Rabbi AvinerRabbi Shlomo Aviner has urged settlers to offer no resistance when the Gaza withdrawal is implemented. Rabbi Aviner is the Rabbi of Beit El in the West Bank, and head of the Atarat Cohanim Yeshiva in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. In the past he has held hard line positions regarding refusenick members of the IDF who refuse to serve in the West Bank (shoot ’em) and so his current concilliatory tone caught many by surprise.

On the day of the evacuation, we will get up and leave our homes without using force …

Of course, not everyone’s thrilled with Rabbi Avineri, but who cares.

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

7 Comments

  • Good news.

    Just yesterday I confronted a Chabad rabbi for bad mouthing another Chabad rabbi. He said: “You caught me on a bad day” and something about rabbis being human. True. But I expect more. Anyway, every now and again rabbis rise to the occasion, and Aviner seems to be doing this.

  • Good news indeed! People like Rabbi Aviner will make withdrawal possible, and give hope for the prospects of what withdrawal might accomplish. I doubt people like him would take a position like this without sincere belief that it would result in a greater good.

  • Yisrael,
    R’ Aviner didn’t condone withdrawal, he just condemns violence.

    And a question to all:
    It’s fine and dandy to pick this specific ‘private’ p’sak of R’ Aviner and fully support it, but will you bother to support other things he claims/preaches or is this one thing enough for you and conveniently deny the other things he says?

  • I’m just happy he is a leader in a part of the Orthodox and settler communities who speaks in this way. Does that mean I also need to become Orthodox?

  • Well, he’s an ashkenazic Rabbi so I can’t really hold by him per se. His psak is instructive however and I have no problem with any Rabbi condemnig Jew on Jew violence. Executing refusenicks however, as much as I dislike them, doesn’t sit so well with me. All I know is hatred got us in this mess to begin with and more hatred and internecine conflict isn’t going to get us out of it.

  • News flash:

    R’ Aviner is still standing behind what he’s saying ( I think he’s being blackmailed in order to remain ‘a moderate’ ) but in the same breathe he claims that he is nothing compared to his mentor, Rav Shapira, head of Mercaz Harav who vehemently supports refusal to take part in the the retreat plan. Read between the lines, don’t squint too hard.

    CK,
    All I know is hatred got us in this mess to begin with and more hatred…

    Who’s hatred? If there’s one thing I am certain, it is that a large number of people hate settlers. How is that hate returned?