It has been 12 months since the passing of the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and head of Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, Rabbi Avraham Elkana Kahane Shapira. The Torah institution he headed held a memorial gathering Monday night, 16 Elul, in his honor, which was addressed by several leading rabbis. Among the several hundred people in attendance among his students and admirers were Chief Rabbi and Rishon Letzion Shlomo Moshe Amar, the Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan and Torah luminary Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, former Chief Rabbi and Rishon Letzion Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and others.
Many of the speakers noted that along with his recognized Torah scholarship, Rabbi Shapira was among the greatest leaders of the struggle for the integrity of the Land of Israel. "Father fought for the integrity of the Land," said Rabbi Shapira's son and current dean of Mercaz HaRav, Rabbi Yaakov Shapira.
Can't see the video? Click here to see scenes from the memorial for Rabbi Shapira, zt"l.
The Truth Cannot Be Faked
At the start of his comments in honor of his father, Rabbi Shapira became momentarily emotional as he noted a Talmudic dictum that a person should quote someone else as if the originator of the idea was standing before him. He went on to say that his father aways emphasized the positive influence exerted just by the very existence of every Torah scholar in the world. The late Rabbi Shapira "always demanded of us" to be true Torah scholars, the rabbi said, which meant "to be innovative in Torah, to add and not be satisfied with the minimal, not to remain average, God forbid."
Rabbi Yaakov said of his father's position on the integrity of the Land of Israel, "The truth cannot be faked. And even those who sometimes held opposite opinions, some even told us so, knew deep down that this is the truth, but it is hard for them to accept it."
At the same time, Rabbi Shapira did not make his decisions lightly, his son said. Noting that the general population assumed Rabbi Shapira came to his positions on the Land of Israel based on old ideologies, Rabbi Yaakov explained that for each issue affecting the people of Israel his father would contact all of those people involved in the issue, on every level, and hear their first-hand opinions, and he would also discuss matters over with leading Torah scholars asking them for their understanding of the issue and considering their legal reasoning.
He Saved Us From Many Terrible Situations
Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Chief Rabbi of Israel and Rishon Letzion, said of Rabbi Shapira, "He stood solid as a rock for issues of religion and Torah." Rabbi Amar went on to say that when it came to preserving Torah observance against efforts to weaken it, even out of the best of intentions, "He was very tenacious. He spoke with those people whom he had to speak with. If he had to speak forcefully, he spoke forcefully. If he had to shout, he shouted from the depths of the pain in his heart. The words came from his heart and made an impression."
Without going into specifics, Rabbi Amar revealed that, thanks to Rabbi Shapira, "many times we were spared terrible situations." Now that he is no longer with us, continued Rabbi Amar, "we feel his absence.... Almost every month, every week, there are matters that come up that we do not find the way to solve."
Rabbi Amar emphasized the need for all Jews to learn from Rabbi Shapira to stand up for the truth "with strength and with honor, without fear, without trepidation."
The former Chief Rabbi and Rishon Letzion Rabbi Ovadia Yosef explained the difference between the passing of a righteous Jew in the Land of Israel and in any other land. "When a tzaddik [righteous person] passes away, his whole city feels the loss, but when a tzaddik passes away in the Land of Israel, all of the Land of Israel loses. ...The whole state already feels his loss, not just the state - the entire nation." The rabbi went on to explain that our sadness at the passing of Rabbi Shapira is not for him, "the loss is ours. We lost him. We lost this tzaddik."
Of the period when both Rabbi Yosef and Rabbi Shapira served on the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem together, Rabbi Yosef said, "I had the honor to serve alongside this genius."
The Yeshiva is Eden
Rabbi Eitan Eizenman, head of the Tzvia network of educational institutions and a graduate of Mercaz HaRav, spoke Rabbi Shapira's dedication to the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, which the late rabbi called "the Garden of Eden" and to which he always sought to return.
Rabbi Eizenman went on to detail Rabbi Shapira's great determination on behalf of the Land of Israel, as well. "Because we are at this moment involved in great struggles over our rights in the Land of Israel, we must recall his great tenacity, and the position that he repeatedly took, saying that the Land of Israel is not politics, the Land of Israel is Torah, Halacha, and it is forbidden to relinquish any piece of the Land of Israel."
Rabbi Shapira passed away on the first day of the Sukkot holiday at the age of 94. For more on Rabbi Shapira, click here. The full, Hebrew-language lectures from Monday's memorial service can be seen by clicking here.
Mercaz HaRav, located at the entrance to Jerusalem, is considered the flagship Torah institution of religious Zionism. Also known as the Central Universal Yeshiva, it was founded by the first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, in 1924.
