Menachem Froman
Menachem Froman | |
|---|---|
| File:Menachem froman.jpg | |
| Born | 1945 |
| Nationality | Israel |
| Occupation(s) | Rabbi, Educator, Negotiator |
| Known for | interfaith dialogue, including with PLO and Hamas members |
| Website | http://www.jerusalempeacemakers.org/froman/index.html Profile by Jerusalem Peacemakers |
Rabbi Menachem Froman (Hebrew: מנחם פרומן born in the Galilee in 1945) is an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi serving as the chief rabbi of Tekoa settlement in the West Bank. He is known for promoting and leading interfaith dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and has met in the past with senior officials from the PLO and Hamas such as Yasser Arafat, and Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
Career
Froman, a former Israel Defence Forces paratrooper who took part in the 1967 capture of the Western Wall, was a student at the Mercaz haRav and Yeshivat HaKotel yeshivas. He was a founder of the Gush Emunim settlement movement. He obtained rabbinical ordination from Rabbis Shlomo Goren and Avraham Shapira and then became the rabbi of Kibbutz Migdal Oz. He has taught at several yeshivas including Ateret Cohanim and Machon Meir, and is currently a lecturer at the Tekoa Yeshiva and Otniel hesder Yeshiva.
Opinions
Froman has a number of controversial opinions. He has met very controversial Palestinian leaders from Hamas, including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin[1] and Mahmoud al-Zahar, and he continues to meet with Hamas members on a regular basis. Froman supports the idea that the State of Israel can withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza yet leave the settlements and Israeli/Jewish residents in place under Palestinian sovereignty.[2] He claims that if Israel withdraws from Tekoa and most residents leave, he will nonetheless stay because of his love of the Land of Israel:
"But what matters is the holiness of this land. I prefer to live here in a future Palestine than leave to live in an Israeli state."[3]
Rabbi Froman laments the current violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. "The land of God today is, however, like a weeping widow,” he says. “Murder abuses the name of God. Murder is a shame everywhere it takes place, but especially when it takes place on God’s land.” [4]
He is working with Sheikh Aziz Bukhari of Jerusalem to appeal to the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel to declare a truce; he met with a Hamas leader and together they presented a plan for a hudna to Israel, but Israel rejected the truce. They then sent a letter to President Bush saying they wanted to meet with him when he came to Israel, but they have not yet succeeded in arranging a presidential meeting.[4]
Froman hasn’t given up on his hope of meeting Bush. “Without U.S. support, Israel and the Palestinian leadership can’t do it,” he says. “They won’t move without permission of the Caesar.”[4]
Froman supports making Jerusalem, the current capital of Israel, the religious capital of all three monotheistic faiths. In November 1999, he participated in a conference with dozens of international religious leaders including the Dalai Lama. [5]
Froman opposes the forced eviction of any people from their homes. He was a strong opponent of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. In August 2005, prior to its implementation, he moved with his family to Ganei Tal in Gush Katif in order to show support for the residents being evicted.[6]
References
- ^ ""Sheikh Yassin, Rabbi Menachem Froman to meet"". (www.arabicnews.com, October 9 1997)
- ^ ""Next in line""., by Meron Rapoport (Haaretz, March 30 2006)
- ^ ""Rabbi Froman will not be moving an inch""., by Harry de Quetteville (The Daily Telegraph, March 8 2006)
- ^ a b c >"Reb Menachem Froman and his "Synagogue-without-walls' of Tekoa". 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ ""Religious leaders meet in Israel, urge peace""., by Elaine Ruth Fletcher (World Tibet Network News , November 28 1999)
- ^ ""Ganei Tal / For Rabbi Froman, God was `in the computer.' But is he in Ganei Tal?""., by Yoav Stern (Haaretz, August 2005)