Shlomo Goren (; 3 February 1918 – 29 October 1994), was a Polish-born 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 ...

and

Talmudic scholar The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. An

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

and

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

, he was considered a foremost rabbinical legal authority on matters of Jewish religious law (''

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

''). In 1948, Goren founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF), a position he held until 1968. Subsequently, he served as Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv–Jaffa between 1968 and his 1972 election as the

Chief Rabbi of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel (, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. It was established in 1921 under the British Mandate, and today operates on the basis of the C ...

; the fourth

Ashkenazi Jew Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

to hold office. After his 1983 retirement from the country's Chief Rabbinate, Goren served as the head of a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

that he established in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

While serving in the IDF, Goren fought in three of the Arab–Israeli wars, and wrote several award-winning books on ''halakha''.

Early life and education

Goren was born into an Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish family in the town of Zambrów, Poland. His parents, Avraham Goronczik and Haya Tzipora, emigrated in 1925 to join the

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

in what was then the

British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

. His family was among the founders of Kfar Hasidim, an Orthodox Jewish village located near the city of

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, where Goren grew up. As a young boy, he was sent to Jerusalem to study at the Etz Chaim Yeshiva. Later, when he was 12, he became the youngest student to enter the Hebron Yeshiva, where he was identified as a Judaic prodigy. His first book, dealing with ''

korbanot In Judaism, the (), also spelled or , is any of a variety of Sacrifice, sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The plural form is , , or . The term primarily refers to sacrificial offerings given from humans to God f ...

'' (ritual sacrifices) at the former

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

, was published when he was 17. At the same age, he received rabbinic ordination. From 1940 until 1944, Goren was enrolled at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, where he studied philosophy, mathematics, and

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Military career

Goren's military career as an Orthodox Jew was characterized by a commitment to the Religious Zionist values of his youth. He volunteered for the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

in 1936, and served as a chaplain for the Jerusalem area following the outbreak of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, during which he tested for and qualified as an IDF paratrooper. Goren was also a chaplain of the Carmeli Brigade at this time. Immediately after the war, he engaged, often at great personal risk, in collecting the bodies of deceased soldiers to give them a proper burial. He strongly opposed the idea of separated religious and secular military units and worked for the integration of all IDF soldiers in the same units. He was the most prominent ''halakhic'' authority involved in rulings for religious soldiers regarding their military service. Goren was eventually promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. Following Israel's independence, Goren was appointed as the head of the IDF's Military Rabbinate with the rank of major-general, a position he held until 1968. He used the opportunity to help establish and organize the military chaplaincy's framework, streamlining processes to get soldiers accommodations for

kosher food Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of '' kashrut'' ( dietary law). The laws of ''kashrut'' apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish ...

and prayer services. Goren personally wrote a new

prayerbook A prayer book is a book containing prayers and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are ...

to accommodate the different prayer styles used by various Jewish ethnic subgroups serving in the IDF. Goren served in the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

of 1956 and the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

of 1967, following which he was promoted to the rank of general. On 7 June 1967, when Israeli troops captured

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

from

Jordanian control Jordanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Jordan, a country in the Near East * Jordanian culture * Jordanian people, see Demographics of Jordan * Jordanian cuisine * Jordanian Arabic * Royal Jordanian, an airline See also * L ...

, Goren gave a prayer of thanksgiving, which was broadcast live to the entire country. Shortly afterwards, blowing a

shofar A shofar ( ; from , ) is an ancient musical horn, typically a ram's horn, used for Jewish ritual purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure. The ...

and carrying a

Torah scroll A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

, he held the first Jewish prayer session at the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

since 1948. The event was one of the defining moments of the

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab world, Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League ...

, and several photographs of Goren surrounded by soldiers in prayer have since become famous among Jews in Israel and worldwide. The most famous of these photographs shows Goren blowing the shofar against the background of the Western Wall.

Controversies

Goren attracted many admirers through his passion for Religious Zionism and his combining of Zionist activism with a commitment to

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and Jewish scholarship. However, his uncompromising personality later resulted in him becoming a polarizing and controversial figure in Israeli politics. Goren called the vehement attacks against him a "moral and religious scandal". The Langer Controversy In November 1972, Goren presided over a panel of nine dayanim to review the case of Sgt. Maj. Hanoch Langer, and his sister Miriam, who had been declared

mamzer In the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, a ''mamzer'' (, , "estranged person"; plural ''mamzerim'') is a person who is born as the result of certain forbidden relationships or incest (as it is defined by the Bible), or the descendant of s ...

im, and therefore ineligible for marriage to an

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

by a Beit Din in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

. The Langer children had been designated as mamzerim because their mother had married their father, without having been divorced from her previous husband, thus committing

adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...

according to

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

. Fearing a review of the case would prompt the secularists in the government, such as Gideon Hausner of the Independent Liberal Party, to press for the introduction of

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

in Israel to break the rabbinate's exclusive control over marriage, Goren controversially reversed the ruling. Goren's reversal was fiercely opposed, primarily by the

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael (; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party representing Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews in Poland, originating in the Agudath Israel movement ...

and Rav Ovadiah Yosef. Some prominent rabbis, however, such as

Rav Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major United States, American Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosophy, Jewish philosopher. He was a scion ...

and Rav Yosef Eliahu Henkin, came out in support of Goren. The controversy severely affected Goren's reputation.

''Halakha'' and the Israeli state

Goren spent most of his term as Chief Rabbi of Israel attempting to reconcile Jewish religious teachings with modern problems of the state, including advancements in technological progress and various high-profile conversion cases. Goren often clashed with his more conservative rabbinical colleagues. One example of Goren's desire to adapt

Halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

to changing realities in science was his controversial stance on '' Kiddush Levana'', the monthly blessing over the

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

. A prayer customarily added after the blessing contains the words "just as I dance before you and am unable to touch you." Goren said that since the Americans landed on the Moon in 1969, this line should be changed to reflect that it is, in fact, possible to touch the Moon.

Religious Zionist activism

Third Temple in Jerusalem

Goren repeatedly advocated or supported building a

Third Temple The "Third Temple" (, , ) refers to a hypothetical rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. It would succeed the First Temple and the Second Temple, the former having been destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in and the latter having bee ...

on the Temple Mount from the 1960s onward, and was associated with various messianic projects involving the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

. He was well known for his controversial positions concerning Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount. On 15 August 1967, two months after the

, Goren led a group of fifty Jews onto the

, where, fighting off protesting Muslim guards and Israeli police, they defiantly held a prayer service. Goren continued to pray for many years in the Makhkame building overlooking the Temple Mount, where he conducted yearly

High Holiday In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, the ...

services. His call for the establishment of a synagogue on the Temple Mount has subsequently been reiterated by his brother-in-law, the former Chief Rabbi of Haifa, She'ar Yashuv Cohen. Goren was sharply criticized by the Israeli Defense Ministry, who, noting Goren's senior rank, called his behavior inappropriate. The episode led the Chief Rabbis of the time to restate the accepted laws of Judaism that no Jews were allowed on the mount due to issues of ritual impurity. The secular authorities welcomed this ruling as it preserved the

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

with the

Waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

, the Islamic authority. Disagreeing with his colleagues, Goren continually maintained that Jews were not only permitted, but commanded, to ascend and pray on the mount which is the holiest site in Judaism. The actual question of Goren's radicalism remains controversial. One widely repeated story about Goren claims that shortly after the Israeli capture of the Temple Mount, the rabbi either argued that Israel should destroy the al Aqsa Mosque and

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...

, or simply said that it would have been a "good thing" if they had been accidentally destroyed. The charge, made by General Narkiss, an eyewitness, in an interview with ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'' that Rabbi Goren calling for the destruction of the mosques has been used to claim there is a Jewish extremism comparable to Islamic extremism. Goren's close assistant Rabbi Menachem Ha-Cohen, who was with Rabbi Goren throughout that historic day, denied ever hearing Goren make such a remark. Goren himself personally denied this charge several times. However, Goren did make a speech later that year to a military convention, recorded and later broadcast on Israel's army radio, in which he said of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque that "Certainly we should have blown it up. It is a tragedy that we did not do so." After retiring from official duties as Chief Rabbi, Goren opened and lead the ''Idra''

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

near the

. The yeshiva changed and was renamed after Goren's death.

Illegal excavation sites

In the summer of 1983, Goren and several other rabbis joined Rabbi

Yehuda Getz Yehuda Getz (; born 1924 in Tunis, French protectorate of Tunisia, Tunisia—died 17 September 1995 in Jerusalem) was the rabbi of the Western Wall for 27 years. Biography Yehuda Meir Getz was born in Tunisia in 1924. He aliyah, immigrated to Isra ...

, who worked for the Religious Affairs Ministry at the Western Wall, in touring a chamber underneath the mount that Getz had illegally excavated, where the two claimed to have seen the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...

. The excavation was shortly discovered and resulted in a massive brawl between young Jews and Arabs in the area. The access tunnel to the chamber was quickly sealed with concrete by Israeli police. The sealed entrance can be seen from the Western Wall Tunnel, which opened to the public in 1996.

Relationship with Christian organizations

Goren, who was a strong supporter of alliances between

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

s and Israel, also denounced meetings between Israel and the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, calling it "blasphemy beyond expression."

Opposition to the Oslo Accords

Goren also made headlines after his term as Chief Rabbi had expired. He was deeply opposed to the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

and in 1993 declared that it was halakhically forbidden to dismantle any settlements in the Biblical

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

, and encouraged any soldiers ordered to do so to refuse. In 1994, he announced that Halakha made it a duty for Jews to kill

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

, because he endangered Jewish lives.Shlomo Goren, 77, Is Dead
by Eric Pace, New York Times, Oct. 30, 1994. Accessed March 2020.

Condemnation of Jewish terrorist attacks

Goren has spoken out against Jewish terrorism. In 1982 he and Rabbi

Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...

officially condemned a shooting attack on the Temple Mount by an American immigrant which resulted in the death of two Muslims and the wounding of several others. In a joint statement released by the Chief Rabbis, they declared that "We and the entire Jewish people attack and deplore the criminal act of murder in every possible way. Through this abominable act lanGoodman has removed himself from the Jewish people...".

Educational activities

Goren was a manager of a

Kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

, where he met and educated Rabbi Joel Landau. Landau helped him in managing the Kollel. Following his term as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, he founded the Idra Yeshiva near the Western Wall, which he headed until his passing.

Published works

* Goren's first work was on the

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' (), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' (), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''halakha'') authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon/Rambam). The ''Mishneh Torah'' was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE ( ...

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

, published at age seventeen.Goren, Rabbi Shlomo
by Orthodox Union (OU) Staff, June 14, 2006, accessed March 2020 * ''Sha'arei Taharah'' on Tractate ''

Mikva'ot Tractate Miqwaʾoth (Hebrew: מקואות, lit. "Pools of Water"; in Talmudic Hebrew: ''Miqwaʾoth'') is a section of the Mishna discussing the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Like most of Seder T ...

'', a study of the laws concerning ritual baths (''

mikva A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or ( Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered t ...

'ot''), published at the age of twenty-one. It received an "enthusiastic approbatio" from Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, who had been his

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

. * A number of ''

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

'' regarding the application of Jewish Law in a modern army * ''With Might and Strength: An Autobiography'', an (auto)biography redacted by Avi Rath based on his interviews with Goren (2013 in Hebrew, 2016 in English)

Quotes

* "Human life is undoubtedly a supreme value in

, as expressed both in the

Halacha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mi ...

and the prophetic ethic. This refers not only to

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, but to all men created in the image of God." *"It is clear that according to Halacha (Jewish religious law), a soldier who receives an order that runs contrary to Torah law should uphold the Halacha, and not the secular order. And since settling the land is a commandment, and uprooting the settlements is breaking the commandment, the soldier should not carry out an order to uproot settlements. This government does not lean on a majority of Jewish support, but rather on

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

votes. According to the Halacha it does not have the authority of a majority, and therefore government directives to uproot the settlements do not have the authority of the majority of the people." ( NRP newspaper '' Hatzofeh'', 19 December 1993.)

Personal life

Goren was married to Tzfia Cohen, the daughter of prominent

Rabbi David Cohen, the ''Nazir of Jerusalem'', and the sister of Rabbi She'ar Yashuv Cohen, former deputy-mayor of Jerusalem and later Chief Rabbi of

. Both Goren's father-in-law and brother-in-law were also prominent rabbinical vegetarians. Rabbi Goren and Tzfia Goren had three children: retired justice Tchiya Shapiro; psychologist Drorit Tamari; and Abraham (Rami) Goren, executive vice president of Elbit Imaging.

Vegetarianism

Goren was a strict

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

after he visited a slaughterhouse in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1967 to perform an inspection of

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of Food and drink prohibitions, dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to halakha, Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed ko ...

Awards

* In 1961, Goren was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

in Rabbinical literature.

Bibliography

*''The Crown of Holiness'', an interpretation and commentary on Maimonides'

, 1934. *''Sha’rei Taharah'', a study on the laws of

niddah A niddah (alternative forms: nidda, nida, or nidah; ''nidá''), in traditional Judaism, is a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the ...

, 1940. *''Ha-Yerushalmi ha-Meforash'', commentary on the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

, 1961. Recipient of the

for Jewish Scholarship.

References

External links

Jewish Ideas Daily: The Warrior Rabbi
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070928112834/http://english.thekotel.org/newsletter/article.asp?Id=41 Goren Biography from Western Wall Heritage Society Newsletter*Rabbi

Eliezer Melamed Eliezer Melamed (; born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli religious-Zionist rabbi, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, the rabbi of the settlement Har Bracha, and the author of '' Peninei Halakha'', a series of '' Halakhic'' works. Biography ...

'Rabbi Goren and the Temple Mount'
on

Arutz Sheva ''Arutz Sheva'' (), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew language, Hebrew, English language, English, and Russian language, R ...

. *Gorenberg, Gershom. ''End of Days : Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount.'' Free Press, 2000. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goren, Shlomo 1917 births 1994 deaths Chief rabbis of Israel Israeli generals Israel Prize Rabbi recipients Israel Prize in Rabbinical literature recipients Orthodox rabbis in Mandatory Palestine Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis Polish emigrants to Israel People from Zambrów Israeli Orthodox rabbis Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli rabbis Chief rabbis of Tel Aviv Israel Defense Forces rabbis Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Israeli military chaplains Immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah Hebron Yeshiva alumni Etz Chaim Yeshiva (Jerusalem) alumni