, the son of
Aharon Lichtenstein, would become the fourth Rosh Yeshiva.
Relationship with Elazar Shach
Rabbi
Elazar Shach had been a student of Rav
Isser Zalman Meltzer in Europe and he eventually married Rav Meltzer's niece. Rav Amital married Rav Meltzer's granddaughter.
The two developed a very close relationship. When they were both teachers at Yeshivat HaDarom in
Rehovot
Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...
, Rav Amital and Rav Shach were known to argue constantly about
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
, the fledgling
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and the necessity of drafting yeshiva students into the army. Despite an age gap of almost 25 years, the cousins-by-marriage would bounce ideas and bum cigarettes off of one another as they debated the pressing issues of the day.
Eventually, they went their separate ways. Rav Shach became the head of the renowned
Ponevezh Yeshiva
Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced as Ponevitch Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת פוניבז׳), is a yeshiva founded in 1908, and located in Bnei Brak, Israel since 1944. The yeshiva has over three thousand students, including those of affiliated insti ...
in
Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1752 acres, or 2.7 ...
and the firebrand ideological and political leader of the Lithuanian charedi community. Rav Amital went on to establish
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
, a flagship
religious-Zionist institution, in
Alon Shevut, and later co-founded the dovish religious-Zionist
Meimad party. Years later, the two happened to meet somewhere, whereupon Rav Shach embraced Rav Amital and said: “Reb Yehuda, Reb Yehuda! We’re so far apart now that we don’t even argue!”
When Rav Shach passed away, Rav Amital told the following story. He said that a ''
ba'al teshuva'' once came to Rav Shach. His less religious parents wanted him to come home and visit. They were willing to keep the house
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
for that purpose, but in the area where they lived there was only
Rabbanut ''kashrut'', and not the standard of
Badatz that the son kept. With tears Rav Amital told Rav Shach's response, “''Rabbanut lo treif''.” – "Rabbanut food is not ''
treif
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
''." Rav Amital explained, even if it is not up to your standard, how can you let that interfere with your connection with your parents and your ''kibbud av va-eim''?
Published works
*''Jewish Values in a Changing World''
*''Commitment and Complexity: Jewish Wisdom in an Age of Upheaval''
*''When God is Near: On the High Holidays'' ISBN 9781592644377
*''A World Built, Destroyed and Rebuilt, Rabbi Yehudah Amital's Confrontation with the Memory of the Holocaust''
*''By Faith Alone: The Story of Rabbi Yehuda Amital''
*והארץ נתן לבני אדם - A
''Hashkafic'' book based on ''
Sichot'' he gave at
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
, Tevunot Publishing, 2004.
References
External links
*
Alan Brill, "Worlds Destroyed, Worlds Rebuilt: The Religious Thought of R. Yehudah Amital"*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100712143342/http://www.vbm-torah.org/rya.htm Updated biography*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100716203023/http://vbm-torah.org/rya-articles.htm Updated bibliographybr>
Hespedim (eulogies) given for Rav Yehuda Amital zt"lלעבדך באמת, לדמותו ולדרכו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, עורכים: ראובן ציגלר וראובן גפני By Faith Alone, The Story of Rav Yehuda Amital, by Elyashiv ReichnerYehudah Mirsky, The Audacity of Faith
*https://www.academia.edu/18122334/Torah_and_Humanity_in_a_Time_of_Rebirth_Rav_Yehuda_Amital_as_Educator_and_Thinker, Reuven Ziegler and Yehudah Mirsky, Torah and Humanity in a Time of Rebirth: Rav Yehuda Amital as Educator and Thinker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amital, Yehuda
1924 births
2010 deaths
Government ministers of Israel
Israeli Orthodox rabbis
Leaders of political parties in Israel
Meimad politicians
Holocaust survivors
People from Oradea
Religious Zionist rosh yeshivas
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Romanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
20th-century Romanian Jews
21st-century Romanian Jews
Jewish Israeli politicians
20th-century Israeli Jews
21st-century Israeli Jews
Rabbinic members of the Knesset
20th-century Israeli rabbis
21st-century Israeli rabbis
Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis
Jewish military personnel