Yehuda Amital
Encyclopedia
Yehuda Amital was an Orthodox
rabbi
, the Rosh Yeshiva
of Yeshivat Har Etzion
and a former member of the Israeli cabinet
.
in Romania
. When Germany
occupied the area in 1944, the Nazis sent his entire family to Auschwitz where they were killed. Amital was sent to a labor camp
, thus surviving the Holocaust. 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
, 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, where he studied at Hebron Yeshiva, receiving semicha
from Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
. He also learned with Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlop, a student of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook
. Around this time he joined the Haganah
.
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
, Amital followed, settling in Rehovot until he moved to Jerusalem in the 1960s.
The day after the Declaration of Independence
, Amital's unit was mobilized. He took part in battles of Latrun
and the western Galilee
. After the war, Amital became a rabbinic secretary in the Beth Din
of Rehovot and, two years later, he became an instructor at Yeshivat HaDarom, where he helped formulate the idea of a Hesder Yeshiva.
After the Six Day War, he founded Yeshivat Har Etzion
, a Hesder Yeshiva in Gush Etzion
. The yeshiva opened in Kfar Etzion
in 1968 with 30 students. After two years the institution moved to its current location in Alon Shvut
. In 1971 Rav Amital asked Rav Aharon Lichtenstein
to join him as Rosh Yeshiva
.
In 1988, Rav Amital founded the left-leaning religious Meimad
movement, and was elected its chairman after it became a political party
.
In 1995, Rav Amital served as a Minister without Portfolio
in the government of Shimon Peres
despite not being a Knesset member.
At the age of 80, Amital, with the intention of retiring, asked the management of Yeshivat Har Etzion to select his successors. The yeshiva chose Rabbis Yaaqov Medan
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 officially announced his retirement in the yeshiva, to take effect on the last day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, in the year 5769 (October 28, 2008). He also announced that Mosheh Lichtenstein, the son of his co-Rosh Yeshiva Aharon Lichtenstein
, would assume the position as the fourth Rosh Yeshiva on that same day.
Amital continued to be a prominent public figure in Israel, with a broad impact on matters of religious and national concern. His students and disciples are leading figures in many walks of life. He had developed an educational philosophy which combines deep faithfulness to tradition and ethical responsibility to society at large with commitment to the moral and spiritual flourishing of each individual.
Rav Amital died on July 9, 2010, and was laid to rest in the Har Hamenuchot
cemetery in Jerusalem, where thousands attended his funeral.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
of Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel...
and a former member of the Israeli cabinet
Cabinet of Israel
The Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
.
Biography
Amital was born in OradeaOradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. When Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
occupied the area in 1944, the Nazis sent his entire family to Auschwitz where they were killed. Amital was sent to a labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
, thus surviving the Holocaust. 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
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, from where he travelled to Palestine, arriving on December 11, 1944.
After a short stay at the Atlit detainee camp
Atlit detainee camp
The Atlit detainee camp was a detention camp established by the British at the end of the 1930s on what is now Israel's northern coast south of Haifa. The camp was established to prevent Jewish refugees, mainly Holocaust survivors, from entering then-Palestine...
, he made his way to Jerusalem, where he studied at Hebron Yeshiva, receiving semicha
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
from Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer, , was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel" - the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishne Torah....
. He also learned with Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlop, a student of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
. Around this time he joined the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
.
After learning at Hebron he moved to Pardes Hanna
Pardes Hanna-Karkur
Pardes Hanna-Karkur is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2009, it had a population of 31,800.-History:In 1913, 15 square kilometers of land was purchased by the Hachsharat Hayishuv society from Arabs in Jenin and Haifa for 400,000 francs...
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
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
, Amital followed, settling in Rehovot until he moved to Jerusalem in the 1960s.
The day after the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
The Israeli Declaration of Independence , made on 14 May 1948 , the day before the British Mandate was due to expire, was the announcement by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, that the new Jewish state named the...
, Amital's unit was mobilized. He took part in battles of Latrun
Latrun
Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley in Israel overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.-Etymology:...
and the western Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
. After the war, Amital became a rabbinic secretary in the Beth Din
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis 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...
of Rehovot and, two years later, he became an instructor at Yeshivat HaDarom, where he helped formulate the idea of a Hesder Yeshiva.
After the Six Day War, he founded Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel...
, a Hesder Yeshiva in Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
. The yeshiva opened in Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council...
in 1968 with 30 students. After two years the institution moved to its current location in Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut
Alon Shvut 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 prototype for Jewish settlements in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion...
. In 1971 Rav Amital asked Rav Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein is a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva.Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
to join him as Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
.
In 1988, Rav Amital founded the left-leaning religious Meimad
Meimad
Meimad is a left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movement founded in 1988 by Rabbi Yehuda Amital. At the national level, it was in alliance with the Labour Party, and until the 2006 elections, received 10th spot on the...
movement, and was elected its chairman after it became a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
.
In 1995, Rav Amital served as a Minister without Portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
in the government of Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
despite not being a Knesset member.
At the age of 80, Amital, with the intention of retiring, asked the management of Yeshivat Har Etzion to select his successors. The yeshiva chose Rabbis Yaaqov Medan
Yaaqov Medan
Rabbi Yaaqov Medan is a co-Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, and a lecturer in Tanakh, gemara, and Jewish philosophy....
and Baruch Gigi
Baruch Gigi
Rabbi Baruch Gigi is a co-Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.He was born in Morocco and immigrated to Israel at the age of 11. He first attended Yeshivat Har Etzion as a student in 1974 after studying in a yeshiva high school in Haifa. He was ordained by the...
. On January 4, 2006, Medan and Gigi were officially invested as co-roshei yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
alongside Amital and Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein is a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva.Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
.
On September 25, 2008, Amital officially announced his retirement in the yeshiva, to take effect on the last day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, in the year 5769 (October 28, 2008). He also announced that Mosheh Lichtenstein, the son of his co-Rosh Yeshiva Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein is a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva.Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
, would assume the position as the fourth Rosh Yeshiva on that same day.
Amital continued to be a prominent public figure in Israel, with a broad impact on matters of religious and national concern. His students and disciples are leading figures in many walks of life. He had developed an educational philosophy which combines deep faithfulness to tradition and ethical responsibility to society at large with commitment to the moral and spiritual flourishing of each individual.
Rav Amital died on July 9, 2010, and was laid to rest in the Har Hamenuchot
Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south.-History:...
cemetery in Jerusalem, where thousands attended his funeral.
Published works
- Jewish Values in a Changing World ISBN 0881258814
- Commitment and Complexity: Jewish Wisdom in an Age of Upheaval ISBN 1602800308
- A World Built, Destroyed and Rebuilt, Rabbi Yehudah Amital's Confrontation with the Memory of the Holocaust ISBN 0881258644
- By Faith Alone: The Story of Rabbi Yehuda Amital ISBN 159264192X
External links
- Alan Brill, "Worlds Destroyed, Worlds Rebuilt: The Religious Thought of R. Yehudah Amital"
- Series of shiurim by R. Yehuda Amital entitled Jewish Values in a Changing World, posted by The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash of Yeshivat Har Etzion
- Updated biography
- Updated bibliography
- Hespedim (eulogies) given for Rav Yehuda Amital zt"l
- לעבדך באמת, לדמותו ולדרכו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, עורכים: ראובן ציגלר וראובן גפני
- By Faith Alone, The Story of Rav Yehuda Amital, by Elyashiv Reichner