Yehuda Meir Abramowicz (; born 24 July 1914, died 20 April 2007) was an Israeli rabbi and politician. He served as general secretary of

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 ...

, which he represented in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

from 1972 until 1981, and as Deputy

Speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...

between 1977 and 1981. One of his achievements was the introduction of legislation requiring drivers of vehicles to wear seat belts.

Early years

Abramowitz was born in

Konstantynów Łódzki Konstantynów Łódzki is a town in Pabianice County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland, with 18,335 inhabitants (2020). It borders Łódź to the east, Lutomiersk to the west, Aleksandrów Łódzki to the north, and Porszewice to the south. ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

to Tzvi Yitzchok Abramowicz, who had been the ''

shochet In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. One who practices this, a kosher butcher is called a ''sho ...

'' for Rav Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin, the

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. ...

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, and had been a chosid of the '' Chidushei Harim'' of Ger. When he was just nine months old his father died; he was orphaned of his mother as a teenager. Shortly afterwards, he was accepted as a student in the prestigious Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin. When Rabbi

Meir Shapiro Yehuda Meir Shapiro (; 3 March 1887 – 27 October 1933) was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, and establishing the Cha ...

introduced the

Daf Yomi ''Daf Yomi'' (, ''Daf Yomi'', "page of the day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries (also known as the Gemara), in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covered in sequence. A ' ...

, he dispatched the students of his yeshiva to deliver Daf Yomi lectures. Abramowicz was assigned the daily lecture at the synagogue of the

Chozeh of Lublin Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz (), known as "the Seer of Lublin" (), ''ha-Chozeh MiLublin''; (c. 1745 - August 15, 1815) was a Hasidic rebbe from Poland. "Rabbi Yaacov Yitzchak, the Chozeh of Lublin, is one of the truly beloved figures of Chassi ...

; attendance grew rapidly until there were fifty participants each day.''The Jewish Tribune (UK)'', 2007-04-26."Rabbi Yehuda Meir Abramowitz ''zt"l''"
''Dei'ah veDibur''. Accessed July 9, 2007.

Achievements

Soon after his marriage in 1935, Abramowitz made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

Mandate 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 ...

, settling 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 ...

. He was appointed by Agudat Yisrael as its representative on the Religious Committee of 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 ...

, where he worked to maintain

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 ...

and Sabbath observance. In 1948, he was appointed as General Secretary of Agudat Yisrael, and he was a founder of the

Chinuch Atzmai Jewish education (, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. Judaism places a heavy emphasis on Torah s ...

educational network. In 1950, he was elected to the

Council; from 1954 to 1984 he served as a deputy mayor of the city. During his period of service on Tel Aviv Council he was successful in having two gender-separated beaches established. In 1980, he was elected Chairman of

World Agudath Israel World Agudath Israel (), usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism. It succeeded ''Agudath Shlomei Emunei Yisroel'' (Union of Faithful Jewry) in 1912. Its base of s ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abramowicz, Yehuda Meir 1914 births 2007 deaths People from Pabianice County Ger Hasidim Hasidic rabbis in Mandatory Palestine Haganah members Israeli Hasidic rabbis Leaders of political parties in Israel Agudat Yisrael politicians Religious Torah Front politicians Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Polish Hasidic rabbis Deputy mayors of Tel Aviv-Yafo Deputy speakers of the Knesset Rabbinic members of the Knesset 20th-century Polish rabbis Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah Burials at Har HaMenuchot