Religionשאול ישראלי

Shaul Yisraeli

Shaul Yisraeli was a religious Zionist rabbi and rabbinic judge who headed the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva and received the Israel Prize in 1992.

1909 to 1995Heading Mercaz HaRav yeshivaHalakhic rulings on state mattersPresidency of Eretz Hemdah Institute

Born: 14 July 1909, Slutsk
Died: 17 June 1995, Jerusalem
Occupation: rabbi, Dayan, rosh yeshiva
Education: Mercaz HaRav Kook

Shaul Yisraeli was born in 1909 in Slutsk

Shaul Yisraeli was born in 1909 in Slutsk, then in the Russian Empire. His father, Rabbi Binyamin, was the rabbi of Koydanovo near Minsk and was arrested by the Soviets for teaching Torah. His mother Chava was murdered by the Nazis.

As a boy he studied in Slutsk under Rabbi Yehezkel Abramsky. After the authorities closed the yeshiva, he studied in secret in Minsk.

In 1933 he crossed the frozen Prut river illegally with two friends and was caught by the Polish police. Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook helped obtain immigration certificates for them, and he reached the Land of Israel. He studied at Mercaz HaRav and was close to Rabbi Kook and Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap.

In 1938 he became the rabbi of the moshav Kfar Haroeh. In 1965 he was appointed a judge in the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, and he also served on the Chief Rabbinate Council. In 1982 he became head of Mercaz HaRav, and from 1987 he led the Eretz Hemdah Institute.

He wrote rulings on matters of state and medicine, including a debated essay after the 1953 Qibya raid. He died in 1995 and is buried in the Sanhedria Cemetery in Jerusalem.