Praising Those Outside Our Camp in Complicated Situations

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I have a lot of respect for Yeshivat Har Etzion and its rabbinic leadership these days. (And, no, I never attended that Yeshiva.) The religious Zionist community lost a Torah giant last week, Rav Chaim Druckman, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Or Etzion, head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot, and one of the leading religious Zionist spiritual leaders in Israel. He breathed Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael. He dedicated his life to the principles and values of religious Zionism. He was a tremendous lover and defender of each and every Jew and he loved every inch of Eretz Yisrael. He was a leading force behind the creation of the Hesder Yeshiva in Israel.

However, he was not someone who fit into the hashkafa of Yeshivat Har Etzion. He was a founding member of Gush Emunim, the messianic settlement movement committed to establish a Jewish presence in Judea-Samaria, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip. He was far more right-wing politically than the hashkafa of the rabbinic leadership of Yeshivat Har Etzion. Furthermore, he had a blind spot for publicly defending rabbis who were convicted of sexual abuse, like Moti Elon. In doing so, he rejected the findings of the religious-Zionist Takana forum led by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l, which published allegations against Elon over twelve years ago. In 2019, Rav Aharon’s son, Rav Moshe Lichtenstein, wrote a letter calling on Rav Druckman to apologize for supporting Elon.

And yet, after his passing, Rabbanim from Yeshivat Har Etzion lovingly eulogized him. Rosh Yeshiva Yaakov Medan eulogized him to the entire yeshiva. Rav Moshe Taragin recorded a eulogy of him on the Yeshivat Har Etzion website so that English speakers could learn who he was. Even though Rav Druckman was arguably according to some a more “radical” type of religious Zionist spiritual leader, and even though he had a very serious blind spot, there was no mention of these issues during the hespedim. Only love, respect and admiration for the loss of a tremendous Torah giant and leader of the Jewish people.