Rabbi’s Corner – Remembering Rav Yehuda Amital

Dear Friends,

Earlier today, the Jewish world lost one of its most unique leaders in Rav Yehuda Amital.  R. Amital is perhaps best known for being the founder and longtime Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, and for the formation of the political party Meimad (acronym for what translates to “Jewish State, Democratic State”).   With these two institutions, R. Amital disseminated a love of Torah, Israel, and its people as few rabbinic leaders do in Israel.

Having studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion in 1995-6, and from my conversations with other students, I see R. Amital’s major contributions stemming from his real world common sense approach to halakha and life.  In one of my favorite examples, a student who was about to get married asked R. Amital if he could have mixed seating at the wedding, for in some communities such segregation is a sign of greater religiosity.  R. Amital responded with his characteristic wit, “you found yours, let them find theirs.”

I encourage all readers to search online for more about R. Amital’s life and for other stories from his students.  It is precisely from such seemingly mundane anecdotes that one can fully appreciate the true wisdom of R. Amital.

For Arutz 7 coverage of the funeral (in Hebrew):

http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/206656

For his biography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehuda_Amital

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Josh Yuter