Benjamin Shahor

Benjamin Shahor was born in 1916 in Jerusalem

Shahor was born in Jerusalem in 1916 during the Ottoman era. His father was Rabbi Moshe Leib Shahor, and his mother Sarah was the daughter of Dov Yemini, one of the founders of Petah Tikva. As a young man he studied at the Etz Chaim yeshiva.

He joined Bnei Akiva in 1929 and became one of its leaders, serving on its national leadership. In 1939 he helped found the Bnei Akiva yeshiva in Kfar Haroeh together with Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neria. He was a leader of Hapoel HaMizrachi and managed the newspaper HaTzofe for many years.

He organized the merger that led to the National Religious Party and became its secretary general after it formed in 1956. He also headed the party's election campaigns. He was elected to the Knesset in 1959 and served on several committees, and from 1966 to 1969 he was Deputy Minister of Religions under Rabbi Zerach Warhaftig.

He worked to strengthen religious services and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. After the Six-Day War he was among those responsible for restoring holy sites in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. He lost his seat in the 1973 elections and died in 1979, and a synagogue in Efrat is named after him.