Religionישראל פרידמן בן-שלום

Yisrael Friedman

Yisrael Friedman Ben-Shalom was a rabbi, historian and educator who lectured on Jewish history and led the Ahavat Yisrael yeshiva in Netivot as the Pashkaner Rebbe.

1923 to 2017Founding the Ahavat Yisrael yeshivaTeaching Second Temple historyServing as the Pashkaner Rebbe

Born: 8 November 1923, Buhuși
Died: 1 May 2017
Occupation: rabbi, historian, educator
Education: Tel Aviv University

Yisrael Friedman was born in 1923 in Buhuși

Friedman was born in 1923 in Buhuși, Romania, a descendant of Rebbe Yisrael of Rizhin. He studied Torah with his grandfathers, Menachem Mendel of Bohush and Moshe Yehudah Leib of Pashkan, and also received a general education locally.

As a young man he was a youth leader in Hashomer Hatzair in Buhuși. During the Second World War the family moved to Bucharest, where he met Tzipora Hager, daughter of the Vizhnitz Rebbe.

In 1946 the couple moved to the Land of Israel and helped found Kibbutz Reshafim. He fought in the War of Independence and later held educational and secretarial roles on kibbutzim, including Kibbutz Saad.

In 1964 the family went to Marseille on a mission for the Jewish Agency, and he took the surname Ben-Shalom. He later earned a doctorate from Tel Aviv University in 1981 and taught at Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Sapir Academic College.

In 2000 he left academia and founded the Ahavat Yisrael hesder yeshiva in Netivot with his son Shmuel. He lived in Gilo in Jerusalem and died in 2017.