Page 23 - HaMizrachi Chanukah 2021 - USA

1962 1964 1967
In honor of Mizrachi's 60th anniversary, Rabbi lsser Yehuda Unterman, a central Within the brief span of six days, the IDF captures
a fund for 1 million Israeli Lira is created for figure of pre-war Mizrachi, becomes the the Sinai peninsula, Yehuda and Shomron, the
scholarships for religious education second Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel Golan Heights and the Old City of Jerusalem

an older man there who said, "You're My friends! Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria Rabbi Moshe Tzvi
a boy. You don't know what you're has still not received the recognition Neria. Backround
image: Students
talking about. When we joined the he deserves from the people of Israel. of the Yeshivat
Zionist movement in my house in We cannot imagine the extent of the Bnei Akiva in Kfar
Poland, the city's rabbi excommuni- greatness, the lifework, and the roots HaRo'eh in front
cated us. He threw us out of the con- of this great man. He was a student of the yeshiva
building, between
gregation and didn't let my father be at Lifshitz Seminar in Jerusalem, 1948 and 1951.
which taught educators and trained
part of a minyan. And you're saying that (PHOTOS: PUBLIC
them as teachers. Rabbi Neria left the DOMAIN)
the Torah teaches Zionism?!"
institution and did not receive certifi-
That's how things were then, and even cation as a teacher; he had a mission
among religious people, some consid- to accomplish. He had one principle
ered Zionism an enemy. How sad it that galvanized him: Disseminating
was. There can be no comparison, in Torah so that the country would have
terms of the religious outlook of Israe- a religious majority. Think about this
lis, between those days and now. I was for a moment. Rabbi Neria was living
Rabbi Neria sent the seniors from
embarrassed back then to walk around at a time and place when that goal
Yeshivat Bnei Akiva of Kfar HaRo'eh,
with a kippah! In pictures from those seemed ludicrous. Yet he decided: I headed by Rabbi Yaakov Kilav, to Yeshi-
days, you'll see young people walking want to spread Torah in Israel. He believed vat Mercaz HaRav. I was privileged to
around in berets and caps, so nobody in the power of the Torah to educate be in Yeshivat Kfar HaRo'eh's first class
would know they were religious. It the young generation. That with time, of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, all thanks
was a source of embarrassment. I the younger generation would grow to Rabbi Neria. I was also among those
and develop and ultimately form the
remember how the Yemenites came sent several years later to establish
from Yemen, and they cut off their pe'ot country's majority. And he was right. Yeshivat Bnei Akiva in Meiron, and
Look at the Israel of today, with a vast
and beards in the transit camps. They later Yeshivat Netiv Meir in Jerusalem
and growing religious community, and
saw it as a source of pride as if they and the yeshiva in Ra'anana. In every
appreciate what one man's will can
were taking the dirt and disfig- possible place where he found a build-
accomplish! When you see the results
urement from their faces. That ing, Rabbi Neria established a place for
of his life's work, it's truly unbelievable.
was the atmosphere in those studying Torah. The entire project was
years, before and for a little his brainchild, and it was a success!
while after the state was Rabbi Neria's work to spread Torah
established. among the people of Israel wasn't just
about teaching the youth. He instilled
in the national consciousness of Israel,
among the secular majority, that there
is such a thing as a "yeshiva."
• This essay was first published in Hebrew
in Makor Rishon in November 2020 to mark
Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria's 15th yahrzeit. The
author passed away a few weeks before the
essay was published.

Rabbi Dr. Michael Zvi Nehorai (1931-2020) was
a longtime professor of Jewish Philosophy
at Bar-llan University, a formidable Torah
scholar and a passionate Religious Zionist.

HAfv11ZRACHI I 23