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Former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira z'l
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| By Israel Insider staff September 28, 2007 |
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| Jewish mourners surround the wrapped body of the former Chief Rabbi. (FLASH 90) |
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94-year-old former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Avraham Shapira, died yesterday and was buried today on the Mount of Olives overlooking the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Shapira was considered one of religious Zionism's most revered spiritual leaders and a key figure in the religious settlement movement. An estimated 25,000 mourners accompanied the funeral procession through the streets of Jerusalem.
Shapira was known for his uncompromising opposition to any concessions of the Land of Israel. He called on soldiers to refuse orders to aid in the destruction of Jewish communities of Gaza and northern Samaria during the 2005 "disengagement". He was widely considered "the greatest halachic authority of the generation."
Known by his students as "Rav Avrum," Shapira wasin 1982 appointed head of religious Zionism's flagship Mercaz Harav Yeshiva after the death of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, son of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook.
Shapira was first and foremost an expert on Jewish law. His legalistic approach to spiritual leadership clashed with the more philosophical approach adopted by Rabbi Tzvi Tau, Tzvi Yehuda's most eminent spiritual heir.
Opposition leader and Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu called Shapira "a great spiritual leader in Israel. He established generations of disciples, and educated them on the love of the people of Israel, the love of the land of Israel, and no less than that, love of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel."
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyhau lamented during the funeral: "woe to the world that has lost a leader and woe to the ship that has lost its captain.... Woe to the world's rabbis who were connected [to Shapira] by [his] questions and ruling. The ship sinks at sea and there is no one to guide it."
Rabbi Meir Yisrael Lau, the rabbi of the Tel Aviv - Yaffo district, said Jerusalem, the rabbinate, and all of Israel were orphaned by Shapira's demise. "When you look at Yeshivat Harav, the walls of the place will testify, the walls that heard the lessons and rulings, the walls will testify to the words of Torah that were heard for over a quarter of a century here and in the old building in Harav Kook Street," he said.
Chief Rabbi of Israel Shlomo Ammar said he felt "personally an orphan. I have always found a listening ear with the rabbi. He did not only listen, advise and encourage but at times stood guard like a strong young man and fought the battle of Torah."
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