Amnon Yitzhak (; born 8 November 1953) is a

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

Israeli

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 of t ...

. He is best known for his involvement in

Orthodox Judaism outreach Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as ''Kiruv'' or ''Qiruv'' ( "bringing close"), is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-Orthodox or non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life accor ...

(''kiruv'') among Israel's

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

and

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' () has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''eastern'', it may refer to: * Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East and North Africa * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberia ...

populations. He and Rabbi Reuven Elbaz are considered the leaders of the Sephardi

baal teshuva movement In Judaism, a ''ba'al teshuvah'' (; for a woman, , or ; plural, , , 'owner of return God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a Jewish secularism, secular lifestyle or ...

in Israel. He is involved in activities centered on helping Jews to become more religious or observant through public speaking in Israel and around the world, and his 'Shofar' organization, which distributes his lectures in various media and on the internet.

Biography

Amnon Yitzhak was born to Yahya Zechariah Yitzchak and Rumia Yitzchak in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to a

Yemenite Jewish Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of persecution, the vast majority of Yemenite J ...

family. He was brought up in a non-religious home, and became religious at the age of 24, after stumbling across the

sefer Sefer may refer to: * Sefer (Hebrew), a term for a book People with the surname * Franjo Šefer (born 1905), Yugoslav tennis player * Bela Šefer, Yugoslav footballer playing in 1924 People with the forename * Sefer Reis, Turkish privateer and O ...

Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, that he received for his

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

. In 1986, he established the

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

'Shofar' for promoting the "return to religion" among the Jewish Israeli population. His lectures and other activities have made Yitzhak a prominent Israeli rabbi since the early 1990s. Through 'Shofar', Yitzhak has launched two widely distributed weekly newspapers, ''Arba Kanfot'' and ''Shofar News'' geared to the Haredi public and general public respectively. They ceased publication in 2008.

Views on secular Zionism

Yitzhak has also addressed the issue of the secular Zionist leadership, and has released, for example, a video titled "

Herzl Herzl is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Herzl Berger *Herzl Bodinger *Herzl Rosenblum *Herzl Yankl Tsam * Herzl "Herzi" Halevi Surname: * Ludwig Herzl *Theodor Herzl See also *Mount Herzl *' ...

and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

", which presents a critical view of both. Yitzhak has said, referring to Theodor Herzl, "There have been two great criminals in the history of the Jewish people:

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and Herzl. Hitler wanted to destroy the body of the Jewish nation. Herzl wanted to kill the soul, which is far more important than the body." In a cassette titled "In the Shadow of Democracy", he strongly criticizes the State of Israel and the leadership for their attitude towards the Mizrahi-traditional and Haredi Jewish public, especially during the period of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. According to ,

Ynet Ynet (stylized in all lowercase) is an Israeli news and general-content website, and the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper. History Ynet launched on June 6, 2000, in Hebrew, following other Hebrew outlet's website launches ...

correspondent on Jewish Religious Affairs, Yitzhak "is considered to have a clear

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

position, similar to that of the

Satmar Satmar (; ) is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti (also called Szatmár in the 1890s), Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is a b ...

Hasidim. Like them, he boycotts the Knesset elections. This view is extremely rare among the Haredi-

public, and even rarer among Mizrahi newly-observant Jews - Amnon Yitzhak's primary target audience." Nonetheless, he had announced his guiding and leadership (the rabbi himself was outside the political list and was not running himself to the 19th Knesset) of the Israeli political party Koah Lehashpi'a for the 2013 Knesset elections in late November 2012. His party did not pass the election threshold, and therefore did not enter to the 19th Knesset. The party received 28,000 votes.

Views on women

In 2013, Yitzhak asserted that women should not drive cars, claiming "It is immodest for a woman to drive".

References

External links

Shofar organizationShofar newsTear Gas and Massive Brawl at Amnon Yitzchak’s Lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yitzhak, Amnon 1954 births Living people Sephardic Haredi rabbis in Israel Yemenite Orthodox rabbis Orthodox Jewish outreach Baalei teshuva 20th-century Israeli rabbis 21st-century Israeli rabbis Anti-Zionist Haredi rabbis