Zvi Thau

Rabbi Zvi Yisrael Thau (Hebrew: צבי ישראל טאו‬, born 1937) is a leading Religious Zionist rabbi, a prominent disciple of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, and co-founder and president of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem.

Biography

Zvi Yisrael Thau (in German: Hans Thau) was born in Vienna to parents who emigrated from Galicia at the end of the First World War. His father, Avraham Adolph Thau, was a banker, and his mother, Judith Yutah Meisels, was a chemist.[1] After the Anschluss, the family left for the Netherlands, and during the Holocaust they were hidden by a local family in Hilversum. They were saved, among other things, due to his mother's resourcefulness.

His sister Eveline related: "In June, 1943, there was a large Akzion [round-up of Jews to be deported] and we were saved thanks to our mother, who was a chemist. She managed to disguise us as measles patients and hung a sign on the door: 'Beware. Contagious disease'."[2]

After the end of the war, Thau studied in a public school, where he was exposed to philosophy. At the age of 17, after his mother's death, he immigrated to Israel despite his father's objections, due to his refusal to complete a matriculation certificate prior to immigration. His father and sister moved to the United States during this period.

After making aliyah to Israel, he studied at Yeshivat HaDarom under Rabbi Yehuda Amital. He related that Rabbi Amital invested a great deal in his absorption and introduced him into the world of Torah and specifically to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's teachings. After one year, he went to study at Yeshivat Mercaz Harav in Jerusalem.

From the 1960's, Rabbi Thau held an important position of influence at Yeshivat Mercaz Harav. He is considered by many to be the leading disciple of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, the dean of Mercaz HaRav.[3]

In 1997, Rabbi Thau strongly opposed the introduction of an academic framework - plans to integrate a teaching institute - into Mercaz HaRav. As a result of the disagreement, he, together with six senior lecturers and many students, left the yeshiva and established the Har Hamor yeshiva. (The name "HaMoR" is also a Hebrew acronym for "Successor to Mercaz Harav".[4]) While he is not involved in Har Hamor's day-to-day management, Rabbi Thau is the ultimate authority in ideological matters.

Opinions

Rabbi Thau strongly objects to the "Bible at Eye Level" (or Down-to-Earth Bible Studies) approach, which interprets Biblical narratives and personalities as real-life situations and real-life characters.[4]

With regard to religious soldiers ordered to evacuate a settlement, he ruled that explicit refusal was out of the question; but soldiers would need to make it clear to their commanding officers that they "were incapable" of carrying out such an order." [4]

Family

His first wife, Chana Thau (died in 2004), was a pioneer of Torah study for women in the religious community; she taught many of the women who are currently teaching in the religious seminaries.

At age 71, Rabbi Thau married a second time, to Batya Cohen, founder and clinical director of Mercaz Female, an outpatient clinic treating modern Orthodox and Haredi sufferers of eating disorders.[5]

He has three sons and a daughter. His eldest son, Rabbi Mordechai (Moti), heads the yeshiva high school "Shalom Banayich" in Jerusalem. His son Rabbi Nehemiah is a lecturer in the yeshiva in Mitzpe Ramon.

He has two older sisters: Dr. Gerda Elata-Alster, a former professor of Comparative Literature at Ben-Gurion University, and Dr. Eveline Goodman-Thau, a professor of Jewish religious and intellectual history, who served one year as a rabbi in Vienna.

Books

While Rabbi Thau published very few of his writings, many books have been published on the basis of his lectures. These include:

  • Le-Emunat Iteinu - 13 volumes of lectures on faith and redemption.
  • Tzaddik Be-Emunato Yichye - on Torah study.
  • Solu Hamesila - on the struggle for the Land of Israel.
  • Neshama Le-Am Aleha - lectures given during the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
  • Nosei Alumotav - on the value of agriculture.
  • Tzedakah Teromem Goy - on the value of the mitzvah of charity.
  • Hesed uMishpat Ashira - regarding love of God and accepting suffering with love.

References

  1. ↑ Bandel, Neta'el. "What you didn't know about Rabbi Tau (Hebrew)". www.kipa.co.il. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Sheleg, Yair (1 October 2004). "Rabbi Thau Versus Rabbi Thau". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Wiston, Moshe. "Rabbi Kellner to Kipa: "Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah only counted Rabbi Thau" (Hebrew)". Kipa.co.il. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Sheleg, Yair (15 September 2004). "A 'Gray' Form of Refusal". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Siegel-Itzkovich, Judy (24 January 2015). "HUNGRY FOR A NEW LIFE". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 9 August 2018.


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