Rabbi Yehuda Amital was laid to rest Friday in Jerusalem. He was eulogized by Rabbi Yaakov Meidan of the Har Etzion yeshiva.
"This is how eras end. The Jewish people has gone through many upheavals in its 3,000 years, for the good and the bad – the destruction of the Temple, the expulsion from Spain, and more,” Rabbi Meidan began.
"Our task as a people revolved around the question of how to deal with this. How to continue the discourse with G-d, our faith in Him, and how to mold the oral Torah for the generations to come... Only true leaders filled with a powerful faith in G-d and a sense of having a national mission can do this,” he continued.
"The eradication of European Jewry was a 'chassis' collision in the relationship between the Jewish people and G-d,” he said. “There were few technicians and repairmen who stood up... to restore the faith and discourse... One of the greatest among them was our teacher, Rabbi Amital.”
The establishment of the state of Israel “was a tremendous – positive! - upheaval in the relationship and the discourse between the people of Israel and G-d,” said Rabbi Meidan. “Our teacher Rabbi Amital was among the greatest architects in shaping the oral Torah and faith in G-d following this upheaval.
“The bridge between true Torah, which is completely faithful to Halacha [Jewish law], and morality, human emotion, science, culture, state, army, and secularism is clear today. It was not clear one generation ago. Our teacher Rabbi Amital was one of the architects who built this bridge. His Torah will be learned for generations,” he said.
Meimad: Rabbi Amital was a Trailblazer Rabbi Amital was among the founders of the Meimad movement, a left leaning religious political group previously linked to the Labor party. The movement published a eulogy. "Rabbi Amital was a leader and a trailblazer... In all of his activities, when it came to Torah and to public life, his aim was to sanctify G-d's name,” the Meimad statement read.
"Even when Rabbi Amital paid a heavy price for his views, he continued in his struggle for peace, social justice, and the connection of every Jew to Jewish identity no matter what his lifestyle, as one of this generation's primary goals... The Meimad movement is obligated, for the future of the state and the Jewish people, to continue in his path,” it concluded.